[1] For several years in the late 1840s and early 1850s, Ross was employed as a journeyman printer and typesetter, traveling throughout Ohio and to several nearby states to accept temporary work whenever it was available.

[1]: 1–2  In 1854, Ross was one of several Milwaukee residents who came to the aid of Joshua Glover, an escaped slave who had been recaptured and was being held at the local jail.

[1] He joined the board of directors of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and was one of its chief promoters.

[1] In 1866, the governor of Kansas appointed Ross to the U.S. Senate as a Republican, filling the vacancy caused by the death of James H.

Others claim Ross cast his vote because he genuinely believed that Johnson had the right to replace Edwin M. Stanton, since he had been appointed during the Lincoln Administration.

"In making [that] decision, you knew perfectly well that it could consign you to private life and the vehement denunciation of almost all your party friends.

"[4] However, there is significant evidence that suggests Ross was bribed, although a subsequent House of Representatives investigation found no proof.

Upon retirement from the Senate, Ross went back into the newspaper business briefly, launching a publication in Coffeyville, Kansas.

[1] He studied law and passed the bar, afterwards practicing in Albuquerque and beginning work on a history of the Johnson impeachment.

In 1907, General Hugh Cameron of Lawrence visited Ross in New Mexico and brought testimonials from many citizens of Kansas.