During his term of office he originated the idea of providing military training to young men in high schools.

[citation needed] At 18, he obtained a first-grade certificate to teach school and taught for three years in Yuba County.

James Budd commissioned him captain of Company D. He eventually attained the rank of brigadier general.

[citation needed] About the same time, he received a commission as major of the 8th California Infantry, United States Volunteers.

[citation needed] He played a leading role in the politics of his time, and was chairman of the Republican State Convention in Sacramento in 1900.

He became owner of the Marysville Appeal, one of the oldest papers in Northern California, in 1905, and took an active role in water development in Yuba County and in agricultural affairs and fraternal organizations.