[1] He first won election to the Secretary of State position in 1896, and served until 1900 when he did not seek re-election.

In 1880, he moved to Wahpeton, Dakota Territory, and was employed as a printer until 1883.

[3] In 1883, Fred Falley established the Sargent County Teller newspaper in Milnor, North Dakota.

[3] In 1885, Fred Falley married Clara Mitchell in Lancaster, Wisconsin.

Fred Falley remarried in 1896 to Mrs. S. R. Pyatt in Wahpeton, North Dakota, and they had one son.