Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1828, Noonan received a liberal education.

At the age of 24, Noonan migrated west, moving to Texas in 1852.

Noonan was elected as judge of the eighteenth judicial district of Texas in 1862 and served until 1894, when he resigned.

[1] Noonan was defeated in his campaign for reelection in 1896 to the Fifty-fifth Congress.

He resumed the practice of law in San Antonio and died there on August 17, 1907.