He attended the common schools, and for one year Charlotteville Seminary in Summit.
Then he became a clerk in a store owned by his father and a cousin of his in Rondout.
In 1856, he became a partner in the store, and later engaged extensively in the manufacture of Rosendale cement.
He was Supervisor of the Town of Esopus from 1867 to 1870, and a member of the New York State Senate (14th D.) in 1874 and 1875; and again in 1886 and 1887.
Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes was his nephew.