[1] Born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, as a child, he moved with his family to Illinois, where he received a common school education.

After Rusk's death, Casson went to work as private secretary to freshman congressman Joseph W. Babcock, until August 1894.

With a Republican returning to the White House in 1899, Casson sought a new federal appointment from President William McKinley.

[4] During the first fall recess of the 56th Congress, Casson's legion of friends and political allies, including the entire Wisconsin congressional delegation, lobbied for his selection as Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives.

Casson died on September 25, 1912, at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, after surgery for Appendicitis and stomach ulcer.