Born in Connecticut and raised in Illinois, Hawley served in the United States House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875.

[1] Hawley was elected Illinois state attorney in 1856 and remained in the position for four years.

Hawley enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War and served as captain of Company H, Forty-Fifth Regiment of Illinois' Volunteer Infantry.

[1][4] From December 6, 1877, until April 1880, when he resigned, Hawley served as the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

After moving to Omaha, Nebraska in 1886, Hawley served as an attorney for the western branches of the Northwestern Railroad Company.