[3] He attended Florence schools, and then went to St. Mary's College in Oakland, California from 1892 to 1894, where he studied mining and civil engineering.
The couple had five children: four sons, Milford, John, Eugene, and Charles; and one daughter, Virginia.
[6] In the early 1900s he was deputy sheriff in Florence, and in 1901 he fatally shot a man, Robert Hatfield, who was resisting arrest for spousal abuse.
[9] In August 1916 Devine challenged the incumbent Democrat, Charles E. MacMillin, in the primary for state senator from Pinal County, who he soundly defeated 719 to 427.
[5][17] In 1936 he was appointed undersheriff by Sheriff Ed F. Echols, which took effect in January 1937[5][18] Devine died on March 21, 1940.