He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1854 and practiced in Owingsville, Kentucky, and later engaged in agricultural pursuits.

He presented credentials as a Member-elect to the Fortieth Congress in 1867, but was not permitted to qualify as his campaign used fraud and voter intimidation to get him elected.

A Congressional inquiry found that hundreds of ex-rebel soldiers, disqualified for treason against the State of Kentucky, fraudulently voted.

Partisan Young gunmen watched polling precincts across Eastern Kentucky to make sure not a single black man voted in the Ninth District and intimidate Republican voters in general.

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress