He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1873 and commenced practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

One of the important bills that he fathered and championed was an act providing for free public instruction in Pennsylvania.

[citation needed] He was elected city comptroller of Scranton in 1885 and 1886, and reporter of the decisions of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1886 and 1887.

After the death of his first wife, he married Mary Caroline Van Nort (born September 2, 1859), who was in the first graduating class of Scranton High School.

[citation needed] In 1910, Mary Caroline Amerman married Frederick Lewis of Norfolk, Virginia.