He was executive secretary for Governor of Connecticut William Alfred Buckingham from 1858 to 1863.

[1] Shipman received a recess appointment from President Ulysses S. Grant on April 16, 1873, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut vacated by Judge William Davis Shipman.

He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 8, 1873, and received his commission the same day.

[1] Concurrent with his federal judicial service, Shipman was a lecturer for Yale Law School in 1889.

[1] Shipman died on June 26, 1906, in Hartford[1] and was interred at Cedar Hill Cemetery.