He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Jefferson City, Missouri.

He returned to Virginia in 1859 and engaged in agricultural pursuits on his farm in Halifax County.

He served as first lieutenant, Company A, Montague's battalion, in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War.

Halifax County voters elected him to the Virginia State senate, where he served two terms, from 1881 to 1888.

He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Agriculture (Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses).