He moved to Elyria, Ohio, where he studied law under his brother Albert.

Bliss ran for congressional office as a republican and was elected to the United States House of Representatives.

President Abraham Lincoln appointed Bliss chief justice of the Supreme Court of Dakota Territory in 1861.

After his retirement from the bench, Bliss became Law Dean for the University of Missouri, where he served until his death in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1889.

The Philemon Bliss Scholarship was established at the University of Missouri School of Law in his honor.