[4][5] In 1856, he ran for United States Congress for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district on the Know Nothing ticket, but ultimately lost the election to the incumbent Samuel Axley Smith.
When Tennessee seceded in June 1861, he returned to his residence at Chattanooga, refusing to take up arms against either side, though offered a commission by both.
As a lawyer, he defended James J. Andrews, a Union operative facing court-martial for leading the raid known as the Great Locomotive Chase in 1862.
But he also opened his home to the wounded Confederate casualties following the Battle of Stones River in early 1863.
The couple had six children, John Bowen, Ada Elizabeth, Maria Marshall, Catherine Douglass, Mary, and Rose.