He attended the common schools, and was engaged as a hatter in Waynesboro and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1837 and commenced practice in Chambersburg.
He served as prosecuting attorney of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, from 1842 to 1845.
He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War during the Thirty-fifth Congress.
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