He was born in Aurora, Illinois November 26, 1853. He was employed as a clerk in a hardware store in St. Joseph, Missouri. He moved to Chicago, Illinois and engaged in the hardware business. He moved to Deadwood, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota), in 1875 and engaged in mercantile pursuits, delivering goods on pack animals through the Black Hills. He then located and owned the ‘Aurora’ mine. He settled in Hastings, Nebraska, in 1878 and engaged in mercantile pursuits and in banking.

He was Governor of Nebraska, January to May 1901, when he resigned after his election to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Monroe L. Hayward and served from March 28, 1901, to March 3, 1905. He served as an imperialist on the Lodge Committee investigating war crimes during the Philippine-American War. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1904. He then retired in 1905; died in Hastings on April 10, 1924. He is buried in Parkview Cemetery.