Career
He was admitted to the bar in 1837. He was District Attorney of Columbia County from 1843 to 1847. He was a justice of the New York Supreme Court (3rd District) from 1861 to 1874, and ex officio a judge of the Court of Appeals in 1868.
In 1874, he was elected on the Democratic ticket a judge of the New York Court of Appeals, and remained on the bench until the end of 1886 when he reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years.