Education
Born in Van Buren, Arkansas, June 4, 1835. Educated at home; studied law. Was admitted to the bar in 1856 and commenced practice in Henderson, Kentucky.
Resident of Denver, Colorado, for some years.
Moved to Pike County, Indiana, in 1860. Entered the Union Army July 6, 1861, as second lieutenant of Company East, Twenty-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served with that command until February 15, 1862, when he resigned.
Mustered in as captain of Company F, Fourth Indiana Cavalry, August 8, 1862. Successively promoted to rank of colonel.
Moved to North Carolina.
Upon the reorganization of the Army was appointed second lieutenant, Eighth United States Infantry, July 24, 1866. Resigned August 14, 1867, having been elected to Congress. Appointed register in bankruptcy for North Carolina in 1868.
Upon the readmission of North Carolina to representation was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses and served from July 6, 1868, to February 28, 1870, when he resigned, pending the investigation of certain appointments to the United States Military and Naval Academies.
Chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior (Forty-first Congress), Committee on Revolutionary Pensions (Forty-first Congress). Censured by the House of Representatives on March 1, 1870, for selling an appointment to the Naval Academy.
Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1876. Resumed the practice of law.
Died in Washington, District of Columbia, July 4, 1906.
Interment in Arlington National Cemetery.