Born in Poughkeepsie, he graduated from Dutchess Academy, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1831, and commenced practice in Brooklyn. He moved to Flatbush in 1838 and was a member of the Board of Supervisors of Kings County from 1844 to 1852, and from 1858 to 1870, and chairman of the board in 1861, 1862, 1864 and 1865. He was a presidential elector in 1852, voting for Franklin Pierce and William R. King; and was a Republican Union member of the New York State Assembly (Kings Co., 1st D.) in 1864.