Born in Richmond, Virginia; attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), Lexington, Virginia in 1832 and 1833 and Reynolds' Classical Academy in 1833 and 1834; was graduated from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, Virginia in 1836; moved to Florida in 1837 and engaged in agricultural pursuits near Tallahassee, Florida; delegate to the Territorial convention to form a State constitution in 1838; returned to Virginia; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1840; returned to Tallahassee, Fla.; upon the admission of Florida as a State into the Union presented credentials as a Member-elect to the Twenty-ninth United States Congress and served from October 6, 1845, to January 24, 1846, when he was succeeded by William H. Brockenbrough, who contested the election; elected as a Whig to the Thirtieth, Thirty-first, and Thirty-second Congresses (March 4, 1847-March 3, 1853); chairman, Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings (Thirtieth-Congress); unsuccessful candidate in 1852 for reelection to the Thirty-third Congress; resumed the practice of law in Tallahassee; moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1859; during the American Civil War served in the Confederate Army with rank of lieutenant colonel; engaged in the practice of law in New York City 1868-1872, and subsequently in St. Louis, Mo.; member of the State senate of Missouri 1878-1882; died in St. Louis, Mo.; interment in Bellefontaine Cemetery.

This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.