He was born in Cadiz, Ohio, and attended Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. He pursued classical studies and graduated from Madison College, Pennsylvania, in 1840. He studied law and admitted to the bar in 1844 and commenced the practice of law. He was a member of the Pennyslvania House of Representatives in 1845. He was appointed to a position in the United States Land Office from 1849 to 1852; he then resumed the practice of law in McConnelsville, Ohio, in 1853. He was ordained a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1856. Around 1859, he moved to Brownville, Nebraska and joined the Congregational Church. He was member of the 1859 Nebraska constitutional convention and the Nebraska Territory council in 1860.

During the Civil War, Tipton was appointed chaplain of the First Regiment, Nebraska Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865. He was the assessor of internal revenue for Nebraska in 1865, and a member of the State constitutional convention in 1867. Upon the admission of Nebraska as a State into the Union, he was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate. Tipton was eelected in 1869 and served from March 1, 1867, to March 3, 1875. After that, he resumed the practice of law, and was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Nebraska in 1880. He died in Washington, D.C., November 26, 1899, and was interred in Rock Creek Cemetery.