Born near Oskaloosa, Iowa on December 17, 1854, he became an orphan early in life. He worked as a farm hand to get by and graduated from Simpson College in 1874 and from Parsons College in 1875. He was elected superintendent of schools of Ringgold County, Iowa in 1879. He became part of the faculty at Hastings College in Nebraska on January 1, 1885 and taught to January 1, 1893. He then was elected vice president of Hastings College in 1889 and president of the Nebraska State Teachers’ Association in 1890.

He served as private secretary to the Governor of Nebraska, Lorenzo Crounse in 1893 and 1894. He ran unsuccessfully for the 53rd congress in 1892, but was successful in being elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1895-March 3, 1897), running against William A. McKeighan. He ran for reelection in 1896 and lost to Roderick Dhu Sutherland.

He was an auditor for the U.S. Treasury Department from 1897 to 1915 in Washington D.C.. He ran again for the 5th district seat and won, being elected to the 66th and 67th congresses (March 4, 1919-March 3, 1923). During his time in the 67th congress, he was the chair of the U.S. House Committee on the Election of the President, Vice President and Representatives in Congress. He unsuccessful in running against former Nebraska governor Ashton C. Shallenberger in 1922. He lived out the rest of his live in Washington, D.C. Until his death on January 19, 1942. He is interned in Parkview Cemetery in Hastings, Nebraska.