US Congressman. Born in Milford Township near Collinsville in Butler County, Ohio, he attended Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. He left college when the Civil War began, volunteered to serve in the Union Army, and enlisted with the "University Rifles" as a Private for three months service. The company was attached to the 20th Ohio Volunteer Infantry as Company B and sent into service in Western Virginia. When his term of enlistment expired, he re-enlisted for three years service with the 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in November of 1861 and helped to recruit volunteers and organize the regiment at Camp McLean near Lockland, Ohio. Elected as 2nd Lieutenant of Company K on December 10, 1861, he was soon promoted to 1st Lieutenant and was eventually commissioned as Captain on January 12, 1863 and re-assigned to Company G. He participated in major engagements at the Battles of Cedar Mountain and the Second Bull Run. In May of 1863, he was captured by the Confederates and taken as a prisoner of war to Libby Prison. Confined for three months before he was exchanged, he missed his regiment's involvement at the Battle of Gettysburg. He later fought at the attack on Fort Wagner, South Carolina, and in Florida before he was mustered out on December 22, 1864. He returned to school and graduated from the Indianapolis Law School in 1867. Admitted to the bar in Ohio, he practiced as an attorney in Butler County and became the Hamilton City Solicitor from 1871 to 1875. He served as the Butler County Prosecuting Attorney in 1873 and was unsuccessful as a candidate for election to the Ohio State Senate in 1875. Elected as a Republican to represent Ohio's 3rd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, he served from 1881 to 1884 and from 1889 to 1891. He was reelected in 1883 and held his seat in Congress until he was removed on June 20, 1884 in favor of James E. Campbell who successfully contested the results of the election. A delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1884, he was elected to Congress again in 1888 and represented Ohio's 7th District after the Congressional Districts were realigned. He was unsuccessful for reelection in 1890 and resumed his legal profession. He died in Hamilton, Ohio in 1902 when he was 61 years old. Three of his brothers also served for the Union during the Civil War. His father was a noted abolitionist and served as a conductor for the Underground Railroad.