US Congressman. He was born in Aalborg, Denmark, was schooled locally in his native country of Denmark, and spent three years at sea, before immigrating to the United States and settling in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1863. After arriving in the United States he enlisted in the Gulf Squadron of the United States Navy and served in the American Civil War. He then relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in 1865, where he studied law. On May 5, 1867, he married Mary Cornelia Hamilton and the couple would have two daughters, Elizabeth born in 1869, and Jessey born in 1872. He graduated from the law department of Chicago University in Chicago, Illinois, in 1871. That same year he was admitted to the Illinois State Bar and proceeded to practice law in Chicago, Ilinois, shortly thereafter. He was first appointed as a Prosecuting Attorney of the Lower Courts in 1877, and then was appointed a Justice of the Peace by the judges of Cook County, Illinois, in 1881. He ran for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected. A Republican, he then served Illinois's 4th District (Fifty-Fourth Congress) in the United States House of Representatives from 1895 to 1897. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Fifty-Fifth Congress in 1896. After his term in the United States Congress expired on March 3, 1897, he resumed his law practice until his death. In October of 1897, he suffered a sudden stroke brought on a burst blood vessel in his brain while riding in a car. The cause was believed to be stress over his business affairs. He first recovered at his home and then as his health deteriorated over the next several days, weeks, and even months his doctor pronounced him insane. He was admitted to the Elgin Hospital for the Insane in Elgin, Illinois, and passed away from the complications of the stroke at the age of 53, one week shy of his 54th birthday. His funeral was conducted in the Masonic Order rites at the Ninth Presbyterian Church and he was laid to rest in the Rosehill Cemetery. His wife passed away in 1909 and she was buried beside him.