His family removed to Sweden, New York in 1814. At the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to a printer Batavia, New York. He removed to Ogdensburg in 1831, and edited there the Northern Light, a weekly newspaper. He later became co-owner of the Times and Advertiser, the Whig paper of St. Lawrence County. He became a captain of the Ogdensburg Artillery in 1836, and was later promoted to major general of the New York State Militia. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1838, and commenced practice in Ogdensburg. He was buried at the City Cemetery in Ogdensburg.