His first military service was as a mounted volunteer in the Third Seminole War. From 1857 to 1859 he served on the Hillsborough County Commission. For half of the Civil War he was a cattle supplier to the army, but in 1863 he formed his own cavalry company. After the Civil War he briefly represented Polk and Brevard Counties in the state senate. He continued serving local government while building a huge cattle business based first at Fort Myers and later at Fort Thompson. He was among the first in Florida to sell cattle to Cuba.