 He enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and served as lieutenant colonel of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry; member of the Missouri State Senate 1862–64; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, and Forty-first Congresses (March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1871); was not a candidate for renomination in 1870; chairman of the Republican State central committee 1874–1876; collector of internal revenue for the sixth district of Missouri 1875–81.In 1882, he was one of the original incorporators of the Kansas City Club.He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1864, 1868, 1872, 1876, 1880, and 1884; member of the Republican National Committee in 1872 and 1884; elected as a Republican to the Forty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883); successfully contested the election of John C. Tarsney to the Fifty-fourth Congress and served from February 27, 1896, to March 3, 1897; unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1896; retired from editorship of "The Kansas City Journal" in 1897; died on his estate, "Honeywood," at Evanston Station, near Kansas City, Missouri on January 3, 1916 and was interred in Mount Washington Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri.