 He moved to Rockaway Park, Queens in 1901, engaged in the insurance and real-estate business, and served in the United States Navy as a yeoman first class from 1917 to 1919.He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Queens Co., 5th D.) in 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927 and 1928.He was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-first and to the three succeeding Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1929, until his resignation on September 27, 1935, having been elected sheriff of Queens County.