 After spending his youth in Iowa he returned to Saratoga Springs in 1872 to practice law.In 1882, he married Mary Emma Corliss (1857-1931), and they had several children, among them the screenwriter Charles Brackett (1892–1969).His accomplishments included participation in the impeachment of New York Governor William Sulzer in 1913 and the founding of McGregor Links golf course near Saratoga Springs, "considered by experts to be one of the best in the country" in 1921.