He commenced a legal practice in
Yanceyville, North Carolina. He also served as a trustee of
Wake Forest College from 1844 to 1856, and of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1846 to 1868.
Congress He was an unsuccessful
Whig candidate for
Governor of North Carolina in 1852. He was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress (March 4, 1853– March 3, 1855). He lost a reelection campaign in 1854.
Later career He was a member of the
State house of representatives in 1858 and 1860, and a judge of the
superior court of North Carolina from 1862 to 1863 and 1874 to 1879. == Death ==