Quarles then returned to Kenosha. He was admitted to the bar and conducted a law practice there from 1868 to 1882. He was the district attorney for
Kenosha County from 1870 to 1876. He was the mayor of Kenosha in 1876. He was a member of the
Wisconsin State Assembly in 1879. He was a member of the
Wisconsin State Senate from 1880 to 1882. He resumed private practice in
Racine, Wisconsin from 1882 to 1888, and in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1888 to 1899.
Congressional service Quarles was elected as a
Republican to the
United States Senate and served from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1905. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1905. He was Chairman of the Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard for the
56th United States Congress and Chairman of the Committee on the Census for the
57th and
58th United States Congresses.
Federal judicial service Quarles was nominated by President
Theodore Roosevelt on March 6, 1905, to a seat on the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin vacated by Judge
William Henry Seaman. He was confirmed by the
United States Senate on March 6, 1905, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on October 7, 1911, due to his death. ==Personal life==