He was born in
Ireland and came to the
United States as a boy with his parents. The family settled at
Skaneateles, N.Y. Later he moved to
Cortland, New York and in 1869, he established the Cortland Wagon Company which manufactured carriages, wagons and bicycles. He was President of the Village of Cortland in 1882. As a
Democrat, he was
New York State Treasurer from 1886 to 1889, elected in
1885 and
1887. In 1906, in opposition to
William R. Hearst who had been nominated by the Democratic Party, he supported
Republican Charles Evans Hughes for Governor. He was a vice president of the National Bank of Cortland, and a director of the Madison Square Bank and the Columbia Bank, both in
New York City. ==Sources==