He entered politics as a Democrat. He was Postmaster of Richfield Springs from 1842 to 1848. On July 16, 1846, he married Olive Beardsley Hyde (1824–1900). In 1848, he joined the Free Soil Party. He was a delegate to the 1856 and 1860 Republican National Conventions. He was Clerk of Otsego County from 1859 to 1861.