 He was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1832, 1834, and 1836, and was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-eighth Congress for Maryland's 2nd congressional district (then comprising Allegany, Frederick and Washington Counties) on February 14, 1844.He served a brief term, losing his seat to Democrat Thomas Johns Perry on October 1, 1845.He died in Frederick at the age of 39 and is interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery.