He was an only child. His parent died while he was 11. He was raised by his mothers sister (Mary Kimbel Brown) and her husband (Cyrus Barlow). He enlisted in the 6th Indiana Infantry when he was 16 (Aug 1861) He listed his residence as Bartholomew County IN. On 9/20/1861 he mustered into "C" Co. He was MusteredOut on 9/22/1864 at Chattanooga, TN. Served 3 years and 1 month during the Civil War. He had been wounded 5 times. Politically he was a Republician@@S51@@