Private secretary, Gov. David S. Reid, North Carolina, 1850-1854
Private practice, Rockingham County, North Carolina, 1854
Member, North Carolina House of Commons, 1854-1859; speaker, 1858-1859
Private practice, North Carolina, 1860-1861
Solicitor, Fourth Judicial Circuit, North Carolina, 1861, 1862-1868
Confederate Army captain, 1861-1862
State senator and speaker, North Carolina, 1866-1868
Associate justice, Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1868-1871, 1872-1876
Minister to Peru, U.S. Department of State, 1871-1872