He enlisted in the Second Michigan Infantry in July 1861, for three years. He served through the Seven Days Campaign and was given an honorable discharge a year later "in accordance with General Order No. 151.

He married Martha M. Barnard (born in Medina NY 1841) in 1864. She died in 1905.

The couple had four children:

1. Lula Marie (b. 1866);
   
2. Isabella (b. 1869);
   
3. Richard Frederick (b. 1874) and
   
4. May (b. 1877).