Ripley was born in Hanover, New Hampshire the son of Sylvanus Ripley and Abigail Wheelock Ripley. He attended the common schools and Fryeburg Academy, studied law and was admitted to the bar.[1] He began the practice of law in Fryeburg, Maine, (which was a part of Massachusetts until 1820).
He served in the War of 1812 and was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving from 1814 to 1819.[2] He was elected from Maine to the Nineteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Enoch Lincoln. On the same day he was elected to the Twentieth Congress.[3] He was reelected to the Twenty-first Congress, serving in Congress from September 11, 1826, to March 12, 1830, when he resigned.
After leaving Congress, Ripley resumed the practice of law and was a collector of customs for the district of Passamaquoddy, Maine, from December 16, 1830, until his death in Fryeburg on June 17, 1835.[4] He is interred in the Village Cemetery in Fryesburg.
