After studying anatomy in the office of a physician, Dr. James H. Armsby, he spent nine years as the studio boy of the sculptor,
E. D. Palmer. In 1858 he moved to
New York City where he opened a studio. There he shared an apartment with
James Pinchot. In 1862 he was elected
academician at the
National Academy due to his work Rocky Mountain Trapper, a marble portrait of
James "Grizzly" Adams. He visited
Rome in 1868–1869, and married Maria Louisa Potter (1839–1916), daughter of
Alonzo Potter, Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania. From 1875 to 1887 he was again in
Italy, living for most of the time at
Florence. He died at the State Mental Asylum at
Middletown, New York.[1]
David Bernard Dearinger, ed. (2004) Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design: 1826-1925 (Volume 1), pp. 534, New York, NY: Hudson Hills,
ISBN1555950299, see
[1] and
[2], accessed 12 September 2015.