In 1856, he became a journeyman printer with the Berks and Schuylkill Journal. He relocated to Columbia, South Carolina in 1859, and returned to the Reading area at the outset of the American Civil War, where in 1863 he enlisted in Company C of the 42nd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
In 1856, he began his career as a printer for the Berks and Schuylkill Journal. He moved to Columbia, South Carolina in 1859 and returned to the Reading area at the beginning of the Civil War, where he enlisted in Company C of the 42nd Pennsylvania Volunteers in 1863.