From 1860 to 1861 he taught natural sciences at the Providence Conference Seminary, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, followed by a teaching position at the Delaware Literary Institute in Franklin, New York until 1867. That year he became professor of physics and chemistry at the Antioch College, where he stayed until 1870.
He was educated at the Yale Scientific School (today Sheffield Scientific School) and graduated in 1860. Between 1857 and 1860 he was director of a grade school in Crompton, Rhode Island.