Born near Embreville, Pennsylvania, he attended public schools in Romansville, Pennsylvania and the West Chester Normal School for three years. He graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1893 and was admitted to the bar in the same year. He set up practice in Omaha, Nebraska. He was a member of the Congregationalist Church, as well as a Freemason, an Elk, a Woodmen, and a member of Delta Chi.