Born in
Groton,
Massachusetts, Tarbell graduated from
Lawrence Academy at Groton at the age of 16. He was graduated in 1873 from
Yale College, where he was a member of the
secret society Skull and Bones. He spent two years in
Europe before returning to Yale, where he received his
doctorate in 1879. From 1876 until 1887, he taught at Yale, beginning as first
tutor in
Greek, then assistant professor of Greek, and finally instructor in
logic. From 1888 until 1889, he was director of the
American School of Classical Studies at Athens. He returned to the United States to teach Greek at
Harvard College, remaining there from 1889 until 1892. Tarbell returned to the American School of Classical Studies to serve as secretary from 1892 until 1893. He joined the faculty of the new
University of Chicago, first as associate professor of Greek from 1893 until 1894, then as professor of
archeology until 1918, when he retired. He never married. Professor Tarbell was one of the faculty members chosen to lay the cornerstone for the University of Chicago Classics building on June 9, 1914. He died following an operation in
New Haven,
Connecticut. ==Legacy and honors==