He graduated from
Falley Seminary in
Fulton in 1850. Soon after his graduation, he was appointed assistant under Colonel
Orville W. Childs on a survey for an inter oceanic ship canal through
Nicaragua. Upon returning to the US, he accepted a position on the New York State canals and in 1853 was appointed Second Assistant Engineer. From 1854 to 1859, he was First Assistant Engineer and in 1861 was Principal Assistant Engineer on the New York Harbor Encroachment Survey. He was appointed Deputy State Engineer under
William B. Taylor in 1862 and again under
Van Rensselaer Richmond in 1868, serving from 1862 to 1864 and from 1868 to 1871. In
1865, he ran on the
Democratic ticket for
New York State Engineer and Surveyor but was defeated by Republican
Jonas Platt Goodsell. In
1873, he ran again and was elected, being in office from 1874 to 1875. He later joined the
United Labor Party and was nominated again for State Engineer in
1887, but declined the nomination. He was also the Chief Engineer for the State on the Hudson River improvement, Engineer of the Commission for the construction of the Capitol at
Albany, Chief Engineer of the Albany waterworks, of the projected
Maryland and
Delaware ship canal, and of the Commission for the construction of the Broadway Arcade Railway. He was the author of
The Documentary History of the Canals ==Sources==