He was born in Montville, Connecticut. He prepared for college at Wilbraham Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. He then attended Wesleyan University, where he graduated in 1869. He remained at Wesleyan, where he was librarian until 1873, professor of rhetoric and English literature until 1890, and simply professor of English literature after that. During 1880-81 he studied in Leipzig, Germany. He was noted for the quality of his lectures.
He married Julia Stackpole Smith in 1872. She died in 1877, and he married Alice Goodwin Smith in 1880.
