Graduated in medicine in 1846, and practiced in the counties of Pike and Carbon, Pennsylvania, until 1854, when failing health obliged him to abandon his profession. For ten years he was employed as clerk in the United States Mint in Philadelphia, and in 1867 was appointed its director; in 1869 he was appointed a commissioner of the United States Treasury Department, and from then until his death, in 1879, he was constantly engaged in governmental work pertaining to the monetary system, and was instrumental in effecting much important legislation.