[1] His father died when he was 12, and his mother supplemented the family income by various means to afford his education at Litchfield Institute, and later at Yale University, where he received his BA in 1881, and his PhD degree in 1883.

He accomplished much, though civil service struggles persuaded him to move back to former position in 1901, and in a merger with New York Public Library he became chief of circulation, with Billings as director.

Here too he accomplished a great deal, but struggles with Billings persuaded him to move on and accept the opportunity to head the Saint Louis Public Library in 1909.

In American National Biography, John Mark Tucker criticizes his service during World War I because he removed pro-German material from the library shelves.

Joseph Alfred Boromé, in Dictionary of American Biography, praises his liberality during this time because he refused to halt circulation of German books.