Born in New Hartford, New York, he began attending Yale University as a junior in 1862.
He was one of the first non-combatants to enter Paris following the surrender of the French[1][5] and witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
[1] He recounted the Battle of Sedan and the capture of Napoleon III in his "The Surrender of an Emperor", published in The Second Book of the Authors Club: Liber Scriptorum (1921).
[7] He also interviewed Otto von Bismarck,[5] Patrice de Mac-Mahon, Duke of Magenta, Adolphe Thiers, and Léon Gambetta.
[1] He was elected to be a judge on the New York Supreme Court and served for fourteen years (1895–1909).