[1] Topliff was born in 1829 or 1830 to some of the first settlers of Chautauqua County, New York.
While his family was relatively poor, Topliff was ambitious and went to Jamestown to study law.
It was around this time when the California Gold Rush began, and so Topliff ceased his studies to travel west in 1851.
He spent three years there and then traveled to Chile to mine for silver.
During this time, he was a member of the Democratic Party, but became a Republican in 1854 due to new territorial policies.