He attended the public schools, and then moved with his parents to Morgantown, West Virginia.

He graduated from the West Virginia University in 1902, where he was known to have been a brilliant student, winning the Inter-Society Oration and Debate prize, and where he had been a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.

[1] After graduation, he worked as a teller in a bank at Morgantown from 1902 until 1904, when he resigned to take up the study of law, again at West Virginia University.

In addition, he pursued an interest in coal mining, both as a shareholder and board member.

He married Miss Pearl Silveus of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 3 June 1904, with whom he had two children.