After the death of his wife in childbirth, he took work with the New York Enquirer.
[1] He then travelled to Europe, accepted a naval appointment, and spent several years in South America.
[1] He became a Catholic, joined the Dominicans, then beginning their mission in Kentucky.
[3] Works published posthumously were The Fever Dream, from his time in Savannah, Georgia, and "Echo and the Lover".
[2] He married Eliza Cooper, daughter of Judge John Rowan.