Waldo was born in Canterbury, Connecticut, and attended the common schools.

He served as chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions (Thirty-first Congress).

He served as Commissioner of Pensions under President Franklin Pierce from March 17, 1853, until January 10, 1856, when he resigned to become judge of the superior court of Connecticut 1856–1863.

He died in Hartford on September 8, 1881, and was interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress