He was the eldest son of Connecticut natives Elnathan and Statira (Sperry) Bishop and grew up on the family farm.

[1] In 1839, Bishop was appointed to the newly created position of superintendent of schools in Providence, Rhode Island.

He planned to work in the publishing industry, however the aftermath of the Panic of 1857 made it impossible for him to start his new venture.

[1] He was also active in the American wing of the Evangelical Alliance and in 1871 was part of a delegation that went to Friedrichshafen to petition Alexander II of Russia for religious liberty for Lutherans in the Baltic governorates.

[4] As a member of the society, Bishop pushed for the creation of a college for African-American Baptists in Texas.

That summer, Bishop and two other commissioners traveled to the Indian Territory, where they visited the Arapaho, Comanche, Apache, and other tribes.

On July 6 his good friend Barnas Sears died and Bishop told a family member that he would soon follow him.