His father was a local merchant and banker, while his mother a noted stage actress who came from a British theatrical family.

[1][2][3] After graduating from Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky he studied law under the jurist Garnett Duncan in Louisville and later a Judge Pryor.

[3] Fosdick's first serious work Malmiztic, the Toltec; and the Cavaliers of the Cross, published in 1851, drew its inspiration from his travels in Mexico over the late 1840s.

[3] Fosdick's lyrical poetry such as Ariel, The Maize, The Catawba, The Thrush, The Pawpaw, Light and Night, and Lute and Love often reflected his Mid-Western roots and at times were put to music by composers such as Poulton and Vincent Wallace.

[3] After some seven years in New York Fosdick returned to Cincinnati where, by 1860, he was editor of The Sketch Club, an illustrated periodical supported by local artists and patrons.