He was born on July 7th, 1811 in the small township of Catskill (state of New York). From a young age, he devoted himself to the timber business, managing to have the largest sawmill in the state of California. However, he quickly piled up several debts, which led him to take over checks that belonged to the municipality, selling them for 50 cents. Before he was found out, he decided to elope with his family aboard a sailboat.
After five months of sailing, he reached Talcahuano in March of 1855. In August of that same year, California authorities asked for his extradition after hearing of his embezzling, but the Chilean government denied said request.
He lived his first years in Chile in misery in the city of Chillan, but he turned the situation around when he was appointed the construction of a railway bridge over the Maipo river.
Later, between 1861 and 1863, he took charge of completing some sections of the railway between Valparaiso and Santiago. In addition, he built the railway that joined Talcahuano, Concepcion, Chillan and San Carlos.
In 1868, he continued this work, only in Peru, where he set up a railway in Arequipa and then from Lima to La Oroya.
He passed away in Peru on September 30th, 1877.
