After two years, he took a preparatory course at the classical academy of the scholar Rev. John H. Dashiell in Baltimore, Maryland, before entering Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, as a freshman in September 1844.
After two years his desire for a liberal education was gratified and he took a preparatory course at the classical Academy of Dr. J.H. Dashiell. He prepared for college at the Baltimore Classical Institute in Maryland before entering Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, as a freshman in September 1844.