He was born on November 24, 1818 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1838, and a few years later set up in practice at Philadelphia and became a lecturer at the Philadelphia School of Anatomy. He married Margaret Irwin in 1841. He also helped found the Irwin & Agnew Iron Foundry in 1846. In 1852, he bought and revived the Philadelphia School of Anatomy, where he continued to work through 1862. He was appointed surgeon at the Philadelphia Hospital in 1854 and was the founder of its pathological museum.