..  was born in Carlisle, Cumberland (as it was known in 1827), England and was taken at an early age to America.  

Here he developed in to a child prodigy and by 1844/45 was a member of The Virginian Serenaders.  When he retired from minstrelsy about 1868 he was associated with George T Rees in the management of the academy of music in Selma, Alabama and made banjos.