 The Philadelphia City Council Committee on Highways recommended the adoption of his design, yet it was never executed.Other references to municipal work include an appointment by the Count Commissioners to inspect a municipal prison hospital in 1854 and surveying work in Passyunk after Philadelphia's consolidation

He likely received his initial training at the Franklin Institute (joining as a life member in 1831) although rosters of the drawing class no longer survive for that period.As a member of the Franklin Institute, he served on the Committee on the Cabinet of Models and later on the Committees of the Library and Exhibitions.