 Raised on a farm, he attended the common schools and an academy, and at the age of seventeen, he began teaching school.When he was twenty-two, he engaged successfully in mercantile pursuits.For a number of years he was town clerk of Bennington and justice of the peace, and was a member of the New York State Assembly (Wyoming Co.) in 1860, 1865 and 1866; Hoskins was Speaker in 1865.