 Skilton was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1889.From that year until 1891 he taught languages at a preparatory school in Newburgh, New York; while there, he studied composition with Dudley Buck and organ with Harry Rowe Shelley.Skilton traveled to Berlin for further study in 1891, remaining there until 1893 and studying at the Hochschule für Musik with Woldemar Bargiel and Otis Boise.