 He was born in Gorham, Maine (in what is now called the Baxter House), on March 23, 1831, but lived in Portland from 1840.He attended Master Jackson's School until 1844, and then Lynn Academy until 1848.He began work in the Boston law offices of Rufus Choate, but ill health forced a return to Portland, where he worked in a dry goods importing business with William G Davis, pioneering a canning and packing business (Portland Packing Company) that became important to the state's economy.