He earned his Bachelor of Divinity from Yale Divinity School in 1884. In 1885 he began his missionary work in China with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, serving in Beiping (1885–90), Tianjin (1892–99), Baoding (1902–11), and Yichang (1917-21, 26-27). From 1912-1917 he was on the committee that revised the Mandarin-language translation of the Bible. When finally published, the Mandarin Union Version superseded earlier versions and became the translation of choice for Chinese Christians into the 21st century. He was also editor of the Peking Union Church Bulletin from 1928-1943, was a member of the Peking Oriental Society and held a number of teaching posts.
