Editing Thomas Ustick Walter (section)

==Early life and education==
Walter was born on September 4, 1804, in [[Philadelphia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Thomas Ustick Walter |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Ustick-Walter |website=www.britannica.com |publisher=Britannica |access-date=20 December 2024 |archive-date=29 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240829080721/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Ustick-Walter |url-status=live }}</ref> He was the son of mason and bricklayer Joseph S. Walter and his wife Deborah.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Frary |first1=Ihna Thayer |title=They Built the Capitol |date=1940 |publisher=Garrett and Massie |page=201 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xB5AAAAMAAJ |access-date=23 December 2024}}</ref> Walter showed an aptitude for mathematics and drawing at an early age.{{sfn|Mason|1888|p=322}} He worked as a bricklayer for his father during the construction of the [[Second Bank of the United States]]<ref name=winterthur>{{cite web |title=Thomas Ustick Walter (1804-1887) |url=http://findingaid.winterthur.org/html/HTML_Finding_Aids/COL0116.htm |website=findingaid.winterthur.org |publisher=The Winterthur Library |access-date=22 December 2024 |archive-date=1 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201154250/http://findingaid.winterthur.org/html/HTML_Finding_Aids/COL0116.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and studied architecture in the office of [[William Strickland (architect)|William Strickland]].<ref name=aoc>{{cite web |title=Thomas Ustick Walter, Fourth Architect of the Capitol |url=https://www.aoc.gov/about-us/history/architects-of-the-capitol/thomas-ustick-walter |website=www.aoc.gov |publisher=Architect of the Capitol |access-date=19 December 2024}}</ref>

He attended the School of Mechanic Arts at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and studied under [[John Haviland]].<ref name=winterthur/> 

Later in life, he received an honorary Masters of Arts degree from Madison University in 1849, a Ph.D. from the [[Bucknell University|University of Lewisburg]] in 1853, and a Doctor of Laws degree from [[Harvard University]] in 1857.{{sfn|Mason|1888|p=326}}