The son of a wealthy landowner, Salisbury helped manage the family"s extensive properties and businesses in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Like his father, Salisbury served one term in the State Senate, was president of the Worcester National Bank, and directed the Worcester & Nashua Railroad.
Harvard University.
He was a trustee of the Worcester City Hospital and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In 1896, along with a group of prominent citizens of Worcester, he founded the Worcester Art Museum. Salisbury died in 1905, leaving his extensive collection of mostly American art to the museum.
He also bequeathed $3 million to the museum.
Salisbury dedicated part of his time and economic resources to the research and popularization of the Mayan culture in the Yucatan peninsula. He wrote a number of articles in the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society about the subject, such as: The Mayas, the sources of their culture, The statue of Chac Mool, Terracota figures from Isla Mujeres, The K"atun of the Mayan History.
