In 1814 he entered commercial life, and in 1820 formed a partnership with Allen Newell in North Brookfield, but three years later withdrew to become the agent of the Methuen Manufacturing Company.

Other works were Nature and Uses of Money and Mixed Currency (Boston, 1857) and, with William B. Calhoun and Charles L. Flint, Transactions of the Agricultural Societies of Massachusetts (7 vols., 1848–1854).

In 1857, he began the publication of a series of articles on political economy in Hunt's Merchant's Magazine.

In 1853, he was chosen as a member of the convention for revising the state constitution, becoming the chairman of the committee on suffrage.

In 1860, he was chosen as a member of the electoral college of Massachusetts and cast his ballot for Abraham Lincoln.