[1] He graduated from the academy in St. Albans,[2] read law[3] with his uncle's firm, Smalley & Adams, and was admitted to the bar in 1831.

[6] President Franklin Pierce appointed him Collector of Customs for the District of Vermont on April 6, 1853, and he served until February 16, 1857.

They had five children, four of whom lived to adulthood; Henry Adams; Bradley Barlow; Jacob Meack; and Eugene Allen.

He was a graduate of the United States Military Academy and attained the rank of brevet Brigadier General during the American Civil War.

He served on the staff of Governor Frederick Holbrook with the rank of colonel during the Civil War.

Bradley B. Smalley was later appointed Clerk of the United States District Court and Collector of Customs.