He eventually became a school teacher, teaching for two years before going to Centerville to study law with Martin R. Ray, a prominent local lawyer.
He traveled to New York to find businessmen willing to invest in the construction of a railroad that ran from Logansport through Kokomo, Elwood, Anderson, and New Castle before terminating in Richmond.
Later, when the Logansport-Richmond railroad was built, the first engine to travel across it was named Swinette and had a picture of Elliott carrying a pig under his arm painted on its side.
Elliott left the railroad industry and returned to public service in 1855, when he was elected to the position of judge of the 10th Circuit (comprising Henry, Randolph, Wayne, and Jay counties).
Their son, William Henry Elliott (born 1844), was a lawyer, the owner of the newspaper, the Newcastle Courier, and a member of the U.S. Navy who served in the Spanish–American War and helped organized the postal system of Puerto Rico after the conflict.