Joel and his two sisters inherited their father's farm of one hundred twenty acres and the good country house in which they lived.

Root sailed out of New Haven harbor in 1802 on the Huron[5] with Captain David Montthrop (variant spelling Molthrop) in what he expected to be a lucrative adventure trading in seal furs.

The first recorded voyage to sealing grounds along the shores of the southern Pacific Ocean was that of Captain Daniel Greene from New Haven in 1790.

Root and his party arrived back in the United States at New York, their first home port, on October 26, 1806, four years after their departure.

He arrived home in New Haven on October 30, where his wife and seven daughters were in good health, having survived the smallpox epidemic, and were overjoyed to see him.