During the American wars he earned considerable sums as a commercial agent in New York, and made extensive land purchases in the Cork area.
His Cork enterprise was based at Lapp's Island, and his business acumen was recognised as he grew rapidly in fortune and was appointed to the city's committee of merchants.
Among his business interests was a malting and warehouse complex at Ballinacurra on Cork Harbour in partnership with John Lapp, in the 1780s.
He married a Miss Semple and had two daughters and two sons, one of whom, James Caleb Anderson (1782–1861), was a noted experimenter with steam-driven road vehicles.
His fortunes suffered a series of reversals with the fall in the value of land after the Napoleonic Wars, and he lost over £30,000 in a Welsh mining venture.