He apprenticed as a physician in Goffstown, New Hampshire and came to Hamilton Township in Upper Canada around 1817, swearing allegiance to the Crown on January 5, 1818.
He was licensed to practise medicine in 1819; he set up practice first at Cobourg and later Peterborough.
He moved to Otonabee Township, where he set up a sawmill and gristmill on the Indian River with Zacheus Burnham and later opened a general store and distillery.
He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada in 1834 for Northumberland County as a general supporter of the Reform movement, but was defeated in the election of 1836 which had a general swing against Reform candidates.
In 1841, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in the riding of Northumberland North.