In partnership with George D. Prentice (afterward of the Louisville Journal), he owned and edited (before his majority) the New England Weekly Review, published at Hartford.

In 1827 he began the manufacture of glass in Dundaff, Pennsylvania, and became acquainted with the coal fields of the Lackawanna Valley, in which he was afterwards so closely and profitably connected.

He continued in the mercantile business, and operated largely in real estate, with great boldness and success.

All these operations were entered into by his old partner, Amos Eno, who finished by building the Fifth Avenue Hotel.

He was long connected with the direction of the Mercantile, Second National and City Banks, the Camden and Amboy Railroad Co., the Manhattan Gas Light Co., and Bleecker Street Savings Institute, also with many other public and private trusts,[7][8][9] which show the high esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens, while his will contained bequests to many educational and charitable institutions.