Cricher moved the family to Granville County, North Carolina in 1763, where Nathaniel attended the school of the Reverend Henry Pattillo.

In his early working years, he also served as a clerk for the vestry of St. Matthew's Parish, as a committee member for a civic organization, and, most notably, as a delegate to North Carolina's first Provincial Congress.

Rochester was appointed a major in the North Carolina militia, and served as justice of the peace and paymaster of the battalion of minutemen in the district of Hillsborough.

In 1776, Rochester represented Orange County in the Fourth Provincial Congress and was elevated to the rank of colonel in the North Carolina Line.

Rochester was also made commissioner in charge of building and managing an arms factory and courthouse, and assisted in establishing an academy in the Hillsborough area.

[5][6] In 1778 Rochester resigned and entered a mercantile venture with Colonel Thomas Hart, a notable and wealthy merchant and land speculator, and James Brown.

After a lengthy recovery, he joined Hart in Hagerstown, Maryland, where the two became partners in a flour mill, a nail and rope factory, a bank, and a farm.

They were convinced by the land agent to visit the Genesee Falls further north,[10] where they found an abandoned grist and saw mill—opened in 1789—once owned by Ebenezer “Indian” Allen.

Upon his arrival, Rochester quickly became a leading citizen of Dansville, establishing numerous businesses and mills and playing an active role in the early politics of the town.

Work on their cabin at Four Corners was not yet finished, so the family stayed with Rochester's land agent Enos Stone, who had been living in Allen's former mill on the east side of the river, until its completion on July 4, 1812.

[17] Other initial settlers included Abelard Reynolds, who established a pioneer saddlery and the village's first post office, Silas O. Smith; Elisha and Hervey Eli; and Josiah Bissel, Jr.[18] In 1814, it's believed that Reynolds' son, Mortimer, was the first white child born in Rochester;[19] The War of 1812 helped Rochesterville grow as settlers living in Charlotte and other settlements along the shore of Lake Ontario sought to move farther inland.

Furthermore, numerous skirmishes and war activities were taking place throughout western New York, and Rochesterville served as a waypoint and depot for military supplies.

[20] In 1817, Rochester served on a committee to petition the state to build what would become the Erie Canal on a proposed northern route that included a crossing on the Genesee River at Rochesterville.

Rochester remained an active participant in the growth of the town and county he founded, playing many roles in developing its economy and status.

Another document shows that, on the same day, another enslaved person, Casandra, was made an indentured servant who would learn to read and write and "the art and mystery of a Cook...until the said apprentice shall accomplish her full age of eighteen years.

According to Rochester, "Were slavery tolerated in New York, I would never go in quest of finer soil; the absence of this necessary evil, to a person of southern habits, is an insuperable objection to the country.

I could brook the climate; could I have my negroes to work for me.” Ultimately, Rochester remained in New York because the move to Missouri seemed too daunting at his advanced age.