After his mother died two years later, he went back to Newfane to live with his grandparents and complete his schooling.
In 1834, he set up a sawmill in a new location and added a store and gristmill; this was to become the site of a new settlement called Coldbrook, later known as Knowlton.
He was named to the Special Council that then administered the province by colonial administrator Sir John Colborne.
He signed the 1849 Montreal Annexation Manifesto proposing union with the United States, viewing this as the best way to ensure the future economic development of the region.
He helped establish the Advertiser and Eastern Townships Sentinel with Lucius Seth Huntington in 1856.