[citation needed] He prospered as a merchant in New Bedford, Massachusetts, but had a political squabble and left for New York.

[2] He was also involved with Tammany Hall: along with Gideon Lee, another banker, his faction controlled the Democratic Party in New York City at the time that the Locofoco reformers attempted, unsuccessfully, to take it over.

However, he adopted a son named William Fish who reportedly died before his father did as "a disgraced man."

William had one child who was in line to inherit most of Fish's property, on the condition that "the youth must renounce his mother on arriving at the age of twenty-one.

[9] His obituary called him "a rough, obstinate, and eccentric man" but said he was "without guile" and "charitable", as well as a faithful friend.