[1] Silas was educated at Woodstock Free Academy until 1812, then, after his father's bankruptcy, he went to New York City and began to work.

[2] In 1834, he ran for Lieutenant Governor of New York on the Whig ticket with William H. Seward, but they were defeated.

In this year, the political parties were equally divided, and as he had the casting vote on all appointments he became popularly known as "King Caucus".

He was United States Marshal for the Southern District of New York during President John Tyler's administration from 1841 to 1845.

He wrote on questions of finance, many of his articles appeared in the New York Herald from 1860 to 1872, under the pen-name of "Jonathan Oldbuck".