After two other brief engagements as a teacher, he removed to Salem, Massachusetts, where he studied theology under direction of Rev.
He was licensed to preach at North Danvers by the Salem Association, May 8, 1810, and was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church at Palmer, Massachusetts, June 19, 1811.
After this he went by invitation to Fayetteville, North Carolina, January 1834, to be at the head of Donaldson Academy, an institution just founded under the care of the Presbytery.
He held this situation until the close of 1839, when difficulties, produced mainly by the feelings aroused by the division of the General Assembly, caused him to resign.
He taught a private school in Fayetteville, until in 1846 he was called to Clinton, Miss., as President of the newly incorporated Mississippi College.
This enterprise, under the patronage of the New School Presbyterian Church, required larger funds than its friends could command, and after endeavoring in vain to build up the institution, Dr. Colton resigned in July 1848.