During the construction of the Erie Canal, he opened a supply store at a place where the canal was cut through a mountain ridge, and which became the village of Lockport. In 1822, he became the first Postmaster of Lockport. On December 19, 1827, he married Eliza Bates at Hopewell, New York.
In October 1839, he was appointed by Governor William H. Seward a Canal Appraiser. In February 1840, he was elected by the New York State Legislature a Canal Commissioner, and remained in office until February 1842 when the Democratic majority removed the Whig commissioners. From November 1852 to March 1853, he was again a Canal Appraiser.