He attended college at the age of 15, although he qualified at 12, but his dad did not want to send him away to Yale yet because he was very young. He was tutored by his dad. He grew up in Brookhaven, New York. His family did have a lot of money. He has four brothers and he was the second boy to be born out of five boys. His parents raised him very well. He attended Yale University, wanting to become a teacher, he ended up as a headmaster in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
He got married to Miss Hallet in 1808. He had five sons and two daughters.