On 21 Feb 1755 he was alone, both his parents being dead. As "a minor, over 14 years of age," he chose as his guardian, Eliphalet Gay, who made his living making shoes and other leather goods. One of his sureties was Samuel Shuttlesworth, of Dedham, a blacksmith. He was bound as an apprentice to a blacksmith (most likely Shuttlesworth), from whose service he ran away the same year, and went to Norwich, in the western part of Massachusetts, where he settled on 500 or 600 acres of land on the Westfield river. He was a blacksmith and farmer. He served in the Revolutionary War. He was a private under Captain Daniel Pomeroy. He was a useful and respected citizen.