Came to Canada soon after the birth of their first son (James) to work on the Rideau Canal. He had a small tract of land where the Parliament buildings now stand, and saved up to bring his wife Mary and son James over (Joseph came in 1825, and Mary and James in 1829). Shortly thereafter, they went up the Gatineau River to settle at the mouth of the Lapeche River, and their daughter Ann was the first child born in the Wakefield Township. Accodring to the book “Wakefield Revisited”, they were the first settlers in the Wakefield region.

In the 1842 census for Wakefield, he is listed as a farmer, with 10 people living in the household.