 In the 1840s he collaborated with Rowland G. Hazard to secure the release of free African-Americans who were being illegally detained in Louisiana under the assumption they were escaped slaves.He was a majority stockholder in the first version of the St. Charles Hotel.At the close of the American Civil War he was elected to the United States Senate, but as Louisiana had not been readmitted to the Union, he was not allowed to take his seat.