 He was a trader, shipowner, and banker, and served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1851 to 1855, and again from 1861 to 1862.Appleton was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts, the son of a minister, the Reverend Joseph Appleton, who died when he was nine.He attended schools in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, Francestown, New Hampshire, and Tyngsborough, Massachusetts.