As a teenager, he became apprenticed to a cabinetmaker in Newark, New Jersey
During his apprenticeship, he “made a camera, from descriptions he had read, and took some of the first daguerreotypes seen in Newark.” Completing his apprenticeship, he established his own cabinet and furniture shop.
Within a period of four years, he received two U.S. patents, receiving the first patent in 1852 for constructing a cylindrical sounding board for a piano. He went so far as to build a cylindrical piano, which he exhibited at the American Institute Fair in Castle Garden in 1853 and “described as a remarkable piece of mechanism.” Unfortunately, a fire destroyed his invention, along with his house in 1877. The second patent issued to Alfred Speer in 1856 was for a combination lock and weather-strip for windows.
By the 1850's he had begun experimenting with making wine from fruits that he had grown on his farm, especially elderflowers. He expanded the winery and his business into what became the largest winery in New Jersey. The next move was an office in New York City where he began to experience the challenges of commuting and moving around in the congested city which prompted him to think about how to alleviate the traffic.
