[19] He left Wood after eighteen months; the judge had paid him almost nothing, and both quarreled after Fillmore had, unaided, earned a small sum by advising a farmer in a minor lawsuit.[20] Refusing to pledge not to do so again, Fillmore gave up his clerkship.[21] Nathaniel again moved the family, and Millard accompanied it west to East Aurora, in Erie County, near Buffalo,[22] where Nathaniel purchased a farm that became prosperous.[23]
In 1821 Fillmore turned 21, reaching adulthood.[24] He taught school in East Aurora and accepted a few cases in justice of the peace courts, which did not require the practitioner to be a licensed attorney.[24] He moved to Buffalo the following year and continued his study of law, first while he taught school and then in the law office of Asa Rice and Joseph Clary. Meanwhile, he also became engaged to Abigail Powers.[24] In 1823 he was admitted to the bar, declined offers from Buffalo law firms, and returned to East Aurora to establish a practice as the town's only resident lawyer.[22][25] Later in life, Fillmore said he had initially lacked the self-confidence to practice in the larger city of Buffalo. 