The Peterboro Land Office is located in the hamlet of

Peterboro Peterboro, located approximately southeast of Syracuse, New York, is a historic hamlet and currently the administrative center for the Town of Smithfield, Madison County, New York, United States. Peterboro has a Post Office, ZIP code 13134 ...

, in the Town of Smithfield in

Madison County, New York Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 68,016. Its county seat is Wampsville. The county is named after James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, and was fir ...

. The small, Federal style building was built in 1804. It was constructed of locally produced brick laid in Flemish bond on the facade and common bond elsewhere. The main room is . The interior has plaster walls and ceiling and a brick over plank floor. The entrance vestibule is in the center of the south wall between two windows. There is a window each on the east and west walls. The north walls has built in shelves and drawers on the east side and a iron vault door on the west side. an
''Accompanying 4 photos, from 1984''
/ref> Peter Smith arrived in

Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...

, then called

Fort Schuyler Fort Schuyler is a preserved 19th century fortification in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It houses a museum, the Stephen B. Luce Library, and the Marine Transportation Department and Administrative offices of the State University of ...

, in 1784, and over the next ten years formed close ties with the local Native American tribe, the Oneidas. In 1794, Peter Smith leased, and subsequently acquired full title to, of land from the Oneidas under Chief Skenadoah. The tract comprised the central portion of modern-day Madison County and parts of the current Oneida County. Over of land in the northeastern part of the country were transferred in thousands of transactions at the land office, which was used for that purpose until the late 19th century.

Gerrit Smith Gerrit Smith (March 6, 1797 – December 28, 1874), also spelled Gerritt Smith, was a leading American social reformer, abolitionist, businessman, public intellectual, and philanthropist. Married to Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, Smith was a candidat ...

, Peter's son, continued in the land business after his father. He also established the Peterboro Academy in 1853 and an orphanage in 1871. He was an active abolitionist. His grandson,

Gerrit Smith Miller Gerrit Smith Miller (January 30, 1845 – March 10, 1937) was a grandson of and named for the famous abolitionist, businessman, and philanthropist Gerrit Smith. His parents were Smith's daughter, Elizabeth Smith Miller, and her husband Charles Dud ...

, was a noted philanthropist and active in the women's suffrage movement. The land office was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1984, and is part of the larger

Gerrit Smith Estate The Gerrit Smith Estate is a historic residential estate at Oxbow Road and Peterboro Road in Peterboro, New York. It was home to Gerrit Smith (1797-1874), a 19th-century social reformer, abolitionist, and presidential candidate, and his wife, ...

which was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 2001. Image:Peterboro Land Office Interior 1.jpg, West wall Image:Peterboro Land Office Interior 2.jpg, Built in shelves and drawers for land transaction ledgers on north wall Image:Peterboro Land Office Interior 3.jpg, Vault door on east side of north wall Image:Smokehouse Gerrit Smith Estate.jpg, Smokehouse on west side of north wall of the land office

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Federal architecture in New York (state) Commercial buildings completed in 1804 National Register of Historic Places in Madison County, New York

Land office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...

1804 establishments in New York (state)