Smithfield Presbyterian Church Peterboro NY Jul 10

Peterboro, located approximately southeast of

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, is a historic hamlet and currently the administrative center for the Town of Smithfield, Madison County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. Peterboro has a Post Office, ZIP code 13134. Because of its most famous resident—businessman, philanthropist, and public intellectual

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 ...

—Peterboro was before the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

the capital of the U.S. abolition movement. Peterboro was, according to Rev.

Henry Highland Garnet Henry Highland Garnet (December 23, 1815 – February 13, 1882) was an African-American abolitionist, minister, educator and orator. Having escaped as a child from slavery in Maryland with his family, he grew up in New York City. He was educat ...

, the only place in the country where fugitive slave catchers did not dare show their faces, the only place the New York Anti-Slavery Society could meet (a mob chased it out of Utica), the only place where fugitive slaves ever met as a group—the

Fugitive Slave Convention The Fugitive Slave Law Convention was held in Cazenovia, New York, on August 21 and 22, 1850. Madison County, New York, was the abolition headquarters of the country, because of philanthropist and activist Gerrit Smith, who lived in neighboring P ...

of 1850, held in neighboring Cazenovia because Peterboro was too small for the expected crowd. Abolitionist leaders such as

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and many others were constant guests in Smith's house. So many fugitive slaves headed for Peterboro, and Smith, that there is a book about them, and some never left Peterboro, forming a Black community from an early date. Here is the comment of a minister, visiting in 1841: This was not true elsewhere in Madison County. In the 1850 census, the population of Peterboro was 347. In 1859 there were two drug stores, a tailor's shop, two groceries, a country dry goods store, the Peterboro Academy, the Fay House (a hotel), and the closed Peterboro Hotel. The Town Hall, in a former Presbyterian church, houses the

National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum is located on the second floor of a historic Presbyterian church, located at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, between Elizabeth and Park Streets, in the hamlet of Peterboro, New York. The church, built in ...

. Gerrit Smith's mansion was lost to fire in 1936, but his office, the Peterboro Land Office, has survived. A Peterboro Area Museum is located in the former schoolhouse of the Home for Destitute Children of Madison County; in 2022 it is open only on Sundays.

Founding

In 1795, Peter Smith Sr., a partner of John Jacob Astor's who built his fortune in the fur trade, founded Peterborough, naming the town after himself. Smith moved his family to Peterborough in 1804 and built the family home there, in what at the time was near-wilderness. His son Gerrit changed the spelling of the name to Peterboro.

Notable people

Gerrit Smith

In the 1820s,

took over the business interests of his father, Peter Smith Sr., managing his family's property holdings in the town and the surrounding area. The Peterboro Land Office—the most important surviving building of the Smith estate—was built as his office for these activities. Gerrit Smith's commitment to both the abolition and temperance movements led to the Smith estate in Peterboro becoming a stop on the underground railroad. Less successful was Smith's temperance campaign, which did not enjoy local support; he built one of the first temperance hotels in the country in Peterboro, but it was not commercially successful. He was reported to be liked by almost all the people of Peterboro. "He does a vast deal of good here." After

John Brown's raid John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, when Smith expected to be indicted, the people of Peterboro were prepared to use force (guns) to prevent his arrest.

Others

Ann Carroll Fitzhugh Ann Carroll Smith ( Fitzhugh; 1805–1875)Syracuse University, Smith FamilTree was an American abolitionist, mother of Elizabeth Smith Miller, and the spouse of Gerrit Smith. Her older brother was Henry Fitzhugh. Ann and Gerrit Smith's Peterboro, ...

, Smith's wife.. * Elizabeth Smith Miller, Smith's daughter, the first to wear bloomers. * Gerrit Smith Miller, Smith's grandson. *

Gerrit Smith Miller, Jr. Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. (December 6, 1869 – February 24, 1956), was an American zoologist and botanist. He was born in Peterboro, New York, in 1869. His great-grandfather was Gerrit Smith, the wealthy abolitionist, businessman, and politic ...

, Smith's great-grandson. * Rev.

, a Black minister and abolitionist. *

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...

, a founder of the

women's rights movement Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

and first cousin of Gerrit Smith on his mother's side, met her husband,

Henry B. Stanton Henry Brewster Stanton (June 27, 1805 – January 14, 1887) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, social reformer, Lawyer, attorney, journalist and politician. His writing was published in the ''New York Tribune, ...

, at the Smith home in 1839. He had come from Utica to Peterboro to speak. Attending abolition meetings in Madison County, she wrote, "I shall never forget those charming drives over the hills in Madison County, the bright autumnal days, and the bewitching moonlight nights. The enthusiasm of the people in these great meetings, the thrilling oratory and lucid argument of the speakers, all conspired to make these days memorable as among the most charming in my life." * George Pack, his wife Maria Lathrop, and family resided in Peterboro in the late 1830s and early 1840s. From Peterboro, Pack went on to Michigan's Lower Peninsula, where he founded the family's business interests in timber. Pack's son,

George Willis Pack George Willis Pack (born 1831, Peterboro, New York; d. August 31, 1906, Southampton, Long Island, New York) was a second-generation timberman on Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Building on his father's legacy, over the course of several decades, Pac ...

, who was born in Peterboro, and grandson,

Charles Lathrop Pack Charles Lathrop Pack (May 7, 1857 – June 14, 1937), a third-generation timberman, was "one of the five wealthiest men in America prior to World War I".Eyle, p. xv He owed his good start in life to the success of his father, George Willis Pack, ...

, both became well-known timbermen in their own right. * Alexander Preston Ellinwood, Wisconsin politician, teacher, and businessman, was born in Peterboro.

Historic sites

*In 2001, the Gerrit Smith Estate was designated a National Historic Landmark. * The Peterboro Land Office building and Smithfield Presbyterian Church, now the Smithfield Town Hall, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. * The Church of Peterboro, at Park Street and Swamp Road, founded in 1843 by Gerrit Smith, in the 20th century became a private dwelling. Among those that spoke there were Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison,

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Baumfree; November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist of New York Dutch heritage and a women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to f ...

, and Harriet Tubman.

References

External links

The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark
on th
NYHistory.com website
{{Authority control Hamlets in New York (state) Populated places on the Underground Railroad Populated places established in 1795 Hamlets in Madison County, New York 1795 establishments in New York (state) Abolitionism in the United States Gerrit Smith