Peterboro in Madison County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Gerrit Smith Estate

Photographed by Susan A. Dalaba, April 25, 2022

1. Gerrit Smith Estate Marker

Inscription. Has Been Designated A
National Historic Landmark
This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America.

The surviving buildings, open spaces, and archaeological resources of the estate are significant in understanding Gerrit Smith’s role as a philanthropist, abolitionist, social reformer, and businessman, and interpreting the history of the Underground Railroad.

2001
National Park Service
United States Department of the Interior

Erected 2001 by National Park Service - United States of the Department of the Interior.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans • Charity & Public Work. In addition, it is included in the National Historic Landmarks series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 2001.

Location. 42° 58.055′ N, 75° 41.221′ W. Marker is in Peterboro, New York, in Madison County. It is on Oxbow Road (County Route 25), on the left. Located on the Peterboro Land Office located on the Gerrit Smith Estate. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this

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postal address: 5304 Oxbow Road, Peterboro NY 13134, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Upstate New York,

specifically in Central New York,

and in the Syracuse Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

New Netherland,

and one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Land Office (here, next to this marker); Peterboro Land Office (here, next to this marker); a different marker also named Gerrit Smith Estate (a few steps from this marker); Gerrit Smith: Humanitarian (a few steps from this marker); The Mansion (a few steps from this marker); Gerrit Smith: Abolitionist (a few steps from this marker); a different marker also named Gerrit Smith: Abolitionist (a few steps from this marker); Gerrit Smith (within shouting distance of this marker).

Peterboro Land Office image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Susan A. Dalaba, April 25, 2022

2. Peterboro Land Office

Touch for a list and map of all markers in Peterboro.

Also see . . . Gerrit Smith. Excerpt:

Smith, one of the wealthiest men in New York, was committed to political reform, and above all to the elimination of slavery. So many fugitive slaves came to Peterboro to ask for his help (usually, in reaching Canada) that there is a book about them. Peterboro was, because of Smith, the capital of the abolition movement. The only assembly of escaped slaves (as opposed to free Blacks) ever to meet in the United States—the Fugitive Slave Convention of 1850—took place in neighboring Cazenovia because Peterboro was too small for the meeting.

Smith was also, and less successfully, a temperance activist, and a women's rights suffrage advocate. He was a significant financial contributor to the Liberty Party and the Republican Party throughout his life. Besides making substantial donations of both land and money to create Timbuctoo, an African-American community in North Elba, New York, he was involved in the temperance movement and the colonization movement, before abandoning colonization in favor of abolitionism, the immediate freeing
Photographed by Susan A. Dalaba, April 25, 2022

3. Gerrit Smith Estate Marker
of all the slaves. He was a member of the Secret Six who financially supported John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry, in 1859. Brown's farm, in North Elba, was on land he bought from Smith.

(Submitted on April 6, 2025.)

Credits. This page was last revised on April 6, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 5, 2025, by Susan A. Dalaba of Cortland, New York. This page has been viewed 113 times since then and 6 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 5, 2025, by Susan A. Dalaba of Cortland, New York. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.