Gerrit Smith (and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to a certain extent) is discussed a
great deal in a book about the Loomis Gang called Frontier Justice, the rise
and fall of the Loomis Gang.by Torrey. The book has an interesting
background on the players on the scene in southern Oneida County and Madison
County during the time the Loomis Gang was at it's height. His father was
Peter Smith, and his mother was, Elizabeth Livingston from NY (of the same
family of the Dr. Livingston who explored africa) who was sister of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton's mother.
Peter Smith was, according to the book, "the person who benefited most by
the state's acquisition of Oneida Indian Land." He was son of an established
Dutch family in the Hudson Valley. He was in fur trading business with John
Jacob Astor. He married Elizabeth Livingston "daughter of on of the leading
aristocratic families in the state and close friends with Philip Schuyler"
in 1792. He acquired many more acres of land in NY and was one of the
wealthiest men in the state.He established Peterboro and built the Mansion,
and moved there with his wife and "newborn son, Gerrit", apparently around
1795-96.
The Frontier Justice book cites to information on Peter Smith found in R.V.
Harlow, Gerrit Smith, Philanthropist and Reformer (New York: Henry Holt,
1939) pp. 2-5 and O.B. Frothingham, Gerrit Smith (New York: Negro University
Press, 1969; originally published in 1878.
Gerrit inherited 1/2 million acres from his father, making him the largest
landowner in the state. He was an abolitionest, and it was at abolitionist
gatherings at the Smith home in Peterboro (named after and est. by Peter
Smith) that Elizabeth Cady Stanton met Mr. Stanton. The Smith Mansion house
was said to be a major stop in the underground railway. Gerrit Smith also
established a settlement for runaway slave families up by Lake Placid, and
that is where "John Brown's Body lies mouldring in the grave" According to
the book, "among his regular guestss at Peterboro were" Horace Greely,
William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Henry Statnton, Henry Ward
Beecher (brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe), Thurlow Weed and Alfred Conkling
with his son Roscoe.Roscoe Congling was a lawyer, abolitionist, and later a
senator.
Gerrit Smith was rumoured to have supported and financed John Brown's raid
at Harper's Ferry. As this was treason at the time, Gerrit Smith went to
ground. He had a mental breakdown and was hosptalized in the Utica Asylum
for a time, but then "recovered" after abolitionism gained polularity and
became a cause of the Union. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in the special that
they aired last year, was said to have been very crushed by her cousin's
hospitalization. However, Gerrit recovered quite well, it appears, and went
on to greater things. thereafter.
I hope that points some direction to you on Gerrit Smith's family.
----- Original Message -----
From: <Beckpuff54(a)aol.com
To: <CADY-L(a)rootsweb.com
Sent: Sunday, December 10, 2000 1:27 PM
Subject: [CADY-L] Elizabeth Cady Stanton/Gerrit Smith
Does anyone know the genealogy of this Gerrit Smith or know of a site
I
can
go to on line to check out his genealogy? He was a first cousin to
Elizabeth
Cady Stanton.
Thank you for all your help.
Warm regards,
June
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SMITH, Gerrit, 1797-1874
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SMITH, Gerrit, a Representative from New York; born in Utica, NY, March 6,
1797; moved to Peterboro in 1806; attended an academy in Clinton, NY; was
graduated from Hamilton College, Clinton, NY, in 1818; studied law;
engaged
in the management of a large estate which he inherited; delegate to
the
State
conventions in 1824 and 1828; unsuccessful Liberty Party candidate
for
governor in 1840; unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1848; was
admitted
to the bar in 1853 and commenced practice in Peterboro, NY; elected
as a
Free-soil candidate to the Thirty-third Congress and served from March 4,
1853, until August 7, 1854, when he resigned; resumed the practice of his
profession, and was a publicist and philanthropist; he revived the
Anti-Dramshop Party, but was a delegate to the Republican National
Convention
in 1872 and supported Grant; died in New York City December 28,
1874;
interment in Peterboro Cemetery, Peterboro, Madison County, NY
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