Gerrit Smith
Gerrit Smith (March 6, 1797 – December 28, 1874), also spelled Gerritt Smith, was an American social reformer, abolitionist, businessman, public intellectual, and philanthropist. Married to Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, Smith was a candidate for President of the United States in 1848, 1856, and 1860. He served a single term in the House of Representatives from 1853 to 1854.First valedictorian of the new Hamilton College (1818), and married to the daughter of the college president, he had "a fine mind", with "a strong literary bent and a marked gift for public speaking". He was called "the sage of Peterboro." He was well liked, even by his political enemies. The many who appeared at his house in Peterboro, invited or not, were well received. (In 1842 the names of 132 visitors were recorded.)
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 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. Provided by Wikipedia
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No treason in civil war : speech of Gerrit Smith, at Cooper Institute, New-York, June 8, 1865. by Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Published 1865Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
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Speeches of Gerrit Smith in Congress. by Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Published 1855Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
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Sermons and speeches of Gerrit Smith. by Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
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Letter of Gerrit Smith to S.P. Chase, on the unconstitutionality of every part of American slavery. by Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Published 1847Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
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The West Point mob / by Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Published 1871Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
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Gerrit Smith to his constituents. by Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Published 1854Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
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Letter of Gerrit Smith to Rev. James Smylie, of the state of Mississippi. by Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Published 1837Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
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No slavery in Nebraska, no slavery in the nation, slavery an outlaw : speech of Gerrit Smith, on the Nebraska bill : in Congress, April 6, 1854. by Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
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Gerrit Smith on McClellan's nomination and acceptance. by Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Published 1864Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
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Substance of the speech made by Gerrit Smith : in the capitol of the state of New York, March 11th and 12th, 1850. by Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
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The intemperate / by Sigourney, L. H. 1791-1865
Published 1833Other Authors: “…Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874…”
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