24-609: The Peterboro Land Office is located in the hamlet of Peterboro , in the Town of Smithfield in Madison County, New York . 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 24 by 28 feet (7.3 by 8.5 m). The interior has plaster walls and ceiling and a brick over plank floor. The entrance vestibule
48-556: A Post Office , ZIP code 13134. Because of its most famous resident—businessman, philanthropist, and public intellectual Gerrit Smith —Peterboro was before the U.S. Civil War the capital of the U.S. abolition movement . Peterboro was, according to Rev. Henry Highland Garnet , 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),
72-418: A Black community from an early date. Here is the comment of a minister, visiting in 1841: At Peterboro (the residence of Gerrit Smith), I found as may well be expected, it was all Abolition—Abolition in doors and out—Abolition in the churches and Abolition in the stores—Abolition in the field and Abolition by the wayside. If I should use a figure, I would say that Peterboro is Bible-baptized into Abolition, in
96-426: A dozen wealthy and refined visitors from the metropolitan cities; a sprinkling of negroes from the sunny South, in their way to Canada; a crazy Millerite or two, who, disgusted with the world, thought it destined to be burned up at an early day; some enthusiastic adventurer who wanted Mr. Smith to invest largely in some utterly impracticable patent right, while the throng would be checkered with three or four Indians of
120-456: 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 4-foot-high (1.2 m) iron vault door on the west side. Peter Smith arrived in Utica, New York , then called Fort Schuyler , in 1784, and over the next ten years formed close ties with the local Native American tribe,
144-474: The 1840 census . The total population included 3,204,313 enslaved people. Although the official date of the census date was June 1, 1850, completed census forms indicate that the surveys continued to be made throughout the rest of the year. This was the first census where there was an attempt to collect information about every member of every household; women and children were named. Slaves were included by gender and estimated age on Slave Schedules, listed by
168-675: The National Historical Geographic Information System . The Utah Territorial census was taken in 1851. Secretary Broughton Harris refused to certify the census of Utah territory . Harris complained that Brigham Young had conducted the census without him, claimed several irregularities, and consequently withheld funds reserved for the census. The controversy contributed to Harris' decision to join other Runaway Officials of 1851 and abandon his post in Utah Territory. Relationships with
192-553: The National Register of Historic Places in 1984, and is part of the larger Gerrit Smith Estate which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2001. Peterboro, New York Peterboro , located approximately 25 miles (40 km) 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
216-529: 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. 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
240-464: The Oneidas. In 1794, Peter Smith leased, and subsequently acquired full title to, 50,000 acres (20,000 ha) 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 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) of land in the northeastern part of the country were transferred in thousands of transactions at
264-703: The Peterboro Academy, the Fay House (a hotel), and the closed Peterboro Hotel. The Presbyterian church, not needed by the Presbyterians after 1870, was bought by Gerrit Smith for use as an academy and public hall. It held a small public school for many years. Currently, besides the Town of Smithfield office, it houses the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum . Gerrit Smith's mansion was lost to fire in 1936, but his office,
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#1732772956937288-557: The South (1857). The 1850 census, Schedule 1, Free Inhabitants, collected the following information: Full documentation for the 1850 population census, including census forms and enumerator instructions, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series . The 1850 United States census collected a great amount of data that gave insight into the state of the U.S. economy in 1850. Some of
312-597: 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 , when Smith expected to be indicted,
336-550: The best route to Canada, while the latter departed in due time with shoulders stooping under burdens of flour, beef, and other edibles. 1850 census The 1850 United States census was the seventh decennial United States Census Conducted by the Census Office , it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23,191,876—an increase of 35.9 percent over the 17,069,453 persons enumerated during
360-575: The data revealed the growth of the economy with regard to agricultural and manufactured production, international trade, federal debt, taxation, transportation, education, and land expansion. This census was conducted during a very important period of growth and innovation in the United States, the Industrial Revolution. The statistics in this census provide data on the rate of growth that was taking place in 1850, which resulted in
384-472: The emergence of the United States as an economic world power. Many of the statistics were compared to those of Great Britain and other world powers. This shows where the United States stood economically relative to the rest of the world. Microdata from the 1850 population census are freely available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series . Aggregate data for small areas, together with compatible cartographic boundary files, can be downloaded from
408-467: The family home there, in what at the time was near-wilderness. His son Gerrit changed the spelling of the name to Peterboro. In the 1820s, Gerrit Smith 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
432-546: The federal government continued to sour and eventually resulted in the Utah War . Local government officials feared having an enslaved population might impede the territory's quest for statehood, since certain members of Congress were concerned about expansion of slavery into the western territories. The 1850 census slave schedule for Utah Territory reported only 26 slaves, with a note that all of them were heading to California, and did not include any enslaved people remaining in
456-408: The land office, which was used for that purpose until the late 19th century. Gerrit Smith , 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 , was a noted philanthropist and active in the women's suffrage movement. The land office was listed on
480-644: The name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. According to abolitionist Julia Griffiths : I always breathe more freely in Peterboro, than elsewhere. The moral atmosphere is so clear here... 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,
504-459: The name of the owner. Prior to 1850, census records had recorded only the name of the head of the household and broad statistical accounting of other household members (three children under age five, one woman between the age of 35 and 40, etc.). This was also the first census to ask about place of birth of free residents. Hinton Rowan Helper made extensive use of the 1850 census results in his influential anti-slavery book The Impending Crisis of
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#1732772956937528-559: The neighborhood, the remnants of the once-powerful Oneidas, who remembered the father, and felt pretty sure that they could get something out of the munificent son. The high-born guests had come to enjoy themselves during the Sumer solstice at this fine old rural retreat, and they always had a good time. As to the rest, they were never sent empty away, especially the negroes and the Indians, the former accepting cash in hand and good advice about
552-531: The only place where fugitive slaves ever met as a group—the Fugitive Slave Convention of 1850, held in neighboring Cazenovia because Peterboro was too small for the expected crowd. Abolitionist leaders such as John Brown , 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
576-400: The people of Peterboro were prepared to use force (guns) to prevent his arrest. Smith received a constant flow of unannounced visitors. During 1841 and 1842, there was an average of thirty-three visitors a month. In an obituary, the visitors were described as follows: [E]specially in the summer season, his visitors were of the most miscellaneous and amusing description. There you might meet
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