Some historians do not share the stories of cooperation between Black and White abolitionists united in a common cause of providing freedom for runaways. In addition, historians don’t acknowledge the cooperation of Black and White abolitionists on the Underground Railroad. YAAHA knows of nearly unlimited stories of free Blacks, rich and poor, and Whites, rich and poor, who worked for a common goal – to provide runaways with freedom and end slavery.
One such abolitionist and Underground Railroad “station master” from Peterboro, New York, was Gerrit Smith (1797-1874). Gerrit was the son of a wealthy fur trader, Peter Smith, who increased his wealth by buying land. Garrit continued to follow his father’s footsteps and amassed large tracks of land. He became the wealthiest landowner in the state of New York.
Garrit used this wealth to buy the freedom of thousands of enslaved people directly from the enslavers. He played a critical role in the Underground Railroad, where he ran the operations out of his land office at Peterboro. Garrit welcomed Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and John Brown to Peterboro and helped these leaders get freedom for the enslaved and safe passage to Canada. Garrit also sold land tracts for one dollar to 3,000 poor Blacks, thus turning over 140,000 acres of land between 1846 and 1850. He was one of the most influential abolitionists.
The Peterboro Estate has been designated a National Historic Landmark.