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SMITH, Gerrit, a Representative from New York; born in Utica, N.Y., March 6, 1797; moved to
Peterboro in 1806; attended an academy in Clinton, N.Y.; was graduated from Hamilton College,
Clinton, N.Y., 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, N.Y.; 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, N.Y.
BibliographyHarlow, Ralph V. Gerrit Smith, Philanthropist
and Reformer. New York: H. Holt and Co., 1939. Reprint, New York: Russell &
Russell [1972].
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