Background
He was born on November 15, 1768 near Tappan, New York, United States, son of Gerrit P. and Wyntje (Lent) Smith, descendants of Dutch emigrants to America in the seventeenth century.
He was born on November 15, 1768 near Tappan, New York, United States, son of Gerrit P. and Wyntje (Lent) Smith, descendants of Dutch emigrants to America in the seventeenth century.
There is no information about his education.
At an early age Peter became a clerk in the New York house of Abraham Herring. From 1785 to 1788 he conducted a general store in New York selling books, library, school, and theatrical supplies.
He met John Jacob Astor and formed a partnership in the fur trade that lasted only about a year. However, they cooperated in the purchase and sale of land in upstate New York for a number of years thereafter. In 1789 Smith moved to what is now Utica and established the first general store on the site of the old Baggs Hotel. There he lived for several years selling supplies and groceries to traders and Indians, receiving in return grain, pelts, and furs. At the same time he speculated in land.
In 1794 he obtained a lease from the Oneida Indians for a large tract extending roughly over Oneida and Onondaga counties, and, after the state acquired title by the treaty of 1795, he was able to obtain ownership from the state. In the center of this holding he built the "Homestead, " calling the village that developed Peterboro and the township Smithfield. Further purchases increased his holdings to nearly a million acres, scattered through most of the counties of the state. He was also interested in agricultural activities, engaged in the manufacture and sale of grindstones.
His relations with the Indians were cordial. He was a member and officer of the New York Tract Society.
In 1819 he had made arrangements to hand over his business to his son Gerrit but retained the income from $125, 000. He lived most of the time at his Schenectady home. He died there.
He was a religious person.
He had good financial abilities.
He married twice. On February 5, 1792, he married Elizabeth Livingston, the daughter of James Livingston, who died in 1818. They had six children of whom the most important was Gerrit Smith. His second wife was Sarah Pogson of Charleston, though of English birth. This marriage ended in bitterness and separation. The wife returned to South Carolina.
He named his eldest son Peter Skenandoah in honor of Skenandoa