Gerrit Smith in Abolitionists
Gerrit Smith (1797-1874) was a wealthy abolitionist from Utica, New York. He was the only abolitionist to hold a Congressional office, the president of the New York Anti-Slavery Society for three years, and a Station Master of the Underground Railroad. He also helped found the anti-slavery Liberty Party in 1840.
Smith joined the antislavery cause in October of 1835 while attending an abolitionist conference in his hometown. The meeting was disrupted by a violent mob of anti-abolitionists, so Smith offered his Peterboro, New York estate to house the conference and made a powerful speech on behalf of the cause.
Smith began to sell portions of his land to fugitive slaves for the nominal fee of just a dollar, and he became one of the Secret Six, a group of supporters who gave financial assistance to John Brown for his 1859 raid at Harper's Ferry.