Excerpt from Gerrit Smith: A BiographyTo one who looks into the beginnings of any local society, the influence of individuals is apparent. The interest centres in a few men. This was the case in central New York. One of the men who made himself felt there in the first quarter of the century, was Peter Smith. He was born in Greenbush, Rockland Co., November 15, 1768. His ancestors, who were Hollanders, had lived and died there, for several generations. Petrus Smith died January 24, 1767 aged eighty years, two months, four days. Annitje his wife, died January 1, 1803. Gerrit P. Smith, their son, (born June 15, 1743, died October 7, 1826) married Wintje Lent (born July 16, 1750, died at her son's house in Schenectady, February 17, 1834). Peter was their oldest child. They lived on the farm near Tappan, which was made famous by the execution of John Andre. Peter was about twelve years old when that tragedy was enacted. At the age of sixteen or thereabouts he became clerk to Abraham Herring, an importing merchant in New York City.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.