Smith, Gerrit
philanthropist, congressman, author, was born March 6, 1797, in Utica, N. Y. He was one of the leaders of the Anti-Slavery society, and was noted for his philanthropy. Having inherited one of the largest landed estates in the country, he distributed nearly two hundred thousand acres of it among the poor. He was a representative in congress from New York from 1853 to 1855. He was the author of Speeches in Congress; Sermons and Speeches; The Religion of Reason; The Theologies; and Nature the Basis of a Free Theology. He died Dec. 28, 1874, in New York city.