Smithfield

Peter Smith, First Judge

Peter Smith was born near Tappan, NY in the year 1768. At the young age of 16, he began working as a clerk in the counting house of Abraham Herring & Co. Just one year later, this entrepreneurial young man established his own country store at Fall Hill (south of Little Falls in Herkimer County and north of the present-day New York State Thruway)—quite a distance from his birthplace. 

In 1787, Smith moved further west to Old Fort Schuyler (now Utica) and opened the first general store in that part of New York.  At this location he was successful trading with the Oneidas, mostly in furs, in exchange for grain. We are told that Smith could speak the language of the Oneidas. When and where he learned this talent is uncertain. His ability to communicate with these people in their own language may well be why he was so successful in business with them. 

It was during this time that Smith met John Jacob Astor, with whom he entered into a partnership in the fur trade. The two later collaborated in land acquisitions, though their business relationship was short-lived.

In 1794, Smith entered into a lease agreement with the Oneidas for 50,000 acres of land, set for a term of 999 years. These lands were known as the New Petersburgh Tract. Smith began subdividing the property and leasing parcels for 21-year terms. However, in 1795 the State of New York made a treaty with the Oneidas and purchased the lands that Smith had leased. Smith was able to purchase from the state the acreage that had not already been leased to others - approximately 22,299.5 acres - at a cost of about $2 per acre ($44,599). It is estimated that Smith accumulated a total of between 500,000 and 1,000,000 acres of land in New York state.

Relocation & Appointments

In 1806, Smith relocated to the village that bore his name, Peterboro, in the town of Smithfield (also named by and for him). That same year, Peter Smith was appointed by the Council of Appointment as one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas. With no courthouse available, the first court session in June was held in the schoolhouse at Quality Hill. The second session, in July, was held in the schoolhouse in Hamilton near Elisha Payne’s residence.

In June 1807, Smith was appointed First Judge of Madison County, a title he held until 1822. During the July 1807 term of Oyer and Terminer, First Judge Peter Smith sat with Supreme Court Judge Sylvanus Smalley and Assistant Judges Elisha Payne and David Cook to hear the case of Alpheus Hitchcock, a music teacher accused of murdering his wife with arsenic poison. Hitchcock was found guilty and sentenced to hang.