The Peterboro Area Museum is introducing FOUR for FREEDOM, a two-day exhibit of
photographs, broadsides, and descriptive information for Juneteenth Weekend 2026 on Saturday,
June 20 and Sunday June 21 from 1 to 4 pm. The exhibit will detail the experiences of four
individuals coming for freedom in Peterboro NY. Harriet Powell, Harriet Russell (and family),
John Tyler, and John The Dominie West represent the hundreds of freedom seekers who came via
the Underground Railroad to the Gerrit Smith Estate in Peterboro. Two of these freedom seekers
remained in Peterboro for their lifetime. One was in contact from Canada with the Smith family.
Two are buried in the Peterboro Cemetery. A coach bus comes in August from a university in
Michigan to the gravesite of one. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote of her time in the attic with one
of the freedom seekers. The daughter of one freedomseeker sipped coffee with Tubman on her
visits.
Also, on exhibit is a model of the Gerrit and Ann Smith mansion created by Gary Tucker,
former Smithfield Highway Superintendent. The Smith home was a beacon of freedom to
hundreds of freedom seekers. Gerrit Smith Miller, grandson of Gerrit Smith, lived in the home
when it burned in 1936. Tucker’s creation provides a visual experience of the 1850s.
This Museum in Peterboro celebrates the 250 th anniversary of our country by a display
demonstrating a special project for the 200 th anniversary! In 1976 the National Park Service
reconstructed Fort Stanwix, a critical site in the fight for American independence. Four young
men from Peterboro [James Dorrance, Tim Huller, Daryl (Spook) Spokowsky, and David Goff,
Jr.] were trained in using broadaxes to hew logs for the fort reconstruction. This exhibit includes
some of their tools.
The Peterboro Area Museum was established in 1975 in preparation for the 200 th anniversary of
America’s independence in 1976. The Town of Smithfield agreed that the building that had been the
school for the Madison County Home for Orphaned and Destitute Children would be the museum
building.
The Peterboro Area Museum (PAM) is located at 4608 Peterboro Road in Peterboro at
the eastern end of the hamlet green. The PAM is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 pm
from June through September, and is closed this year on July 4 and 5, and September 5 and 6.
For more information: http://www.PeterboroNY.org, bspokows@twcny.rr.com, and 315.684.9022
