s well as purchase money and interest due to the
State of New York hoping that none of the parcels would be sold for
the nonpayment of taxes.[504] The total number of colonists were to be
one thousand nine hundred and eighty-five, to be distributed as
follows: in the county of Suffolk, 127; Queens, 215; Kings, 197; New
York, 861; Richmond, 832; Rockland, 331; Westchester, 115; Dutchess,
150; Sullivan, 5; Ulster, 106; Orange, 136; and Putnam, 10. Although
this distribution was suggested the actual grants seem to have been
made in the counties of Franklin, Essex, Hamilton, Fulton, Oneida,
Delaware, Madison and Ulster.

On September 9, 1846, he wrote again to three gentlemen of color,
saying that a thousand of the deeds were already in the hands of the
committee for distribution. He had saved them the expense of securing
the certificate of the County Clerk by having the acknowledgment of
the execution taken by a Supreme Court judge. The only expense left
for the beneficiaries to bear was the recording of the deed. The
letter closed with a request that the three gentlemen prepare and send
out a circular among the persons receiving the deeds, making known to
them the conditions and reasons which actuated him in bestowing the
land. This was done and the recipients were exhorted to profit by the
chance to become land owners and thereby secure their right to vote.

These lands, as Smith realized and admitted, were not all arable but
many of them had considerable timber. Such property today would be
considered valuable, but in those days of plentitude it passed as
undesirable. Some of his enemies accused him of making for himself a
reputation for generosity by giving away useless land. There is no
evidence, however, that such accusations were made by the
Negroes.[505] But be that as it may, the experiment was a failure. It
was not successful because of the intractability of the land, the
harshness of the climate, and in a great measure, the inefficiency of
the settlers. They had none of the qualities of farmers. Furthermore,
having been disabled by infirmities and vices they could not as
beneficiaries answer the call of the benefactor. Peterboro, the town
opened to Negroes in this section did maintain a school and served as
a station of the underground railroad but the agricultural results
expected of the enterprise never materialized.[506] The main trouble
in this case was the impossibility of substituting something foreign
f