PETERBORO, N.Y. — Most Holstein pedigrees in America can be traced back to four Dutch cattle imported to Peterboro, N.Y., in 1869 from the Netherlands. A boulder with a plaque marks the 254-acre farm of Gerrit Smith Miller, who imported, bred and kept records of his herd, which gave birth to the Holstein breed.

“This boulder is the Plymouth Rock of the Holstein breed. If Holstein farmers want to see where the most continuous line of purebred Holsteins (was developed), come to Peterboro. That’s your rock,” said Milton Sernett, Ph.D., who has researched and written the history of the breed in a book entitled Peterboro: Cradle of the Holstein Breed!

In conjunction with June as National Dairy Month, Sernett will present his findings at the third annual Holstein Heritage event on June 3, at 2 p.m. in Peterboro. He will be joined by Peter Bleiberg, who will show slides of his milk bottle collection and talk about “Marketing of Milk in the 1940s.” Mike Gleason will display his antique milking machines.

The plaque on the boulder also cites the first yearly milk production record on a Holstein cow in the United States, completed on March 10, 1871: Miller’s cow, Dowager, produced 12,681 pounds, 8 ounces of milk.

The first calf born to the original bull and three dams was named Agoo, also listed on the boulder. “He named all of his cows,” Sernett said. “In an era of general farming, Miller began to specialize in dairy cows and used advanced techniques to produce a high quality of milk.”

His cattle were in such demand that people came from Canada and other states to purchase them, Sernett said. Miller helped define the earliest “scale of points” for Holsteins, which set the standard for what the cattle should look like, he added.

Early on, rival farmer associations feuded about a name for the breed. While some favored Holstein, others insisted on Friesian. For a while, a compromise was reached with Holstein-Friesian, but the latter was eventually dropped, Sernett explained.

“Of all the dairy herds, Holsteins have the earliest and most consistent dairy registry,” Sernett said; they are the only dairy breed from Northern Holland.

According to Sernett, Miller is in three halls of fame: The National Dairy Shrine; the National Soccer Hall of Fame for helping create the U.S. version of soccer while at Harvard University; and the National Abolitionist Hall of Fame.

Not unlike his father, Miller fought for educational rights and opportunities for recently freed slaves. Miller was the son of Gerrit Smith, who was a prominent abolitionist and whose farm was a part of the Underground Railroad. The Gerrit Smith Estate is a national historic landmark, with various displays in the three remaining buildings on the site.

The link to the abolitionist movement is what initially drew Sernett, a former professor of African-American history at Syracuse University in New York, to the Gerrit Smith family. When he discovered their instrumental influence on the dairy industry, Sernett researched the history, which was scarcely known. No books had been written on the subject.

The former farm boy was hooked. “I grew up in the Midwest, in corn country ... I was sent to my uncle’s farm (in Iowa) each summer to work. I loved it. I received a penny for each bale of hay. It took a while to make a dollar,” Sernett recalled.

He helped take care of the cattle on his uncle’s farm, most of which were beef breeds.

Sernett’s book may be found at Amazon.com and he has also written Say Cheese! The Story of the Era When New York State Cheese was King. Both books will be available at the program. Cost for the Holstein Heritage event is $3, and free for students. It will take place at the Smithfield Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Rd., Peterboro, N.Y.

The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark is located at 5304 Oxbow Road in Peterboro. The site is open on weekends at 1-5 p.m. from now to Sep. 23, for special events and by appointment. For more information, send an email to info@gerritsmith.org or call 315-280-8828.