Marietta, Ohio - Moral And Material Advancement (part 1 of 5)

Moral And Material Advancement

Coup all the causes that combine to advance the moral and material well being of a community be discovered and grouped together the result would be a perfect history of the bright side of that community's life and growth. It is not our purpose in this chapter to sum up or review those topics which have already been dwelt upon, but to introduce a number of important subjects which have not heretofore been considered. The development of mercantile business, manufacturing and navigation has already been set forth, and the history of the three great institutions of civilization - the church, the school, and the press - which have been in part the cause and in part the effect of the religious, moral and intellectual advancement of the people, has been given at length. A considerable space has also been given to a description of the state of society in Marietta in pioneer times, and the reader is supposed to be already familiar with the virtues and vices of those days. We have (in the first chapter of the history of Marietta) stated that in the infant settlement, notwithstanding the generally high standard of morals and the intellectnal culture of a majority of the pioneers, intemperance was a very serious evil. It was an evil not confined to the settlements of the frontier, nor in such a degree, as at present, to the baser elements of society, but existed among all classes, and probably had more victims in the upper than in the lower. The use of liquor was a universal custom, and drunkenness was proportionally more common then than now, as the number of drunkards in every hundred or thousand persons was larger. As no moral sentiment had been created against the use of liquor, there was but little odium attached to inordinate indulgence. A gradual change has been worked in the public mind upon the subject of temperance, which we propose to follow from its beginning down to to the present, as it has been the greatest moral improvement that the people have known.

Temperance refurm may be said to have had its origin in Washington county early in 1828. A number of good Methodists were assembled some time during thay tear at a quarterly meeting held at Ebenezer Battelle's, in Newport, which was one of the best settlements in this part of the country. Any host or hostess who did not offer his or her guests liquor, in those days, was regarded

John H. Dye

John Dye, the grandfather of John H. Dye, whose portrait appears above, was born in New Jersey, but removed to Prince William county, Virginia. He married for his second wife, Elizabeth Caywood, and removed to Lawrence township, Washington county, about 1805. They both died in Lawrence township during the sickly season of 1823. One of the sons by his second wife was Samuel Dye, familiarly known among the early settlers as "Esquire Dye." He was born in Prince William county, Virginia, in 1779, and at the age of twenty-six years came to Lawrence township, this county. His wife, Susan Hoff, was the second daughter and sixth child of Rev. Daniel Hoff, a farmer near Alexandria, Virginia, where she was born in 1776. She died in Lawrence township at the age of seventy-one years. She was an excellent housewife. Esquire Dye was a very large, corpulent man, and quite sympathetic in his nature. He served as magistrate in Lawrence township for thirty-one years. He died at his residence on the Woodsfield road, nine miles from Marietta, in 1860, in his eightieth year.

Mrs. John H. Dye

on the Little Muskingum in Lawrence township, in 1815. The family residence was on the farm just below the present residence of A. J. Dye, esq. At the age of fourteen he engaged in the tanning business at Marietta. In 1837 he married Clarissa Jackson. In 1862 he disposed of his tanning interests, and became suttler for the Seventh Ohio cavalry. In 1864 he purchased a livery stable in Marietta, which he continued to manage until his death in 1880, Mr. Dye was very social in his habits, and sympathetic in his disposition. He was a sharp trader withal.

Mr. Dye's family consisted of nine children, one of whom, Catharine, is dead. Harriet lives with Mrs. Dye, who still survives, in Marietta; George married Sarah Snider, and lives on Cowrun, Lawrence township; Mary is married to Madison Holmes, and lives in Marshfield, Athens county. William and Marcillus manage the livery business at Marietta; Louisa, wife of Wallace Scott, lives in Warren township; Henry is a practicing physician at Logan, Hocking county, and Fannie at home in Marietta.

as inhospitable, mean and niggardly. On this occasion the liquor happened to be a most excellent and powerful article of home-made peach brandy. The little company, among whom were several church dignitaries, drank their brandy to the health of Deacon Battelle, and followed with a health to some minister who was*present. They drank copious draughts from large glasses, refilled from a great decanter, which was passed around with such rapidly increasing frequency that it had in turn soon to be refilled from the cask. The party became more merry, and with the recklessness born of incipient intoxication, drank oftener than before. All this was while Mrs. Battelle was making ready a substantial dinner for the assembled brethren. When dinner was announced they took one drink more, and at the table another. And now the effects of the potations began to appear. Several of the pious brothers who sat down to partake of the steaming dinner that Mrs. Battelle's skill in cooking had produced, were unable to eat, and left the table. Nearly all were visibly affected by the liquor, and several were decidedly drunk. Only a few being able to attend the meeting which had been arranged 'for in the afternoon, it was postponed. All were ashamed of their over-indulgence, but Mrs. Battelle was sorrowful and indignant. She was a woman of fine sensibilities, great strength of character, and deep convictions. Seeing clearly the great evil to which the use of liquor led, and that it was a reproach to the cause of religion, she resolved that nevermore should the temptation be placed before her guests. Her husband agreed with her, and the next day, in meeting, speaking sorrowfully of what had occurred, expressed his conviction that the custom of drinking was unbecoming to a Christian people, and made known the decision that had been arrived at regarding the banishment of liquor from his board. The sentiment was endorsed by nearly or perhaps quite all of the people present, many of whom were smarting under their recent humiliation. Most of the brethren pledged themselves to discontinue the use of liquor, and to use their influence with others to do the same. There was much earnest talk upon the subject, and the feeling of which it was the expression did not die away when the meeting adjourned, but each man, going to his home, carried with him the determination to do all in his power to promote the principle of total abstinence among the people in his neighborhood.

The movement was taken up at Marietta, and in the month of March, 1828, there was drawn up and subscribed to the first temperance pledge which had an existence in the town. Previous to this whiskey had been kept upon the counters of all the stores, for the free use of customers, but now a number of the leading merchants resolved to discontinue the time-honored custom, and bound themselves so to do in the following compact, which was drawn up in the handwriting of John Mills, and is still in existence: of spirituous liquors, nor give any away in the stores, from and after the first day of May next. It is understood that we may retail French

Augustus Stone

In 1829 the Skinners - David and William - and several other prominent merchants followed the example of Messrs. Mills, Morgan, Stone, Edgarton and Woodbridge. In the same year the shipbuilders announced that they would no longer furnish their employes with liquor as they had done for years, and the result was a general strike. They remained firm, however, and after a few days the men went to work without their whiskey.

The temperance movement was vigorously carried on in Marietta for several years after the beginning, in 1828. Caleb Emerson was a leader in the reform. He made public speeches, and did perhaps more than any other one man to procure signers to the total abstinence pledge. Ephraim Cutler was another prominent worker in the cause. In the year 1830 the first Temperance society was organized, with Ephraim Cutler as president; Rey. Jacob Young and Robert Crawford as vice-presidents; Rev. L. G. Bingham, secretary; Wyllys Hall, treasurer; and Caleb Emerson, Junia Jennings, Douglass Putnam and Samuel Shipman composing the executive committee.

The next important action in temperance reform occurred in 1840, and was called the 'Washingtonian Movement." It differed from the movement of 1828 in that it was oMginated and carried on by reformed inebriates.

The movement of 1840 was one of great excitement, as might be judged from the character of its leaders. It began in Marietta, but soon spread over the whole of the surrounding country. Large meetings were held and addresses made by reformed drunkards. Although it was a movement of intense excitment, yet it was regularly organized. But its results are not generally considered to have been so beneficial as those of the calmer and more deliberate work of 1828. Its duration was very short. Among the most prominent men connected: with this work were Warren Wilcox, John Greiner and James. Clogstone.

The next important movement in temperance reform was made in 1844. It took the form of the organization of total abstinence societies. 'lhe first society was formed in Marietta, and others were soon started all over the county. This movement was originated and carried on entirely by men who had always been temperate.

In 1852 there was another period of temperance work. Lodges of the order of "Sons and Daughters of Temperance" were organized throughout the county. In these, many of the most prominent citizens were interested, and worked faithfully.

In 1869 - May 24th - was organized the Marietta Lodge No. 289, of the Independent Order of Good Templars, with the following charter members, viz: Richard Richardson, Mary J. Morse, Rufus B. Battelle,

Lewis C. Haddox, Susie Vinton, M. H. Booth, A. W. Williams, Sarah Dutton, A. E. Warnet, James L. Adams, Anna Booth, Sarah E. Hudson, Maggie Vinton, J. L. Guiton, Henrietta Geisen, James Gesien, Lizzie Dutton, Eliza Calvert, J. Radenbaugh, Sarah Johnson, Dudley Gesien, George Pixley, Joseph Fenn, A. M. Lenhart, and Thomas Morse. Starting with twenty-six members the lodge grew in six months to a membership of one hundred and twenty-eight. It remained in active existence until the time of the women's crusade.

The women's crusade reached Marietta in February, 1874. On the sixteenth of that month a general meeting of the ladies of Harmar and Marietta was held in the Centenary Methodist church, and a woman's league organized. Mrs. J. M. Woodbridge was the first president of this league. Meetings for prayer and consultation were held as often as every three days until March 3d, when the first band started out to visit the saloons. But before this committees had been appointed who visited all the physicians and druggists and obtained promises from them all that they would not sell, give, or prescribe liquors, except for strictly medicinal or mechanical purposes. :

On March 3, 1874, the first band of ladies visited the saloons; it consisted of seven ladies, as follows: Mrs. George M. Woodbridge, Mrs. S. S. Knowles, Mrs. William A. Whittlesey, Mrs. J. W. Stanley, Miss Lillie W. Stone, Mrs. Thomas W. Ewart, and Mrs. Z. D. Walter. The band visited six saloons on Front street, and were received in a very polite manner; and as a rule, were so treated throughout the whole movement. After this date large bands went out every day until about the tenth of May, when this phase of the work was discontinued.

The Womans' Christian Temperance Union, of Marietta, Ohio, was a direct offspring of this crusade movement. It was organized June 14, 1877. This union has a membership of about a hundred. Its work consists in distributing temperance literature, keeping up a readingroom, juvenile meetings, and raising money for temperance lectures. The present officers are as follows: Mrs. S. S. Knowles, president; Mrs. E. A. Tenney, vicepresident; Mrs. W. B. Thomas, corresponding secretary ; Mrs. W. P. Bennet, recording secretary; Miss H. Hobby, treasurer.

The people of Marietta have ever exhibited a regard for mental improvement. which is very appropriate to the first settlement made under an ordinance which declared that as knowledge in common with religion and morality were necessary to good government, 'schools and the means of education should ever be encouraged." Such institutions arose naturally upon the soil settled by a colony of cultured men from Massachusetts. We have seen that a literary society was in existence as early as 1790. From time to time various other institutions have town. The corporators were John Mills, A. T. Nye, John Cotton, Samuel P. Hildreth and Daniel H. Buell. In 1832 John Mills, Arius Nye and William Slocomb were appointed as a building committee, and erected the brick edifice on Front street, near the corner of Putnam, in which the library is now, and most of the time has been kept. At the time this institution was chartered by the State, there were many precautions taken in granting acts of incorporation for any purpose, lest the charters should be made to cover a banking business. Hence two thousand dollars per year, and it was stipulated that none of the funds should "ever be applied to the purpose of banking." The library contains over three thousand books judiciously selected, and representing all of the principal departments of literature.

In 1831, a lyceum was formed which remained in existence for a term of ten years, and was productive of an unusually large benefit. John Cotton was the first president of this literary organization; Caleb Emerson, vicepresident; Arius Nye, corresponding secretary ; James M. Booth, recording secretary; John Mills, treasurer ; Arius Nye and S. P. Hildreth, curators. Several valuable series of lectures were delivered under the auspices of this body, by Dr. John Cotton, Dr. S. P. Hildreth, John Delafield, jr., William A. Whittlesey, John Brough and others. When this lyceum passed out of active existence, about the year 1841, another was immediately organized which was conducted on similar principles. Lectures were delivered before this organization by various members of the college faculty, and by Dr. Cotton and Judge Arius Nye.

There has probably been no period In the last forty years when there has not been in existence in Marietta, a flourishing society for the discussion of public questions and literary topics. The present literary society has a large membership, and is an institution of great value to the community.

The influence of the college has doubtless been a powerful factor in the creation of a literary spirit in Marietta. The library alone is of great value to the community. It contains upwards of fifteen thousand volumes, is the largest college library west of the Alleghanies, and with the exception of the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati libraries, is probably the largest in the State. The beneficial effect of educational institutions upon the towns in which they are located is well known and needs no comment. It is proper, however, to remark that in Marietta the effect has probably been more positive than in most communities. Town and college have ever been in close sympathy. The people have supported the institution of learning with remarkable generosity, and the benefit of their gifts has been felt in a large measure by the citizens.

In the line of material improvements Marietta is fully abreast with other towns of similar size in the west. The town is dual in its character as regards appearance.

Henry and Bernard Rodick came to Marietta with their parents in the fall of 1850, from Oldenburg, North Germany. At the time of emigrating, the former was fifteen, the latter twelve years old. They had pursued the regular German course of schooling, and after coming to America acquired the English language. At an early age both entered business, Henry with the firm of Bosworth, Wells & Company, and afterwards with A. T. Nye, in whose store he served for a period of several years until the firm of Smith & Rodick began business, in 1867. Bernard Rodick acquired most of his business experience in the store of John M. Woodbridge, where he clerked until 1860. He then engaged in steamboating on the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, as

The hardware store which, in 1867, was opened by of Lowell, and Henry and Bernard Rodick, was transferred in 1871, by the death of Mr. Smith, to Rodick Brothers. Under their management the business has been one of the most successful mercantile enterprises in Marietta. The entire capital in 1867, was five thousand five hundred dollars, at the end of five years an inventory after the death of Mr. Smith showed a net profit of thirty-two thousand dollars.

Viewed from the bosom of the Ohio it presents the somewhat unfavorable aspect common to the river villages. That portion of the town, however, which is made up of residences will compare favorably with that of any town in the 'State, and in some particulars it has no rivals, as for instance in the thoroughly home-like appearance of a majority of the houses. There is but little of modern architecture exhibited, but there are many substantial old-time houses, which have as peculiar and distinctive an expression as have human faces. Few towns have the natural picturesqueness of Marietta. The location of many of the best residences upon the gently rising hillside which terminates in the "plain" was a circumstance of great value esthetically. Many beautiful situations were afforded house builders, and the frequent introduction of terraces and stone walls has created a pleasing and refreshing variety which could never have been attained in building upon a level site. The broad, cleanly, and well shaded streets of the town are very generally commented upon by visitors, and are a source of pride to the citizens. Because of the nature of the soil, and also owing to the hilly or uneven character of the surface, considerable difficulty has been experienced in constructing and maintaining good paved sidewalks, but all of the principal streets are now provided with well laid brick or stone flagged walks. Most of this work in the residence portion of the town has been accomplished within the last twenty years. A very effective and valuable public improvement was made in 1875. Until that time the now beautiful Riverside park was an unfenced, weedgrown common or cow pasture. The project of improving the common and making it an ornament to the town was entertained by a few citizens and favored by the city government, at the head of which, at that time, was Major Jewett Palmer. The city council made a levy, the first year of five hundred dollars, and the succeeding year one of two hundred and fifty dollars. For this sum the long neglected and unsightly common was made the attractive pleasure ground which it now is. The money was expended by, and the work done under the supervision of, a committee consisting of M. P. Wells, the late Mr. Oldham and J. L. Mills.

Mr. Wells, the leading spirit in making this improvement, during his forty years residence in Marietta, has done very much to advance the condition of the place, and has been instrumental in securing many public improvements. In 1878, principally through his exertions, the Marietta Shade Tree association was organized. The object of the association was to supply the town plentifully with shade trees, and for this purpose thirty persons subscribed five dollars per year for five years, seven persons three dollars per year, and thirty persons one dollar per year. With the modest sum thus realized annually the association has, in the past three years, set out over eleven hundred small elm trees, one hundred and fifty of which are in the park. The improvement is one in which time must make perfect, but when those who are now children shall have reached mature life they will have occasion to thank Mr. Wells and his companions of the Tree association for making Marietta

The boat-house built in 1880 is a great ornament to the park and an establishment of decided value to the town. It was built for the joint benefit of the citizens and the college, at an expense of about two thousand seven hundred dollars. A large proportion of this amount came from heavy mercantile houses in the large cities of Ohio and the east; but the citizens made liberal contributions to the fund.

In 1878 an organization was effected which is worthy of note, because illustrating one phase of Marietta's public-spirit and growth. We refer to the military company known as the Putnam light artillery, one of the best of its kind in the State. The battery comprises seventy-seven members, and its equipment consists of four first-class twelve-pound Napoleon brass guns. The artillery company built, the same year it was organized, at a cost of more than one thousand dollars, the armory on Putnam street. The battery is kept in all respects fully up to the standard required in the regular army, and as an example of its military spirit is very creditable to the town.

Very recently there have appeared several evidences of the progressive spirit and enterprise of Marietta business men. We mention, as an example, the organization and incorporation in February, 1881, of the Marietta Electric Light company, with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. It is composed of the following gentlemen: Edward R. Dale, Murray McMillen, Robert B. Hoover, Theodore D. Dale, James W. Nye, and Reuben L. Nye.

It is not improbable that in the near future the town reaping some advantage from the construction of the ice harbor, from the restoration of those railroad privileges of which it has been unjustly deprived, and from the slowly but surely increasing importance of its manufactures, may show considerable improvement as a matter of trade, but the brightest hope of its future seems to an impartial observer to lie in the development of its educational resources, the building up of intellectual life, and the extension of a noble influence. Upon the Centennial anniversary of American independence, when historical orations were delivered in all the principal towns and villages of the country, we doubt if any one was shown to have a fairer record in all that pertains to the highest well being of the people, than had Marietta.* There is certainly no community of equal size in the State of Ohio in which a greater number of people are living above mere sordid gain, than in Marietta.

*The Centennial was celebrated In Marietta with interesting and appropriate ceremonies. The town was full of visitors who, together with the citizens, made a concourse, numbering not less than ten thousand people. A grand procession promenaded the streets for several hours after which the exercises of the day were opened at the city park. Honorable P. B. Buell was the presiding officer. The Declaration of Independence was read by W. H. Gurley, esq., and president Israel Ward Andrews, of Marietta college, the orator of the day, began the delivery of his historical address, but was compelled to stop on account of a hard rainfall. The meeting was then adjourned to the city hall, at half-past 2 o'clock p. M. There was a fine display of fireworks in the park in the evening, and an open air concert was given by Regnier's band. No accidents marred the pleasures of the day.

Biographical Sketches General Rufus Putnam

The New England Putnams have their descent from a common ancestor, John Putnam, who came from Buckinghamshire, England, in 1634, and settled in Salem, Massachusetts. He had three sons - Thomas, Nathaniel, and John. Rufus Putnam was descended from Thomas, his father, Elisha, being the son of Edward, the son of Thomas. The celebrated Israel Putnam was also a grandson of Thomas, and, therefore, cousin to Elisha, the father of Rufus.

The Putnams seem to have belonged to that respectable middle class that has furnished to the world so many of its best workers and most useful citizens. In his old age, Edward, the grandfather of Rufus, said "he could say with the Psalmist, 'I have been young, and now Iam old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread,' except from God, who provides for all; for he hath given the generation of my father Agur's petition, neither poverty nor riches, but hath fed us with food convenient for us, and their children have been able to help others in their need."

Elisha Putnam, the father of Rufus, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, November 3, 1685. He married Susanna Fuller, of Danvers. In 1725 he, with his wife and three children, moved to Sutton. After he removed to Sutton three sons were born to him, of whom Rufus, born April 9, 1738, was the youngest. The Rev. Dr. Hall said of him, "Deacon Elisha Putnam was a very useful man in the civil and ecclesiastical concerns of the place. He was for several years deacon of the church, town clerk, town treasurer, and representative in the general court or colonial assembly of Massachusetts. He died in June, 1745, in the joyful hope of the glory of God."

Misfortune set its mark upon Rufus before he had half started on the journey of life. His father died when he was but little more than seven years old. 'To the little boy the loss of such a father was a calamity that could not be measured, and the consequences were as lasting as his life. The first two years of his orphanage were passed in the home of his maternal grandfather, Mr. Fuller, in Danvers. During this time he went to school and learned to read, and thus secured the clue to the labyrinth of knowledge. But evil days were in store for him. In 1747 his mother married Captain John Sadler, and Rufus went back to his home. But it was a home without a father, for Captain Sadler but illy supplied the place of the good man that death had taken away. He was illiterate himself, and, what was worse and more to be deplored, he despised learning. He neither sent Rufus to school, nor allowed him opportunities to learn at home. No books were furnished him, and if by chance he succeeded in getting them, he had but little opportunity to use them. His aspirations were scoffed at, and his efforts to quench his thirst for knowledge at living fountains were ridiculed and derided.

Captain Sadler kept a house of entertainment, and by diligent waiting upon guests, Rufus sometimes became the happy possessor of a few pence. These he invested in ammunition, and with the help of an old shot-gun, killed partridges, which he sold. With the proceeds of the sale he bought a spelling book and an arithmetic. From these, without help or guidance, he learned what he could. There were discouragements thrown in the way of his doing this. He was not allowed even the faint light of a tallow candle to enable him to use, in his own behalf, the long winter evenings. But worse than this, and harder to bear, was the ridicule with which he was visited for his endeavors, from the man who stood to him in the place of a father. Yet all of this did not make him give up his determination 7o know. There is something very pathetic in the way this little fatherless boy struggled to obtain knowledge in the face of discouragements that might well have appalled the stout heart of one who was older than he.

In his latter days he wrote out some of the main facts in his life for the benefit of his children and their descendents. The paper is yellow with age, the orthography is often incorrect. But there is a pathos in his simple, direct statements in regard to his early aspirations that no fine writing could equal. He says: "After I was nine years old I went to school in all only three weeks." Yet, not deterred by either abuse or ridicule, he went as far as the 'Rule of Three" in arithmetic, and learned to write so as to be intelligible.

In March, 1754, when in his sixteenth year, he was apprenticed to Daniel Mathews, of Brookfield, to learn the trade of millwright.. He says: " By him my education was as much neglected as by Captain Sadler, except that he did not deny me the use of a light for study in the winter evenings. I turned my attention chiefly to arithmetic, geography and history ; had I been as much engaged in learning to write well, with spelling and grammar, I might have been much better qualified to fulfil the duties of the succeeding scenes of life, which in Providence I have been called to pass through. I was zealous to obtain knowledge, but having no guide I knew not where to begin nor what course to pursue. Having neglected spelling and grammar when young, I have suffered much through life on that account." From sixteen to nineteen he was engaged in learning the trade of a millwright, interspersed with more or less farming. How much soever his mental faculties may have suffered from neglect, the physical powers were surely in a most prosperous condition. He had at eighteen the stature and strength of a mature man. He was nearly six feet in height, with brawny limbs and great muscular power. He was as good as the best in every part that required strength of muscle or power of endurance. A brave heart beat in his bosom, in which abode the high resolve to act manfully and well the part that should be allotted to him in the drama of life. Always faithful, always on the side of the right, as he construed it, from the beginning to the end of his varied career, he was never known fitted for the life of peril and adventure that a common soldier in a frontier army was compelled to encounter. The time drew near when he was to lay aside the implements of trade and husbandry and take up the weapons of war.

Hostilities began between -England and France in 1754. Accounts of military adventure formed the staple of conversation in the long winter evenings during his apprenticeship. The prowess of his father's cousin, Captain Israel Putnam, especially took hold of his imagination and made him emulous of the glory that seemed to rest upon the heads of heroes. As soon as the time for which he was indentured expired, when only nineteen, he enlisted as a private in a company, the term of service in which was less than a year.

A journal of this campaign was kept by the young soldier, in which the events of each day afte worded, often without note or comment. 'The ravages of time have spared this journal, and the exact and methodical manner in which it is kept, are prophetic of the careful and thorough work that would distinguish the life, that as yet in great part, lay before the writer. Captain Larned's company marched to Sullwater in June, and from thence to Fort Edward. 'There seems to have been but little actual service performed during the campaign, which ended in October, and Mr. Putnam returned home in February. He spent the remainder of the winter there and in the spring enlisted again in a company commanded by Captain Joseph Whitcomb and belonging to Colonel Ruggles' regiment, which rendezvoused at Northampton, Massachusetts. They started for Albany June 3rd, and reached Greenbush June 8th. Mr. Putnam says in his journal, "from Northampton street to this place was through a wilderness, with but one house in the whole distance, except the little fort above mentioned." What a change since then! The young soldier was not destined to see much of the honor or horror of war during this campaign. 'The regiment was discharged in October. Mr. Putnam went home and spent the winter and in the spring enlisted for the third campaign. During this time of service he was promoted to the post of orderly sergeant. He was in Colonel Ruggles' regiment, and went to Ticonderoga. He was, however, during the whole campaign compelled to work on mills or blockhouses instead of doing military duty, which was that for which he had enlisted. He, did not think it just right, and he determined to leave the service. He passed the winter of 1759 in New Braintree working on a farm of fifty acres which he had bought with the avails of his savings while in the army. He gave his time to farming and building mills for a time, but meanwhile he was diligently studying practical surveying, in which he was assisted by Colonel Timothy Dwight. He soon became sufficiently master of the business to leave other things and devote himself to it. His thoroughness and exactness made it easy for him to find employment.

In 1761 Mr. Putnam was married to Elizabeth Ayres, daughter of William Ayres of Brookfield. She died within a year, and after a few months their infant son was laid beside his mother.

In January, 1765, he was married again to Persis Rice, daughter of Zebulon Rice, of Westborough, Massachusetts. He lived on the small farm he had previously bought until 1780, when he purchased a large farm in Rutland, Massachusetts. There was upon it a spacious house, which is still standing and in good repair. This property belonged to a Tory, and was confiscated, which enabled Mr. Putnam to purchase it on favorable terms.

England. Soon after the close of the French and Indian war, General Lyman was sent to England by Colonial officers and soldiers, for the purpose of securing, if possible, from the British government a grant of land as a reward for military service performed during the war. He was detained there several years, making vain endeavors to obtain that for which he went. He returned in 1772. A meeting of "The Military Adventurers" was called in Hartford, and General Lyman assured those concerned that an order had been passed by the king in council, authorizing the governor of West Florida to grant lands in that province, to Colonial officers and soldiers in the same proportion and manner as had been given elsewhere to his Majesty's regular troops. As they had been liberally provided for in the provinces assigned during the war, the prospect seemed good that the Colonial officers and soldiers would also reap a reward for duties well done.

General Lyman brought no written vouchers to make the grant sure, but it was thought that the word of aking was a sufficient word. The company, therefore, appointed a committee to explore the country, and lay out the tracts to be divided among the adventurers. The associates of the military company chartered a sloop, in which the exploring committee sailed from New York January 10, 1773. Rufus Putnam and his father's cousin, Colonel Israel Putnam, were two of the committee. They entered the bay of Pensacola March Ist. Governor Chester and his council received them kindly, but no order for a grant of land to the Provincials had yet arrived. This was discouraging, but they took comfort in the hope the order had been delayed, and would yet come. The committee, therefore, set about their explorations.

Among the papers left by General Putnam, which are now in the safe-keeping of the Marietta College library, there is a carefully prepared plan of the Mississippi river, with all its windings and eccentricities, to the 'mouth of the Yazoo, which was as far as their explorations extended in that direction. Nearly four months were ocupied in the thorough examination of the country, which was also extended to a considerable distance up the Yazoo. When the committee returned to Pensacola early in July, they were chagrined and disappointed to find that the expected order had not yet been received. - Governor Chester, however, took the responsibility of making an offer of lands upon terms that it was thought upon the whole best to accept, and preparations were made to begin a settlement. Accordingly, when the committee returned, they made so favorable a report in regard to the soil, climate, and conditions of the country that several hundred families from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and other parts of New England, embarked for West Florida to find there new homes for themselves and their children. Unfortuuately for them Governor Chester, in October, received orders from the Crown to neither sell nor grant lands upon any conditions until the King's further pleasure should be signified. Thus, when they reached the place, the land office was closed to the poor immigrants. Some of them spent all they had in getting there, and it was late in the season to return, even if they had the means to do so. In this emergency the governor kindly allowed the immigrants to take possession of any unoccupied lands they could find. Many of them, on account of change of climate and exposure, sickened and died, and to the greater part the venture was an unprofitable one. Mr. Putnam was occupied more than eight months in these explorations, and for his time and services received the munificent sum of eighty dollars, which was also to cover his expenses.

The cloud, big with portentous events, that had been hanging over the colonists burst in 1775. Rufus Putnam had too brave a heart and was too zealous a lover of his country to sit tamely by and see other men struggle for liberty and all that was dear to them. He girded on his sword at the first onset and it was not laid aside until peace again smiled upon the land. He entered the army as lieutenant colonel of a regiment commanded by Colonel David Brewer. The regiment was stationed at Roxbury, and was attached to the corps of General Thomas. ;

Colonel Putnam had not long to wait for a chance to give efficient aid to the cause he had so zealously espoused. After the battle of Charlestown, June 17th, the patriot army was in a most exposed situation. There were no fortifications to protect the town and nothing but a board fence as a shelter for the army in case of an attack, which they had reason to expect at any moment. It was decided in a council of officers, that some kind of defence should at once be commenced. But where was the engineer who would plan the works and superintend their erection. It was one of the misfortunes connected with the situation of the colonies, that they were destitute of men skilled in the arts of war. There were no schools for training them, and in previous wars the colonists had, to a great extent, been subordinate. They had obeyed; those with whom they were now at war had commanded. Colonel Gridley was sent for, but he was needed at Cambridge, where he was, and could not be spared. No other engineer was known. Officers who knew the ability of Colonel Putnam, and knew also that he had been employed to some extent upon fortifications under British engineers during the French and Indian war, spoke of him as a man capable of doing what was needed. He protested - said that he had never read a work on fortifications, and was altogether unqualified to undertake to do what it was needful to have done. But no excuses availed, and he was too good and too patriotic a man to refuse to do the best he could when the need was so urgent. He then went to work and traced lines in front of Roxbury toward Boston and various other places on the Roxbury side, particularly toward Sewall's Point. While he was occupied in doing this, Generals Washington and Lee came and examined the works and expressed their satisfaction and entire approval, which greatly encouraged Colonel Putnam. General Lee thought the works at Sewall's Point much better constructed than those on the Cambridge side. Colonel Putnam laid out works at Dorchester, Roxbury, Brookline, and late in the fall the Norton Cobble hill, near Charlestown mill-pond. He says in his Memoir, "'in the course of this campaign I surveyed and delineated the courses, distances and relative situation of the enemy's works in Boston and Charlestown with our own in Cambridge and Roxbury. In December he went with General Lee to Newport, where he laid out some works, particularly a battery from whence to command the harbor, and some works near Howland's ferry, to secure the communication of Rhode Island with the mainland.

During the months of January and February, 1776 General Washington was anxiously considering the situation with a view to finding some solution to the problem as to what would be done to change the aspect of things. Lord Howe occupied Boston with an army of eight thousand well organized and well appointed troops. These would be supplemented at any time by others from the ships of war that rode gaily in the harbor. Large reinforcements were expected in the spring. This fact emphasized the necessity of speedy action. Meanwhile the winter was passing pleasantly to the officers and soldiers of the British army, who were not only well housed and fed, but the officers especially were finding their pleasure in occupations and amusements suitable to their tastes, without being over scrupulous as to ways and means, The old South church was turned into a riding school, and Fanueil hall converted into a theatre for amateur acting. With war chests well supplied, a national treasury upon which to draw, there was every reason why hope should be exultant. The circumstances were greatly different in the Patriot army. The troops had been paid to December, but had received nothing since, nor did there seem to be anything as the Lasis for the hope that they would be paid in the future. There was no national treasury - there was not even a national government. There was no money, and what was worse there was no credit. The soldiers were poorly clad, badly sheltered, and the army was deficient in all the munitions of war. One hundred barrels of powder was all there was in store, and there was no artillery except what had been captured from the enemy. It seemed impossible either to drive the enemy from the city or to attack him therein; and it was very galling as well as inconvenient to have him retain possession of the most renowned city in the whole country. The necessity for doing something seemed urgent, and the anxious question was, what? What was possible; what was wisest and best? After much anxious thought and careful examination it was decided, if possible, to take possession of Dorchester heights and erect fortifications which would command both city and har- bor. Howe would then be compelled to either evacuate or come out and fight. There were great difficulties in the way of doing this, but as being the only thing possible, it was decided that it was best to undertake it. Preparations were carefully and promptly made. The night of the third of March was selected for the attempt. Everything was reduced to system. Each man knew his place and exactly what was expected of him. The ground was frozen to the depth of eighteen inches, but hay was spread over the surface so that the three hundred carts that went to and fro with material could go noislessly. The men worked with a will and in silence. In the morning the result was manifest. Strong redoubts looked down on the city and harbor from the tops of two hills. '"'Perhaps there never was so much work done in so short a space of time." When Lord Howe saw what had been accomplished in a single night, he declared that it must have taken twelve thousand men to doit. He saw at once that his position was untenable. At first he was inclined to risk an engagement, but obstacles intervened and he chose to evacuate. He sent a messenger to Washington to say that he would withdraw if he would be allowed to do so without molestation. General Washington was only too glad to get rid of the enemy upon suchterms This was the first substantial gain made by the Patriot army, and then and there, by the aid of an unskilled and untaught engineer, the corner-stone of American Independence was Jaid. General Putnam's account of the part' he acted in this grand drama is very interesting. While the commander in chief was anxiously revolving the question as to what should be done, he called a council of the officers and laid the matter before them. The decision was, fortify Dorchester heights. But there was no engineer capable of laying out and superintending so important a work. Colonel Putnam was mentioned, and what he had already successfully done spoken of. He was invited to dine with General Washington, and after dinner the matter was talked over. Colonel Putnam expressed his reluctance to undertake the work because of his ignorance. He had read nothing on the subject, and was altogether unacquainted with scientific rules. But such was General Washington's confidence in his ability and good judgment that he would accept of no excuse, and Colonel Putnam was compelled to consent to do the best he could. On his way back to his quarters he called on General Heath, and while there he chanced to see lying on the table a book entitled Muller's Field Engineer. He asked General Heath to lend him the the book, and the request was rather uncourteously answered in the negative. But Colonel Putnam persisted, and finally General Heath consented to his taking it. The next morning, upon examining the book, Colonel Putnam found a description of chandeliers, and at once decided that that was what he wanted, and immediately drew a plan for fortifying Dorchester heights. The plan was approved and executed, and the result was the evacuation of Boston by the British army.

In March, 1776, General Washington ordered Colonel Putnam to go to New York by way of Newport, where he assisted Governor Cook in constructing works for the defence of the town. He reached New York April 2nd, and was appointed chief engineer, with orders to lay out works for the protection of New York, Long Island, Fort Washington, etc. He gave himself wholly to the business, working not only during the day, but oftentimes a considerable part of the night. Already General Washington seems to have had more confidence in his skill and ability than he had in any other man. During the summer he received the following letter: August 11, 1776.

Sir: I have the pleasure to inform you that Congress have appointed you an engineer, with the rank of colonel, and pay sixty dollars per month.

G. Washington

In regard to this appointment, Colonel Putnam, with characteristic modesty, remarks: 'My being appointed engineer by Congress was wholly unexpected. I had begun to act in that capacity through pure necessity, and had continued to conduct the business more from necessity and respect for the General than from any opinion of my own abilities. True it is that after my arrival in New York I had read some books on fortification, and I knew much more than when I began at Roxbury, but I had not the vanity to suppose that my knowledge was such as to give me the first rank in a corps of engineers. Yet my experience convinced me that such a corps was necessary to be established. Therefore, near the last of September, I drew up a plan for such an establishment, and presented it to General Washington, and which he transmitted toCongress with a recommendation concluded in these words: 'I commend it as a matter worthy of their consideration, being convinced from experience and from the reasons suggested by Colonel Putnam, who has acted with great diligence and reputation in the business, that some establishment of the sort is highly necessary, and will be productive of the most beneficial consequences.' "

The need of well-taught as well as skilful engineers, was greatly felt. Those that came from France seemed not to have learned from their books the knowledge necessary to make new and unexpected applications. In Colonel Putnam, therefore, General Washington. found what he sorely needed and could not find elsewhere - a man with will in plentiful measure, with good, sound, common sense, great industry, unbending integrity, and an intuitive knowledge of the way to adopt means to ends, so as always to accomplish the thing he sought to do. We shall see that he was always in demand. He had no chance to be idle. When the army was in winter quarters he was laying out roads, superintending fortifications, or in some way advancing the cause he had so zealously espoused.

In October of the year 1776, Colonel Putnam, by his shrewdness and energy, was enabled to do a very important service for the army and the country. A large quantity of valuable stores had been placed at White Plains, by order of the commander-in-chief, under the impression that they would there be secure. They were guarded only by three hundred militia, Colonel Put- nam was sent out upon a reconnoitring expedition, with a force of some fifty men as a guard. He soon satisfied himself that what he wished to do could be better done without soldiers to attract attention. He therefore dismissed his guard and sent them back, and set out alone. The country was strange to him, for he had never been there before, and he knew that the inhabitants were generally tories, so that it was not safe for him to stop and make inquiries. The enemy had a considerable force at New Rochelle, only nine miles from White Plains, and there were good roads between the two places. On the other side was the Hudson river, upon which were five or six armed vessels belonging to the enemy. With careful scrutiny, and skilful avoidance of danger, he saw and took in the situation. The principal depot of supplies for the American army was at the mercy of the enemy, who had but to reach out his hand and grasp the tempting prize. It was only the entire certainty that he could take it when he wished that made him delay. After a full survey of the situation, Colonel Putnam set out on his return to headquarters, near Kingsbridge. He had ten miles to ride, and reached there about g o'clock in the evening, and reported to General Washington, who, he says, "complained very feelingly" of the difficulty of getting correct information in regard to the country and the situation of affairs. Colonel Putnam had made a sketch of the country, and showed the danger there was of losing the stores, upon which so much depended. He was sent with orders for immediate action to Lord Sterling's headquarters, which he reached at 2 o'clock in the morning, and before daylight a detachment was on its way to White Plains, where they arrived about 9 o'clock. "Thus was the American army saved by an interposition of Providence," but that "interposition," the sachinery, was the fidelity, and courage and shrewdness ot Colonel Putnam.

In December he left the engineer corps, and took the command of a Massachusetts regiment, much to the regret of General Washington, who said in a letter to Congress, 'I know of no other man even tolerably well qual-, ified for the conducting of that business. None of the French gentlemen whom I have seen with appointments in that way appear to know anything of the matter."

After recruiting his regiment in Massachusetts in the summer of 1777 Colonel Putnam joined the brigade to which he belonged, near Fort Edward.

There was a dark cloud hanging over the north at this time. Burgoyne, at the head of seven thousand troops and a large number of Canadians and Indians, had invaded western New York, coming over the old war path through Vermont. Another large force, under Sir Henry Clinton, was expected to come from the southward, by way of the Hudson river, to meet them. Ticonderoga, the Gibraltar of the north, had fallen into the hands of the enemy. The fall of this fort sent an electric shock through New England. Consternation and alarm spread over the land. 'Troops were hurried forward to prevent, if possible, a worse disaster that might be impending. Affairs culminated in the battle of Saratoga, which Burgoyne was forced to fight before Clinton could join him.

Colonel Putnam acted well his part in the battle. He was posted in front of the German reserves, and showed great bravery and military skill in the management of his troops. Kosciusko was at this time at the head of the engineering department in General Gates' army, and showed his appreciation of the skill and good judgment of Colonel Putnam by often consulting him in regard to matters pertaining to his business. After the surrender of Burgoyne, Nixon's brigade, to which Colonel Putnam belonged, went into winter quarters at Albany.

Early in the following year, 1778, Colonel Putnam was ordered to West Point to superintend the erection of fortifications at that important point. A French engineer had been employed, but his work was so unsatisfactory that it was thought best that another should take his place. He went at the head of his regiment and do. The French engineer had laid out the main fort on an extreme point next the river. Colonel Putnam abandoned it and simply placed a battery there to annoy the enemy's shipping. The principal fort was built by his own regiment under his superintendence, and named by General McDougal, Fort Putnam. It is ona rocky eminence and commands both the plain and the river. Itis said that even now engineers and those learned in the art of fortification from European countries wonder and admire when they see the plans that were made and the work that was done by this self-taught millwright. Colonel Putnam was occupied in laying out and constructing the defences at West Point until June. In July he marched to White Plains and united his regiment with the main army under the commander-in-chief. There was but little more active service performed during the campaign, and in September the army was broken into divisions and that of General Gates, to which Colonel Putnam belonged, was sent to Danbury, Connecticut.

But Colonel Putnam was the possessor of abilities that very effectually kept him from being laid on the shelf with idlers. When there was no fighting to be done, there were surveys to be made and plans for defence. He was employed for some time in laying out roads in the vicinity of Danbury, and later in the season with General Greene, he made reconnoisance along the Hudson river. When this was done he obtained a furlough to visit his home, where he had not been since December, 1777, more than a year.

Mr. Putnam with his family of small children, the oldest not more than twelve, lived on a farm of fifty acres and those acres not of the richest and best. Colonel Putnam's salary was meagre and not promptly paid. When it was paid the currency in which it was done was so greatly depreciated that it was inadequate to meet the wants of the family, Mrs. Putnam eked out their scanty income by the diligent use of the distaff and the needle, Rigid economy prevailed in the household and industry that would seem a marvel to some of their descendents. If the fathers of the Revolution deserve credit for patriotism the mothers should also share in the renown; much they did and more they endured; and inasmuch as patient waiting is more difficult and harder to endure than active serving, they are worthy to be held in grateful remembrance as having had a large share in securing for us the inheritance of a free country, blessed with civil and religious liberty.

In July, 1779, Colonel Putnam was sent to do special service in the examination of Stony and Verplank's Points, previous and preparatory to the attack upon the former so successfully and brilliantly made by General Wayne. He encountered many difficulties in performing this duty, but as usual accomplished what he had set out to do with great skill and carefulness. Soon after this, he was appointed to the command of a regiment of light infantry in the brigade of General Wayne, made up of the very e/ife of the army.

The greater part of the winter of 1780 he spent in Boston in endeavors. to obtain from the legislature redress of grievances for the officers and soldiers in the army. Their sufferings, for want of pay and necessary supplies, were extreme, and had reached the point when endurance seemed no longer possible. The officer of General Nixon's brigade had, by an unanimous vote, chosen Colonel Putnam to represent their interests and intercede for them, both with Congress and the legislature of Massachusetts. He was partially successful in securing relief, and received a note of thanks for the help he obtained.

General Washington seems fully to have appreciated the trustworthiness as well as the ability of Colonel Putnam, and he lost no opportnnity of manifesting his interest in him, and his desire to do for him whatever lay in his power. In the Memoir written by General Putnam, he speaks modestly, but with just pride, of the sincere and unwavering regard shown him, by the commanderin-chief. During this year he consulted him in regard to the best plan for arranging a military peace establishment. Colonel Putnam drew up a plan in which he went very much into detail. In 1782 he had become dissatisfied with the service, and was about to retire, but he was made a brigadier-general, and his promotion left him without an excuse for leaving the service. But the war was over, and peace was again come to shed gladness over the land. Early in 1783 General Putnam resigned his commission, and went back to his farm and to surveying. But it was not easy for him to be content with the interests of so narrow a life, after being accustomed to act in stirring events that took hold upon public interests. In June, 1783, a petition signed by two hundred and eighty-three officers was presented to Congress, asking for a grant of land in the west. General Putnam addressed a letter to General Washington, enforcing the terms of the petition, and begging him to use his influence with Congress to induce them to act promptly. In this letter he very forcibly and clearly presents arguments in favor of immediate action. The arguments were drawn from both the needs of the officers and the best interests of the country. He says the probability is that the country between Lake Erie and the Ohio will He goes on to say that he thinks there are thousands that would emigrate thither and settle if Congress would grant favorable terms, and urges the necessities of officers and soldiers as a reason for immediate action. General Washington seconded him with all the influence he could bring to bear on the subject, but all was not sufficient to overcome the inertia of Congress. Nothing was done at that time. The history of General Putnam's connection with the Ohio company and the great work that he accomplished in superintending the establishment of the first permanent settlement in the Northwest Territory is given elsewhere, and will be omitted here, except the brief statement of a few facts to fill out the outline of his life.

While in this waiting posture, General Putnam was employed by the State of Massachusetts to survey a tract of land bordering upon Passamaquoddy bay and so entire was the satisfaction felt with the manner in which the work was done that in 1785 he was again employed by the legislature to survey their eastern lands. While he was thus engaged, Congress waked up enough to take action in regard to the proposed settlement in the west, and appointed General Putnam to superintend the work of surveying and laying out the land. But he felt himself in honor bound to keep his engagement with the State of Massachusetts, and at his request General Tupper was appointed in his place. April 7, 1788, forty-eight colonists with General Putnam in command landed at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, and began the settlement of Marietta. General Putnam administered the affairs of the colony with good judgement and wise forethought. There were educated men among the colonists, graduates of Havard and Yale - men who had filled honorably and well high positions, and it is proof, if proof were wanted, of the rare endowments of General Putnam, that he, without the training of school or college, among these men was facile princeps. Always cool and clear-headed, he was one to be depended on in emergencies. Inflexible in his integrity, just and upright in all his dealings, it was safe to commit to him any interest no matter how important. It is not strange, then, that he was so often employed to conduct difficult negotiations and manage business, when sound judgment and unimpeachable honesty were necessary to success. It is especially noticeable that in everything he tried to do he always succeeded. 'There is no failure on record in any enterprise he ever undertook, when the plans and execution were in his own hands.

He went to work at once, as soon as the colony arrived, to arrange securities for them in case of hostilities on the part of the Indians. The wise forethought shown in this, probably saved the colonists in the Indian war that broke out in 1791 and continued for five years.

General Putnam presided over the first court held in the territory and gave the charge to the grand jury in an appropriate and impressive manner. In 1790 he received a commission as judge in the United States court, and in the same year moved his family, consisting of his wife, six daughters, two sons, and two grand-children, to Marietta. In May, 1792, General Putnam was made a brigadier general in the United States army.

He accepted the duty under protest. The first duty assigned him under his new office was to "'attempt to be present at the general council of the hostile Indians, about to be held on the Miami river, of Lake Erie, in order to convince them of the humane disposition of the United States, and thereby to make a truce, or peace, with them." Accompanied by the Rev. John Heckewelder, he went to Post Vincent. He succeeded in making a treaty of peace and amity, which was signed by thirty-one kings, chiefs, and warriors, who represented eight of the Wabash tribes. This treaty was of great importance, as it detached a large body of warriors from the war party, though the Shawnees and Miamis were still too much elated by their recent victory over General St. Clair to be induced to sign the treaty.

Soon after this General Putnam resigned his commission as brigadier general, but he was not allowed to retire from publicservice. Colonel Pickering, the postmaster general, wanted to establish a line of boats to carry the mail from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati. The arrangements were placed under thesuperintendenice of General Putnam, and so wisely and so well was the business managed, that the boats continued to make their regular trips during the Indian war, with the loss of but one life. And again, when a road was wanted to connect Wheeling with Limestone, now Maysville, General Putnam was appointed to superintend the laying out of the same. And finally, through the influence of General Washington, he was made surveyor general of the United States, an office of great responsibility, requiring much wisdom and good judgment to properly meet its requirements. Large tracts of land were to be surveyed and put into the market, grants to be laid out, and many delicate and difficult duties to be done. But he was sufficient for all these things, and discharged the duties of the office with honor to himself, and to the satisfaction of all concerned, until 1803, when he was removed by President Jefferson. He says, in regard to his removal: 'I am happy in having my name enrolled with many, who have suffered the like political death, for adherence to those correct principles and measures, in the pursuance of which our country rose from a state of weakness, disgrace, and poverty, to strength, honor, and credit."

In 1802, General Putnam was elected by the citizens of Washington county as one of their representatives in the convention called to form a constitution for the new State. He did good service therein in fighting against the introduction of slavery, which, notwithstanding the prohibition in the ordinance of 1787, was kept out by a majority of only one vote.

In 1807 he drafted a plan for a church which was large and imposing for the time. He gave his services in superintending its erection, and also very liberal contributions in the way of money. The church is still used by the Congregationalists for their regular place of worship. He took great interest in establishing a Bible society in the county, and also in establishing a Sabbathschool, which was a new thing in the young west. He felt the want of educational advantages in his own early life so keenly that he was always ready to lend a helping hand to any effort to provide ways and means to save others from the evils that he suffered. While yet in Massachusetts, he was one of the corporators and trustees of Leicester academy one of the best and earliest started in the State, and to it he gave liberally of his means. In his new western home the cause still lay near his heart. But a brief period was allowed to pass after the Indian war was over before he was at work to get the "Muskingum academy" started and in working condition. This school was organized in 1798, and was the first in which anything higher than the common English branches was taught in all the great northwest, now so dotted with high schools, academies and colleges. He was elected in 1801 by the territorial legislature, one of the trustees of the Ohio university, the first college established in Ohio. He felt a warm interest in securing endowments and getting the college upon a solid foundation; and then, when all these things were acomcomplished, his public work was done. Surrounded by his children and their children, with a thriving community to bear witness to his wisdom and far-seeing philanthropy, honored with the respect of all who knew him, and cheered by the gratitude of those he had benefitted, he waited in serene old age for the summons to again start fora new and better country. The companion with whom he travelled the journey of life for more than half a century was called before him. Mrs. Putnam died in 1820, but his maiden daughter, Elizabeth, devoted herself to his comfort and did all that love and care could do to make his last years happy. At length his summons came. He died in 1824, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. He was borne to his rest and his remains laid down in the 'Mound cemetery" in Marietta, under the shadow of a monument erected by a forgotten race to chieftains of their own, who had, perhaps, in their day, done deeds worthy of commemoration. He left numerous descendents, who are God fearing men and women, useful citizens and many of them active workers in the cause of Christ.

It is scarcely necessary to sum up the character of the man whose life has been so inadequately sketched. His work is his best epitaph. He was not brilliant, he was not quick, but he had good common sense in abundant measure, united with sound judgement and clear discrimination. When he saw what was needed to be done, he was wise in the seelction of the means to secure the desired end. His integrity was never called in question, he was always found on the side of the right, and no good cause was ever brought before him from which he willingly turned away. His personal appearance was imposing. He was courtly in his manners, after the old style of gentlemen, though oftentimes a little abrupt, as is the way of the Putnams. Being a much experienced man, he was very interesting as well as instructive in conversation. He had a large fund from which to draw, for he had seen much of distinguished men and of many remarkable events. H- could say, if he would - guorum magna prs fui. A granite monument recently erected by his grandson, Colonel W. R. Putnam, marks the place of his rest. It has this inscription:

Gen. Rufus Putnam

A Revolutionary officer, and the leader of the colony which made the first settlement in the Territory of the Northwest at Marietta, April 7,

The children of General Rufus Putnam were: Ayres, born 1761, died 1762; Elizabeth, born 1765, died 1830; Persis, born 1767, died - - - - -; Susanna, born 1768, died 1840; Abigail, born 1770, died 1805; William Rufus, born 1771, died 1855; Franklin, born 1774, died 1776; Edwin, born 1776, died 1843; Patty, born 1777, died 1842, and Catharine, born 1780, died 1808. William Rufus married in 1803, Jerusha Guitteau. Their son William Rufus Putnam, jr., was born June 13, 1812. Edwin Putnam married a Miss Safford and had a family of five children, three sons and two daughters. Susanna married Christopher Burlingame. Abigail married William Browning, of Belpre. Persis married Perly Howe,

The interest which a majority of those who consult this volume, have in Dr. Manasseh Cutler centres in his splendid services for the New England Ohio company and his immeasurable influence for good, as exerted through the ordinance of 1787, of which much has been already said within these pages, but it is desirable that in a work devoted to the history of a settlement, of which he was one of the founders, a personal sketch of the man should be given to convey, however inadequately, some idea of his life, his talents, and his worth.

Rey. Manasseh Cutler, son of Hezekiah and Susanna (Clark) Cutler, was born in Killingly, Connecticut, May 28 (old style), 1742. His father wasa respectable farmer and the son spent his earlier years in the usual manner of a New England farmer's boy. He early displayed promising tokens of genius and made rapid progress in study. He prepared for college under the Rev. Aaron Brown - a Killingly preacher - and entered Yale in 1761. He graduated with high honor in 1765. In the following year he married Mary Balch, daughter of the Rey. Thomas and Mary (Sumner) Balch. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1767, and pleaded a few cases in the Norfolk county, Massachusetts, courts, but having entertained, for some years, serious thoughts of entering the ministry, he began in earnest his theological studies in 1769, under the directions of his father-in-law, who was the first pastor of the South church, of Dedham, Massachusetts. In his diary under date of November, of the preceding year, appears an entry showing that he had even then given much consideration to the subject. He says: 'Prosecuted my studies - began to make sermons. May God grant me his blessing in so important an undertaking, and make me servicable to the cause of religion and the souls of my fellow-men." After completing the course of study usual at that day he was ordained at Ipswich Hamlet (afterward Hamilton), Massachusetts, September 11, 1771. His pastorate here continued fifty-two years, until his death, in 1823. Dr. Cutler regarded himself as consecrated to the ministry and repeatedly refused opportunities to enter other, and very tempting, avenues of life. His labors in the church were very successful. The Rev. Dr. Benjamin Wadsworth thus spoke of him: "Christ crucified was the great theme of his preaching. His public discourses were prepared in Gospel style, but with studied accuracy, argumentative energy, and persuasive pathos. They were serious and practical, rather than speculative and metaphysical; he could be a son of thunder, and a son of consolation; his object was to win souls to Christ, and to establish them intelligent, judicious, and exemplary Christians." Another writer has saidofhim: "As a preacher, he was grave, dignified, and impressive in manner, and select in the matter of his discourses. In doctrine, a moderate Calvinist, he steadily maintained the religious opinions with which he commenced his ministry, to the end of his life." Felt, in his history of Ipswich, Massachusetts, says: His voice in preaching was not loud, but distinct and audible to his congregation. His style of writing was clear, perspicuous and strong." His published sermons are: "Charge at the Ordination of Rev. Daniel Story, 1798" (the first ordained minister in the northern territory). 'A National Fast Sermon, 1799," '"'A Sermon before the Bible Society of Salem and vicinity, 1813," and "A Century Discourse of Hamilton Church, 1814."

Dr. Cutler became, while a young man, very fond of scientific study, and, later in life, it is not too much to say, was more distinguished as a scientist than any man in America, except Benjamin Franklin. In the early part of the Revolutionary war an American privateer captured and brought into port a British prize, containing among other valuables a fine library, consisting chiefly of medical and botanical works. These books became the neucleus of what is now the Salem athaneum. The botanical department - a field till then but little cultivated in this country - being very congenial to Dr. Cutler's taste, engaged his eager attention. He prepared a paper on botany which the American Society of Arts and Sciences published in their memoirs, and which Dr. Franklin (as he himself afterward assured Dr. Cutler) caused to be republished in the Columbian Magazine, printed at Philadelphia. In the year 1785 Dr. Cutler published four papers in the Memoirs of the American Academy, in three departments of scilence - astronomy, meteorology, and botany.

Dr. Cutler, who had already taken degrees in law and divinity, soon after the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, became a student and practitioner of medicine. The regular physician of the hamlet had been called to active military service, and the people were obliged to send to neighboring towns for medical aid.

In this exigency Dr. Cutler qualified himself to fill the place made vacant. In due time he acquired a high reputation as a physician, and in the treatment of some difficult cases his success became quite proverbial. Many valuable medical papers are preserved among his manuscripts. His knowledge of botany was blended advantageously with that of medicine. It inay be remarked that one of his papers upon a topic of the former science was instrumental in bringing into use lobelia and other indigenous plants.

The public honors conferred upon him give some idea of the estimation in which Dr. Cutler was held as a man of literature and science - such an accumulation as is rarely annexed to the ministerial character. They rank in the following order: He graduated from Yale in 1765; received the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard in 1770; was elected a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1781; of the Philosophical society, Philadelphia, 1784; and an honorary member of the Massachusetts Medical society, 1785; received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Yale college, 1789; was elected member of the Agricultural society, 1792; of the Historical society, 1792; a representative to Congress from 1800 to 1804; an honorary member of the Linnzan society, Philadelphia, 1809; president of the Bible society of Salem and vicinity, 1811; a member of the American Antiquarian society, 1813; and of the New England Linnzan society, 1815. Dr. Cutler was better and more widely known during his life as a scientist than as a preacher. And now the popularity of the preacher and the renown of the scientist are both eclipsed by the fame of the author of the ordinance of 1787. As the agent who introduced and who secured the adoption of the clause in that immortal instrument which gave it the name of the Ordinance of Freedom, he organized the force which, swelling steadily and irresistibly as the years rolled on, changed the destiny of the Nation and of millions of human beings by barring its progress and so making possible the final overthrow of American slavery. Only in recent years has Dr. Cutler's name been covered with the glory of this great deed. But his agency in the formation of the ordinance - in the insertion and passage of the clause prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Territory - has been established beyond a doubt.

The events which led to Dr. Cutler's great opportunity, if not forming as longa train as that of the steps by which he was fitted to take advantage of the opportunity, were nevertheless numerous. It is not necessary that they should here be recounted. He took a deep interest in the success of the American patriots. He served during two campaigns as chaplain in the Revolutionary army. He was thus personally acquainted with many of the officers and soldiers in that noble body beside those who dwelt in Hamilton and its vicinity. When the great struggle was ended and independence secured, he deeply sympathized with the survivors who had sacrificed all but life itself in the battle. When a number of those men organized the New England Ohio company for the purpose of planting a colony in the west, and there retrieving their spent fortunes, he was elected a director.

Subsequently he was appointed the agent of the company to negotiate for a purchase of lands from Congress. In June, 1787, he journeyed to New York upon his important mission. How perfectly he fulfilled and how mightily he exceeded the object of that mission has already been told in a lengthy chapter of this volume. He not only made the purchase on advantageous terms, but he succeeded, by the exercise of his splendid abilities, in planting upon that land to which the colony was to journey, and upon the soil of the whole Northwest Territory, the law of Massachusetts. He succeeded in securing the eternal prohibition of slavery, and the enactment of wise measures for the support of schools, and the ministry, and the founding of a university.

Dr. Cutler kept a journal during his visit to Congress. That journal (from which ample extracts are given in chapter VI of this work) contains much of the evidence of Dr. Cutler's agency in the formation of the Ordinance of Freedom, and is an invaluable historical document. It was not meant for the public eye, but to give his daughters a glimpse of the world beyond their quiet New England home. The diary was kept at the request of his daughter, Mary, who, as her father was about to depart, ran to him with a book in which she enjoined him, girllike, to write not only of his negotiations, but to give descriptions of the people whom he met - of ladies as well as gentlemen - of costumes, entertainments, etc. The journal was many years afterwards in Marietta in the hands of Judge Ephraim Cutler. Portions of it were copied by Miss Julia Cutler, and this manuscript is now in the hands of Mrs. Sarah Cutler Dawes, of Marietta. The original was returned to New England and passed into the possession of Daniel Webster. After his death it was found among his papers by the Rev. Edwin Stone, of Massachusetts, who has been for many years engaged in writing a biography of Dr. Cutler, and who still retains the document. Such in brief is the history of this journal. It will, doubtless, some day be deposited in the library of Marietta college.

While his negotiations with Congress were pending Dr. Cutler journeyed to Philadelphia to visit Benjamin Franklin (a man, by the way, whom he resembled in tastes, talents and achievements, as will be seen, when the story of his life is fully told). James Parton, in his life of Franklin, introduces Dr. Cutler's description of this visit as one of the best contemporary accounts of the distinguished American. The following extracts from this description we reproduce as showing something of the character of the writer and the esteem in which he was held by Franklin.

Dr. Franklin's house stands up a court at some distance from the street. We found him in the garden, sitting upon a grass plot, under a very large mulberry tree, with several other gentlemen and two or three ladies. He rose from his chair, took me by the hand, expressed his joy at seeing me, welcomed me to the city and begged me to seat myself close to him. His voice was low; his countenance open frank and pleasing. I delivered him my letters. After he had read them, he took me again by the hand and with the usual compliments introduced me to the other gentlemen. Here we entered into a free conversation and spent our time most agreeably, until it was quite dark After it was dark we went

Here Franklin exhibited to his scientific friend many interesting objects, - a glass machine for representing the flow of the blood in the arteries and veins of the human body, a copying press, a long artificial arm and hand (his own invention) for taking books down from high shelves, and other devices and curiosities. Dr. Cutler

But what the doctor wished principally to show me was a huge volume on botany, which, indeed, afforded me the greatest pleasure of any one thing in his library. It was a single volume, but so large, that it was with great difficulty that he was able to raise it from a low shelf and lift it on the table. But with that senile ambition, which is common to old people, be insisted on doing it himself, and would permit no person to assist him, merely to show us how much strength he had remaining. It contained the whole of Linnaeus Sytema Vegetabilium with large cuts of every plant colored from nature. It was a feast to me, and the do®or seemed to enjoy it as well as myself. We spent a couple of hours in examining this volume, while the other gentlemen amused themselves with other matters. The doctor is not a botanist, but lamented he had not in early life attended to the science. He delights in natural history and expressed an earnest wish that I should pursue the plan that I had begun and hoped this science so much neglected in America would be pursued with as much ardor here as it is now in every part of Europe. I wanted for three months at least to have devoted myself to this one volume, but fearing that I should be tedious to him, I shut up the volume, though he urged me to examine it longer.

He seemed extremely fond, through the course of the visit of dwelling on philosophical subjects, and particularly that of natural history, while the other gentlemen were swallowed up with politics. This was a favorable circumstance for me, for almost the whole of his conversation was addressed to me, and I was highly delighted with the extensive knowledge he appeared to have of every subject, the brightness of his memory and clearness and vivacity ofall his mental faculties, notwithstanding his age. His manners are perfectly easy, and everything}about him seems to diffuse an unrestrained freedom and happiness. He has an incessant vein of humor accompanied by an uncommon vivacity, which seems as natural and involuntary as his breathing He urged me to call on him again, but my short stay would not admit.

Dr. Cutler, in the summer of 1788, visited the infant settlement which he had been instrumental in founding, for the purpose of attending a meeting of the directors of the Ohio company. He left Hamilton, in his sulky, July 21st, and arrived at Marietta August 19th. On the twenty-seventh of the month he performed the burial service for a child of Major Nathaniel Cushing, the first funeral among the settlers here. He preached on the Sabbath in the hall at Campus Martius; and was present in the same hall September 2, 1788, at the opening of the first court held northwest of the river Ohio, under the forms of civil jurisprudence, officiating as chaplain on that occasion. He was greatly interested in examining the ancient mounds, squares, and other earthworks at Marietta, which he thought were a thousand years old, and were made by some nation more civilized and powerful than any Indians known to exist in America. After his arrival in Massachusetts he wrote to General Rufus Putnam: 'On my return home I found several letters from different parts of Europe. The most of them request me to send a particular account of the ancient works found in North America. These works seem to have engaged the attention of the literati in Europe, and I wish to gratify those with whom I have the honor to correspond, as far as possible. I must beg you to forward to me the surveys of the works at Marietta. Accurate measurements I find to be of consequence in their minds. Pray attend to the width of the openings, and the distances and relative situations of all the works to One another." Dr. Cutler gives an account of these remarkable earthworks in a note to his charge at the ordination of Rey. Daniel Story.

Dr. Cutler at one time contemplated removing his family to the new purchase, but after this visit he writes that he could not do so without making great sacrifices, and, although the country equalled, and in some respects much exceeded his expectations, especially as a grazing country, and he felt the warmest interest in the success and prosperity of the settlement, he finally abandoned the plan.

Soon after the peace made by General Wayne with the western Indians, in 1795, President Washington tendered to Dr. Cutler a commission as judge of the supreme court in the Ohio Territory, which he declined.

Although Dr. Cutler was not of the pioneers at Marietta, two of his sons, Ephraim and Jervis, were, and a third, Charles, was also an early resident of Ohio. Another son died in infancy. Temple, the youngest of the four who lived to maturity, never removed to the west, and died in New England in 1857. Dr. Cutler had three daughters: Mary, who became the wife of Dr. Joseph Torry, of Hamilton; Elizabeth, who married Fitch Poole and lived in Danvers; and Lavinia, who married Captain Jacob Berry.

In the autumn of 1800 Dr. Cutler was elected a member of Congress, and again in 1802, when, having served two terms, he declined a reelection. His people entertained a high estimate of his talents and patriotism, and he accepted the honors conferred with the modest diffidence which true dignity inspires. Whether at home or abroad, his mind was intent on projecting great and good plans, consulting the benefit of generations to come; and his persevering genius rarely failed of carrying them into effect. In politics Dr. Cutler was a Federalist.

Felt's History of Ipswich (Massachusetts), says: 'In person Dr. Cutler was of light complexion, above the common stature, erect and dignified in his appearance. His manners were gentlemanly; his conversation easy and intelligent. As an advisor he was discerning and CUSCTEEL oss His mental endowments were high."

In a discourse delivered July 30, 1823, in Hamilton, at the interment of the Rev. Manasseh Cutler, by Benjamin Wadswords, D. D., he said: 'All who enjoyed the privilege of an acquaintance with the Rev. Dr. Cutler knew that nature had been liberal of her gifts; enriching an elegant form with a penetrating and enterprising mind, capacitated for literary and scientific attainments, and with talents formed to shine on the public stage of life,' and he adds, '"'his name will stand enrolled on the list of the early literati."

Dr. Cutler's old home in Hamilton remains, little changed since he dwelt in it, except that the beautiful gardens which he had in connection with the house have long since disappeared. In the village burying-ground is a monument to his memory bearing the following inscription: REV. MANASSEH CUTLER, LL., D. He died July 28, 1823, in the 81st year of his age.

His talents were of a high order. He was eminent for his Botanical, Medical, Pohtical and Theological knowledge. He was a member of literary and scientific societies in both Europe and America. After a useful ministry of fifty-two years in this place, he expired, with a firm and peaceful reliance on his Redeemer.

The important part taken by General Benjamin Tupper in the measures leading to settlement at Marietta, makes his personal career a subject of general interest. He was born at Staughton, Massachusetts, in 1738. While yet quite young his father died, and he was apprenticed to a tanner named Whitherton, in Dorchester. He left Dorchester at the age of sixteen, and lived on a farm at Easton.

He served as a private soldier in the French war most of the time for about three years. About this time he also taught school at Easton two or three winters.

He was married November 18, 1762, to Huldah White, of Easton. She was a woman of much strength and beauty of character, and was well fitted to be the companion of a public man during a trying epoch of history. A short time after their marriage they removed from Easton to Chesterfield, which continued to be the family residence until they came to Marietta.

Mr. Tupper, at the opening of the Revolution, was lieutenant in a militia company at Chesterfield, and under command of Major Halley, vf Northampton, participated in preventing the supreme court from sitting under authority of the British Crown. He thus early joined the illustrious line of revolutionists. When the war had actually begun, he entered the service with the rank of major, and was an actor in the events which took place at Boston harbor.

Mr. Tupper was promoted to the colonelcy in 1776. He participated in the battle of Long Island. During the campaign of 1777, he served under General Gates. In «778, he was under General Washington, and had a horse killed under him at the battle of Monmouth. In 1780, he served in the army of the Hudson. About the close of the war he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general by brevet. When the war had closed, he returned to his family at Chesterfield.

General Tupper's last military services were in the suppression of Shay's rebellion in Massachusetts, in which he performed an important part.

General Tupper came to Marietta with the first company of families, August 19, 1788. He served as judge of the court of quarter sessions until his death in June, 1792. His wife died at Putnam, Ohio, February 21, 1812.

Their family consisted of three sons and four daughters. Major Anselm Tupper died at Marietta, December 25, 1808; Colonel Benjamin Tupper died at Putnam in February, 1815; General Edward W. Tupper died at Gallipolis in 1823 ; Rowena, the oldest daughter of General Tupper, and wife of Secretary Winthrop Sargeant, died at Marietta in 1790; Sophia, wife of Nathaniel Wilys, esq., of Connecticut, died in October. 1789; Minerva, wife of Colonel Ichabod Nye, died at Marietta in April, 1836; the other daughter died young, before the family emigrated to Ohio.

Samuel Holden Parsons

Samuel Holden Parsons was an honorable soldier and able diplomat during the early period of our country's existence. He was born in New London county, Connecticut, May 14, 1837. His father was Jonathan Parsons, a distinguished clergyman, and his mother was a descendant of Henry Wolcot, of Connecticut. He graduated from Harvard college, and studied law. His first appointment was to the position of colonial auditor with power to collect and adjust accounts. He became a member of the committee on western land claims in 1773. His diplomatic services in this connecton were found of great service to his colony.

In 1783 he was made a member of the intercolonial standing committee of correspondence and inquiry. As a member of this committee he suggested to Samuel Adams the propriety of holding annual meetings of commissioners of the colonies to consult on their general welfare. Historians have attributed to Samuel Adams the honor of originating the American Congress, but a letter on file among the papers of Samuel Adams from Colonel Parsons proves him to have been the originator of the idea.

His strong and caustic pen was employed during the whole of the preliminary struggle with Great Britain in inspiring his countrymen with a spirit of resistance against oppression. The fact that a National Congress was first suggested by Colonel Parsons, has been referred to. It was through his diplomacy that the legislature of Connecticut was led to pass a resolution in 1774, recommending a meeting of representatives of the colonies. Massachusetts, with Samuel Adams in the lead, seconded this resolution. Colonel Parsons joined the lines at the opening of the war, and served with distinction till its close, when he was retired with the rank of major-general. He had succeeded General Putnam in command of the treat with the Shawnee Indians for extinguishing the aboriginal title to certain lands within the Northwestern Territory. The other members of the commission were Generals Richard Butler, of Pittsburgh, and George Rogers Clark, of Kentucky. The treaty was held January 31, 1786, near the mouth of the Great Miami, and resulted in the cession to the United States of a large tract of land, on which Cincinnati now stands.

General Parsons was appointed one of the supreme judges under the ordinance of 1787, and came to Marietta in May, 1788. In 1789 he was commissioned chief judge of the territory. In the fall of 1789 he went to the northern part of the State in the service of Connecticut, to treat. with the Wyandots relative to their claim on the Reserve lands. While returning to Marietta, he was drowned in the rapids of the Big Beaver November 17, 1789.

James Mitchell Varnum

Americans patriotically cherish the memory of the Revolutionary heroes. But in the character of James Mitchell Varnum we have a man whose services extend beyond the establishment of independence into the period of the establishment of government and the formation of constitutions, a man who devoted to the service of his country the talents of a ready commander, able lawyer and pure statesman.