- Rufus Putnam
Rufus Putnam (
April 9 ,1738 – 1824) was a colonial military officer during theFrench and Indian War , and a general in theContinental Army during theAmerican Revolutionary War . He was instrumental in the initial settling of theOhio Country following the war.Early life and career
Putnam was born in Sutton,
Massachusetts .His grandfather was a half-brother to the father ofIsrael Putnam , the renownedgeneral during theAmerican Revolution . Rufus's father died when he was 6 or 7, and he temporarily lived with his grandfather. Putnam's mother remarried two years later toJohn Sadler . Rufus lived with his mother and stepfather in Sutton, where the family ran aninn .Putnam served with a
Connecticut regiment during theFrench and Indian War .He served from 1757 to 1760. During the war, Putnam saw action in theGreat Lakes region, nearLake Champlain .After the war, Putnam relocated to New Braintree,
Massachusetts . There, he worked as amillwright from 1761 to 1768.During this period he was married twice—first, in April 1761 to Elizabeth Ayers, the daughter ofWilliam Ayers ,esquire of the Second Precinct of Brookfield (now North Brookfield),Massachusetts . Elizabeth died in 1762, and onJanuary 10 ,1765 he remarried to one Persis Rice, the daughter of Zebulon Rice of Westborough, Massachusetts. While Putnam worked as a millwright, he devoted his time to educating himself, learning vast quantities aboutgeography ,mathematics , and surveying.In 1769, Putnam left his occupation as a millwright and became a
farmer and surveyor. Rufus Putnam, along withIsrael Putnam and two others, traveled in 1773 to near present-day Pensacola,Florida . There, Putnam surveyed and chartered lands along theMississippi River that were to be granted toveteran s of the French & Indian War.Revolutionary War
After the shots at The battle of Lexington were fired, Putnam immediately enlisted the same day, on
April 19 ,1775 , in one of Massachusett's first revolutionary regiments. Putnam later enlisted in theContinental Army as aLieutenant Colonel , under the command ofDavid Brewer . Brewer's regiment first engaged with theBritish Army in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Putnam, drawing from his knowledge and skill as a millwright, was essential in constructing the fortifications necessary for obtaining victory. His fortifications played as a key advantage for the Continental Army, securing victories at Sewall's Point, Providence, New Port, Dorchester Heights, Long Island, and West Point.General Washington appointed Putnam to be the
Chief of Engineers of the Works ofNew York . He was soon promoted to engineer with the rank ofcolonel ; however when theContinental Congress rejected his proposition to establish a corp of engineers in December 1776, Putnam resigned.He reenlisted in the Northern Army and served under
Major General Horatio Gates .Under Gates, Putnam commanded two regiments in thebattle of Saratoga .Putnam also constructed crucial fortifications, including Fort Putnam at West Point in 1778. In 1779 Putnam served under Major GeneralAnthony Wayne after the capture ofStony Point . Putnam's remaining military career was rather uneventful. In January 1783 he was commissioned asbrigadier general .Post-war activities
After the war was over, Putnam returned to
Rutland, Massachusetts . He had bought a confiscated farm here in 1780, and returned to reside upon it. Putnam returned to working as a surveyor, inspecting lands inMaine (then part of Massachusetts). Putnam was a strong advocate of granting lands to veterans of the Revolution. He was one of the authors of the army's Newbergh Petition, which was submitted to Congress requesting land disbursements.The Ohio Company
Putnam's advocacy for land grants led him to establish the
Ohio Company of Associates for the purchase and settlement of Western lands. [Hulbert, Archer Butler: "The Records of the Original Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume I", Marietta Historical Commission, Marietta, Ohio (1917).] [Hulbert, Archer Butler: "The Records of the Original Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume II", Marietta Historical Commission, Marietta, Ohio (1917).] The Ohio Company was established inBoston onMarch 3 ,1786 by Putnam, Benjamin Tupper,Samuel Holden Parsons , andManasseh Cutler . Its primary purpose was to settle theNorth-West Territory , the land granted for colonization by the US from theTreaty of Paris (1783) .The Company bought 1,500,000 acres (6,100 km²)of land north of the
Ohio River , between the present day sites ofMarietta, Ohio , andHuntington, West Virginia . Cutler had attempted to purchase all of the land between the Ohio and Scioto Rivers, but the western half of this tract was purchased by theScioto Company .Later life
Putnam led a group of Revolutionary veterans to settle the land in 1788. These
American Pioneers to the Northwest Territory arrived at the confluence of the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, on April 7, 1788, and establishedMarietta, Ohio as the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory. Putnam went on to serve as aSupreme Court judge for the Northwest Territory.He served in General
Anthony Wayne 's Ohio campaign against American Indian tribes, and in 1796, Putnam was appointed as the first Surveyor General of the United States, a position he held until 1803. Putnam died onMay 4 ,1824 . He was buried atMound Cemetery inMarietta, Ohio .The town of Putnam, Ohio (now a part of
Zanesville, Ohio ) was named for Rufus Putnam. One of his grandsons, Catharinus Putnam Buckingham, was a brigadier general in theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War .References
Bibliography
* Barker, Joseph: "Recollections of the First Settlement of Ohio", Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio (1958); original manuscript written late in Joseph Barker's life, prior to his death in 1843.
* Hildreth, S. P.: "Pioneer History: Being an Account of the First Examinations of the Ohio Valley, and the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory", H. W. Derby and Co., Cincinnati, Ohio (1848). This historical book is available online via the Google Books Library Project at [http://books.google.com/books?id=yak6sfwDB5gC Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory] .
* Hulbert, Archer Butler: "The Records of the Original Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume I", Marietta Historical Commission, Marietta, Ohio (1917). This historical book is available online via the Google Books Library Project at [http://books.google.com/books?id=3x8mAAAAMAAJ Ohio Company, Volume I] .
* Hulbert, Archer Butler: "The Records of the Original Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume II", Marietta Historical Commission, Marietta, Ohio (1917). This historical book is available online via the Google Books Library Project at [http://books.google.com/books?id=cCAmAAAAMAAJ Ohio Company, Volume II] .
* Summers, Thomas J.: "History of Marietta", The Leader Publishing Co., Marietta, Ohio (1903). This historical book is available online via the Google Books Library Project at [http://books.google.com/books?id=6BImAAAAMAAJ History of Marietta] .External links
* [http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/coe.htm U.S. Army Corps of Engineers History: Commanders]
Persondata
NAME = Putnam, Rufus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION =Continental Army officer, pioneer to theOhio Country
DATE OF BIRTH = 1738
PLACE OF BIRTH =Sutton, Massachusetts ,United States
DATE OF DEATH = 1824
PLACE OF DEATH =Marietta, Ohio ,United States
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