Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/165

PUTNAM  of George Peabody's trust, he was appointed professor of American archæology and ethnology in Harvard. Meanwhile, in 1874, he was an instructor at the School of natural history on Penikese island, and during the same year he was appointed an assistant on the geological survey of Kentucky. In 1875 the engineer department of the U. S. army appointed him to examine and report on the archæological collections of the geological and geographical survey under Lieut. George M. Wheeler, and in 1876-'8 he was also assistant in charge of the collection of fishes in the Museum of comparative zoölogy at Harvard. Prof. Putnam has held the office of state commissioner of Massachusetts on inland fisheries, and in 1887 became commissioner of fish and game. His earliest paper was a “Catalogue of the Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts,” which he followed with various researches in zoölogy, but since 1865 his work has been principally in American archæology, or anthropology, and his acquaintance with this subject is probably unexcelled in the United States. His papers on this science exceed 200, and embrace descriptions of many mounds, burial-places, and shell-heaps and of the objects found in them. Prof. Putnam is a member of many historical and scientific societies here and in Europe, and was elected to membership in 1885 in the National academy of sciences. He is also widely known by his office of permanent secretary of the American association for the advancement of science, which he has held since 1873. At that time the membership of the association was barely 500, and it now exceeds 2,000, a result which is attributed largely to his executive ability. Prof. Putnam has also been vice-president of the Essex institute since 1871, and was elected president of the Boston society of natural history in 1887. He was associated with Alpheus Hyatt, Edward S. Morse, and Alpheus S. Packard in the founding of the “American Naturalist” in 1867, and was one of its editors until 1875. He has also edited many volumes of the “Proceedings of the Essex Institute,” the “Annual Reports of the Trustees of the Peabody Academy of Science,” and the “Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science” since 1873, and the “Annual Reports of the Peabody Museum of Archæology and Ethnology” since 1874. He has also published his report to the engineer department as volume vii. of the “Report upon Geographical and Geological Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian” (Washington, 1879).

 soldier, b. in Cornish, N. H., 15 Oct., 1835; d. near Fort Wagner, S. C., 18 July, 1863. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1857, and entered the army in July as brevet 2d lieutenant of topographical engineers. From that time till a few months previous to the civil war he was engaged in explorations and surveys in the west. When the war began he was summoned to Washington and intrusted with important despatches for Fort Pickens. He accomplished his mission, but, while returning to the north, was seized by the Confederates at Montgomery, Ala., and imprisoned for several days. On his release he was placed on Gen. Irvin McDowell's staff, participated in the battle of Bull Run, and gained the brevet of major for gallantry. In October he went to his native state and organized the 7th New Hampshire regiment, of which he became colonel in December, 1861. It was stationed during the first year of its service at Fort Jefferson, on Tortugas island, and afterward at St. Augustine, Fla., and in South Carolina. In 1863 Col. Putnam commanded a brigade in the Stono inlet expedition, and in the capture of Morris island. In the assault on Fort Wagner, 18 July, 1863, where he led the second storming column, he was killed on the parapet of the work while rallying his men. He was made brevet colonel, U. S. army, 18 July, 1863. For about four months preceding his death he was acting brigadier-general.

 soldier, b. in that part of the town of Salem, Mass., which has since been set off as the town of Danvers, 7 Jan., 1718; d. in Brooklyn, Conn., 19 May, 1790. His great-grandfather, John Putnam, with his wife, Priscilla, came from England in 1634, and settled in Salem. They brought with them three sons, Thomas, Nathanael, and John. All three acquired large estates, and were men of much consideration. In 1681, of the total tax levied in Salem village, raised from ninety-four tax-payers, for the support of the local church, the three Putnams paid one seventh. In 1666 Thomas Putnam married, for his second wife, the widow of Nathanael Veren, a wealthy merchant and ship-owner. By this marriage he acquired wealth in Jamaica and Barbadoes. Joseph, the son of this marriage, was born in 1670, and at the age of twenty married Elizabeth, daughter of Israel Porter. In the witchcraft frenzy of 1692, Joseph's sister was one of the accused, and only saved herself by fleeing to the wilderness and hiding till the search was given up. The Putnam family has always been prominent in the history of Salem and its neighborhood. Of the 74 recording clerks of the parish of Danvers, 24 have been Putnams; and this family has furnished 15 of the 23 deacons, 12 of the 26 treasurers, and 7 of the 18 superintendents of the Sabbath-school. In 1867, of the 800 voters in Danvers, 50 were Putnams.

Israel Putnam, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, was the tenth of eleven children. At the age of twenty he married Hannah, daughter of Joseph Pope, of Salem village. In 1739 Israel and his brother-in-law, John Pope, bought of Gov. Belcher 514 acres in Mortlake manor, in what is now Windham county, Conn. By 1741 Israel had bought out his brother-in-law and become owner of the whole tract. The Mortlake manor formed part of the township of Pomfret, but as early as 1734 it was formed into a distinct parish, known as Mortlake parish. In 1754 its name was changed to Brooklyn parish, and in 1786 it was set off as a separate township under the name of Brooklyn. The old Putnam farm is on the top of the high hill between the villages of Pomfret and Brooklyn. For many years Israel Putnam devoted himself to the cultivation of this farm, and it was considered one of the finest in New England. He gave especial attention to sheep-raising and to fruits, especially winter apples. In 1733 the town sustained four public schools; in 1739 there was a public circulating library; and in the class of 1759, at Yale college, ten of the graduates were from Pomfret. These symptoms of high civilization were found in a community not