Putnam Family in Wilton, New Hampshire

John Putnam emigrated from Buckinghamshire, England, and settled in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1634, with his wife, Priscilla Gould. He was admitted freeman, 1647; died 1662, aged about 80 years. John’s grandson, Edward, recorded in 1733, at the death of his grandfather: “He ate his supper, went to prayer with his family and died before he went to sleep.”

John and Priscilla had seven children, all christened at Aston Abbots, Buckinghamshire, England. Three sons emigrated with him:

(1) Thomas, christened March 7, 1613-15; he married 1^st, Ann Holyoke, June 17, 1643; 2^nd, Mrs. Mary Veren, widow of Nathaniel Veren, September 14, 1666. (Thomas and Ann were the parents of nine children. Thomas and Mary had Joseph, who was famous for his denouncement of the witchcraft trials. Joseph married Elizabeth Porter in 1690. Their 12^th child and 4^th son was the famous General Israel Putnam. General Rufus Putnam was first cousin to Israel. The descendants of Thomas number into the many thousands.)

(2) X Nathaniel (Yeoman), christened October 11, 1619, in England; died in Salem, July 23, 1700. He married Elizabeth Hutchinson. They had five sons and two daughters. Only three of his seven children were still living at the time of his death. Nathaniel honestly believed in witchcraft, as did ninety percent of the people at that time. However, when he saw how far the persecution was going, he tried his best to halt it. He went about among the community with a petition in opposition to the witchcraft charges and got thirty-nine signatures of the leading citizens, but to no avail. He was said to have been of a fiery and determined disposition. In 1648, both he and his wife were admitted to the church in Salem. He was a man of considerable property. His wife brought him seventy-five acres additionally, and it was on this tract that he built his home, which was known as the “Old Judge Putnam Place.

(3) John, christened May 27, 1627, died April 7, 1710. Married Rebecca Prince, September 3, 1652. The descendants of John are probably not so numerous as from the other brothers, but from this line has come an impressive array of prominent business and professional men.

In a manuscript, dated 1733, Edward Putnam, son of Thomas, then 79 years of age, wrote the following concerning the family:

From the three brothers proceeded twelve males; from those twelve, forty males; from those forty, eighty-two males. In respect to their situation in life, I can say with the Psalmist: ‘I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging bread,’ except of God, who provides for all; for God hath given to the generation of my fathers Agur’s portion, neither poverty nor riches, but hath fed them with food convenient for them, and their children have been able to help others in their need.

Direct line descendants of Nathaniel (Yeoman) and Elizabeth Hutchinson are as follows:

Benjamin Putnam (Captain/Deacon) was born December 24, 1664 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts; died about 1715 in Salem. He married Sarah about 1685 in Salem. They had nine children. Their first child was their son Nathaniel. Evidently, Benjamin was well-to-do for a time. He held positions of trust in the town during the years of 1695-6. He was “Tithing Man” until he was chosen to make a division between the towns of Salem and Topsfield in 1712. His will indicates some of his wealth.

Nathaniel Putnam (Deacon) was born August 25, 1686 in Salem, and died October 21, 1754 in Danvers, Essex, Massachusetts. He married Hannah Robards or Roberts on January 6, 1709/10 in Salem. Nathaniel was known as “Deacon” after he was elected Deacon of the First Church at Danvers. Prior to his death, some of his children had moved, accompanied by some close relatives, to Salem, Canada, which later became Lyndeborough, New Hampshire; then to Wilton; and later to Temple. Nathaniel and Hannah were the parents of ten children. Their second child was Jacob Putnam.

Jacob Putnam was born March 9, 1711/1712, in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, and died February 10, 1781, in Wilton, Hillsborough, New Hampshire. He married Susanna Harriman on June 24, 1735, in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts. Jacob owned and operated a mill in Wilton. He was one of the signers of the petition dated June 25, 1762, to incorporate the town of Wilton. Jacob and Susanna were the parents of twelve children, one of whom was Stephen.

Stephen Putnam was born September 24, 1741, in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, and died June 29, 1812, in Rumford, Oxford, Maine. Stephen married Olive Varnum of Dracut on October 18, 1764, in Wilton, Hillsborough, New Hampshire. He owned and operated a mill on the lower Androscoggin River near Rumford Center. Stephen and Olive had eleven children, one of whom they named Israel (he was not the famous general of Revolutionary fame).

Israel Putnam was born March 31, 1776, in Temple, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, and died October 24, 1845, in Rumford, Oxford, Maine. He married Ruth Walton on November 12, 1811, in Rumford, Oxford, Maine. They had twelve children. Israel operated a mill at Roxbury, where his son, Artemas, learned the trade and brought the knowledge with him to Woodruff, Utah.

Israel and Ruth’s son, Artemas Walton Putnam, was born July 17, 1822, in Roxbury, Oxford, Maine, and died November 3, 1914, in Woodruff, Rich, Utah. He married Louisa Drusilla Bunker on January 7, 1848, in Mexico, Oxford, Maine. Artemas and Drusilla were the parents of five children. Their first child, a girl, died two weeks after her birth. Their second child was Savannah Western Clarke Putnam, who was born November 11, 1851, in Mexico, Oxford Maine, and died January 7, 1941, in Bountiful, Davis, Utah.

Savannah married his second wife, Ane Marie Josephine Nielsen (Hemmert), on October 12, 1878, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He owned and operated a small mill in Woodruff, Utah. Savannah and Marie were the parents of eight children, the youngest of whom was Ralph Amas (Arnold) Putnam, who was born April 18, 1900, in Woodruff, Rich, Utah, and died March 3, 1977, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ralph married Florence Jessie Newman on November 11, 1926, in Salt Lake City, Utah. They had eight children.

(It is noted that the names Jacob, Stephen, Israel, Nathaniel, Benjamin, Samuel, John, Jonathan, Rufus, Joseph, William, Artemas, Elizabeth, Mary, Hannah, Rebecca, and Sarah seem to have been most commonly given in the Putnam lines.)

The town of Wilton is located in the southwest part of the county of Hillsborough, State of New Hampshire. Wilton lies eighteen miles from Nashua, forty from Concord, thirty from Keene, and fifty-eight from Boston, Massachusetts. By the original grant, the town was “five miles square.” (See Original Plan of the Town of Wilton.)

The early inhabitants settled mostly on the hills, where many of the best farms are situated. Consequently, the early roads were made to climb over the hills from house to house, here and there having long and steep ascents and descents.

The first settlers in the territory now called Wilton, but originally Salem-Canada, were from Danvers, Massachusetts, and Nottingham, New Hampshire, now called Hudson. The dangers, labors, and sufferings which they underwent were similar to those which all the pioneers of New England were subjected. Hard work, meager fare, solitary lives, exposure to an untried climate, apprehension about the “savages,” sickness and wounds without surgical or medical care, deprivation of social, intellectual, and religious privileges—these and similar afflictions were their lot.

In 1739, Jacob and Ephraim Putnam, John Dale, and John Badger began a settlement on the southern side of the territory laid out of Salem-Canada. Ephraim Putnam, who was a brother to Jacob, located on what is now Lot No. 14. In the fifth range, at the intersection of the roads near the north cemetery, and a daughter of his was the first child born in Wilton.

Jacob Putnam located on the southeast part of Lot No. 15, in the fifth range. The original boundary of the lots was a large pine tree on the north bank of the stream a short distance below the old sawmill. He built the house two stories in front and one in the rear, the front rafters being short, and the back ones long. Many of the old houses were built in that style of architecture at the time. (See picture of Jacob’s house.)

The evidence seems conclusive that Jacob and his brother, Ephraim, were living with their families in what is now Wilton in 1739. One authority states that Jacob came to Wilton in 1738, which probably was the fact, because he almost certainly would not have brought his wife and two small children into the wilderness without some previous preparation.

Travel was difficult because of the heavy forests and swift streams. It was several years before neighbors living as close as ten miles apart saw each other very often.

For three years after the settlement began, the wife of Jacob Putnam [Susanna Harriman Putnam] was the only woman who resided permanently in the town. During one winter, Because of the depth of snow in the woods, and the distance from neighbors, for the space of six months she saw no one but the members of her own family.

John Badger was undoubtedly there with his family in 1739, but he died in February 1740. His family soon went away, and it is not known if any one by that name has lived in Wilton since then. The record of the family of John Dale shows that the eldest of his fourteen children was born March 31, 1745. From all this, it is concluded that Jacob Putnam was the first permanent settler in what is now Wilton.

John Badger, Jacob and Ephraim Putnam, and John Dale settled in the southern part of the township granted by Massachusetts under the name of Salem-Canada. But the establishment of the line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire soon after the settlement of Salem-Canada, made that grant void. When township No. 2 was surveyed and lotted, Jacob Putnam’s settlement was found to be in the southeasterly part of lot 15, fifth range. On the west side of the road, nearly opposite Michael McCarthy’s barn, may still be seen the remains of a cellar, where Jacob Putnam’s first house was undoubtedly located – the one in which he lived until he built the two-story house later occupied by Mr. McCarthy. Records of deeds show that Jacob Putnam conveyed to various persons lot No. 17, seventh range, and lots numbered 17, 18, 19, and 20, tenth range; the last farm being in the range annexed to Temple.

Jacob is said to have married Hannah Harriman, but there is no date either of the marriage or of her death. In July 1735, he married Susanna Styles, who died January 27, 1776. In his last will is a bequest to his “well-beloved wife, Patience,” but no mention of her or of the marriage has been found.

One of Jacob and Susanna Harriman Putnam’s eleven children, Stephen, born September 24, 1741, settled on lot No. 19, tenth range, on which he built a grist-mill. In a deed he is termed “house-wright.” In 1797, he sold his place to Deacon David Patterson and moved to Rumford, Maine, where his eldest son had gone several years before. The Tenth Range was taken from Wilton in 1768, to help make the Town of Temple.

The early settlers of Wilton had to contend with many difficulties. They had no mills, no boards, no clapboards, and no shingles. The first burial was in a rude coffin, hollowed out of a tree, with a slab hewn from the same tree for a lid. The houses were built of logs, and earth was used in the place of mortar. Their chief tool was the axe. For glass, they used mica (a thin, translucent substance, probably from granite). Their floors were the bare ground. Lead was used for window frames. For chimneys, they used clay. Wooden platters were used for plates. The roofs were split rails and earth; for guide-boards, blazed trees; and for road-beds, “corduroy,” or logs and poles. At first there was no mill to grind the corn nearer than Dunstable, and afterwards Milford. The pioneer had to travel miles and miles along a solitary path through the wild woods with his bag of grain on his back, or on a sled, to reach a grist mill, and then return the same weary way to supply breadstuffs for his wife and children.

In the pioneer days, there were huskings, wood-haulings, chopping-bees, sleigh-rides, hunting-matches, afternoon tea-parties, quiltings, raisings, and house-warmings. In the early days when population was sparse, and the neighbors few and far between, it was a necessity to reinforce individual strength by gathering numbers together on occasion to do the work in a single day that normally would take weeks or months. For instance, if there was a big heap of corn on the barn floor that needed to be husked, it was natural to turn the drudgery into a festival, call in the neighbors, make a feast, have a good time, and do in one evening, with young and old, and in brisk activity, scarcely feeling the fatigue, what would have otherwise dragged along for days and days in solitary and been cheerless task-work. Also, to get up the year’s wood-pile, many teams and many hands made quick work of the formidable job, and then a bountiful supper, a hearty expression of gratitude by the host, and a merry return trip home relieved the monotony of hum-drum existence and eased the hard tasks of manual labor.

This was especially the case with the more important events of raising a house, barn, or church. People were summoned from far and wide. Even neighboring towns sent their volunteers. The countryside was astir with expectation. On the day of the event, people flocked in, on horse-back, and in wagons, men, women and children from every converging road and forest path, to the scene of the event. Old friends met and renewed their acquaintance; young lads and lasses modestly looked at one another for the first time, and silently measured each other’s character and worth. The business at hand went rapidly forward. The mighty roofs of the olden time, the huge beams, the king posts, the heavy sills and spars, required altogether different management from the buildings of today. The first-growth timber was solid and gigantic, and the buildings were made to stand for generations. It demanded the cooperation of a large number of men to raise a house, barn, or church.

And indoors, as well as out, the same custom of union in work, and of converting toil into festivity was adopted by the Puritan daughters. The sewing-bee and the quilting-party were fashionable. Every household at some time assembled the neighbors, and devoted the afternoon to these useful works, and then called in their husbands and brothers to a social tea and a merry evening.

On Saturday evening the work of the week was finished. The men would shave their beards and then sit down by the fire and read the Bible, or sometimes some other book. The women washed the potatoes, and other vegetables, and prepared for Sunday food. They made hasty-pudding for supper, which was eaten in milk, or if there was none, with butter and molasses. Little children were put to bed early in the evening. The father read a chapter in the Bible and offered a prayer, soon after which the younger part of the family and the hired help went to bed. The family went to rest every night soon after supper, especially in the summer. On Saturday night, Sunday, and Sunday night there was a perfect stillness—no play going on, and no laughing. All went to Sunday meeting, except someone to keep the house and take care of the children who could not go to church or who could not take care of themselves at home. No work was performed except what was absolutely necessary. The dishes for breakfast and supper were left unwashed until Monday. Every person in the town who was able to go to meeting went. It was noticed if any were absent, and it was supposed that sickness was the reason. If anyone was absent three or four Sundays, the tithing-man would visit. This, however, was a rare case.

Breakfasts were bread and milk for all the family, as soon as the cows were milked. When milk failed, there was bean porridge with corn. About nine o’clock there was a “baiting” or luncheon of bread and cheese, or fried pork and potatoes. For dinner there was a good Indian pudding, often with blueberries and suet in it. There was pork and beef through the winter and spring; potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and other fare. At four or five o’clock p.m. in the summer, some bread and cheese of the like. For supper, bread and milk. When milk failed, milk porridge, hasty pudding and molasses, bread and molasses, bread and beer, etc. When there was company to entertain, they had chocolate for breakfast; but no coffee.

No cooking stoves were used before 1815 in the families, but fireplaces were large enough to put a large log at the back, with another not so large on the andiron in front, and with a good supply of wood on the top. These made a fire that was a joy to all the family, and often a pine knot would be an addition to make a little more light for the children to study their lessons by for the next day’s school. Brooms were made from the yellow birch, stripped. At times they had to use small hemlock twigs.

A provision was made by the original grantors to establish a town church, as was customary in those days. This town church, to the support of which all contributed by annual taxes, and whose services almost all of the inhabitants regularly attended, was for many years the only church in town. It went under the name of the Congregational Church, that being the form of the church government. A condition in the original instrument of settlement was that a church building should be erected by November 1752. This condition was fulfilled, and a log church was built on the common at the Centre. Little is known of its history. It continued to be used for about twenty-one years and was then taken down. For some years transient preachers performed the religious services, two of whom were invited to settle, but they declined.

The town church was supported by the taxes of all the people, and all free men were admitted to the town meeting, which regulated all municipal affairs.

A second meetinghouse was built. It was a large two-story building, situated a little to the north of the old one on the common. At the raising of the church on September 7, 1773, a terrible accident occurred. When the frame was nearly up, one of the central beams broke and fell, because the post that supported it was rotten or worm-eaten at the core. Timber, boards, and tools, and fifty-three people standing on the beams in the middle of the frame, all fell to the ground nearly thirty feet below. Three men were killed instantly, two died soon after of their wounds, and others were crippled for life. Of the fifty-three that fell, no one escaped without either broken bones, terrible bruises, or cuts from the axes and other tools. Since many of them were heads of families from the town and neighboring vicinity, the loss was great, not only to Wilton, but to the neighboring towns. The people completed the church; it was dedicated January 5, 1775.

The charter of the Town of Wilton was renewed January 2, 1765, and was a copy of the charter dated June 25, 1762, as far as to and including the words, “and transact such affairs as in the said laws are declared.”

Included in a long list of “Selectmen of the Town of Wilton Since Its Incorporation in 1762″ were Jacob Putnam, 1763; Philip Putnam, 1767, 68, 75; Moses Putnam, 1779, 91-93; Eliphalet Putnam, 1796-1805; Sewall Putnam, 1840, 42-45, 47, 49, 50, 55; Hervey Putnam, 1855; Jacob Putnam 1861, 63, 64; and Artemas Putnam, 1866, 67.

The number of marriages recorded in Wilton from 1762 to 1887 is 622. But there are some gaps in the records kept by the town, so the number recorded is not complete. For many years the custom was to “cry out” the couple in the Congregational church. Just before the congregation was dismissed in the afternoon, the town clerk announced, to the great edification of the people, that such or such a couple intended marriage. The law required publication two weeks before the event. Subsequently the publication was made by posting the names of the parties intending marriage in some public place on a bulletin board. It appears that after March 1862, the town clerk recorded only the intention of marriage, not the marriage itself.

In the year 1764, early records of publication of intention to marry included the following:

Stephen Putnam of Wilton and Olive Varnum of Andover were lawfully published, and there was no objections against their proceeding in marriage. Philip Putnam of Wilton and Abigail Jaquith of Dunstable were lawfully published, and there was no objections against their proceeding in marriage.

This information was entered by Philip Putnam, Town Clerk. Stephen and Philip were brothers.

One of the earliest interests to which the emigrants to this then forest wilderness paid serious attention was that of the education of their children. Next to religion, for the free exercise of which the Pilgrims and Puritan fathers had left their homes in the old world, stood the institution of the free school. Miss Dale, eldest daughter of John Dale, the first settler, taught the first school in town, and for some years was the only female teacher. She was succeeded in the course of time by others, both men and women. The names of Putnam, Abbott, Spalding, Livermore, Dascomb, Burton, Barrett, Beede, Smith, Kimball, Russell, and of many others are among the school teachers of Wilton over the years.

In 1767, the town voted to raise six pounds, lawful money, for a school that year. For the next ten years, about the same amount was annually raised, and the schools were kept in dwelling houses in different parts of the town that would best accommodate the inhabitants.

The first schoolhouse in District No. 1 stood at the northeast corner of the common. It was probably built within a few years after the incorporation of the town. It was a very rude and inconvenient structure, having no proper writing desks, but, instead, two large movable tables with long forms for seats. There were no seats with backs except low benches around the walls of the room. This building was burned about the year 1797. The “school-ma’ams” of those times, as they were always called, wore white muslin caps, either to distinguish them from other young ladies, or to make them have a more dignified appearance.

According to a receipt from Wilton, dated March 31, 1792, the teacher was paid “five Dollars in full Pay for teaching a school one month.

The grantors of the town set apart two lots of eighty acres each to encourage the building of various kinds of mills. The first saw-mill was that of Jacob Putnam, located a short distance west of the southeast corner of lot number 15, and was very near the line between the lots numbered 14 and 15 in the fifth range.

A good illustration of the public spirit and interest in the common weal [injury], which was strengthened and cherished by the township system, is found in the records of the town, dated July 15 and September 8, 1774, in which the inhabitants entered into a covenant of non-importation and non-consumption of British goods. It seemed a trifling thing for this little community of farming people, perched on the granite hills of a sparsely inhabited state, to fling defiance in the face of a great nation and its king, but it had its serious meaning and weight. The act showed a determination to repel unjust laws by sacrificing comfort and peace, and to vindicate the cause of freedom at whatever cost. It also showed sympathy and made common cause with the sister colonies, who, suffering from the Stamp Act and taxation without representation, and other invasions of the rights of British freemen, needed support. That same spirit, acquiring force as it proceeded, sent “the embattled farmers” to Bunker Hill and Bennington, and finally, after a war of eight years with one of the greatest powers of the old world, they won the independence of the new world.

At the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, New Hampshire troops constituted a substantial part of the forces engaged on the patriot side. There were two full regiments. Colonel Stark’s and Colonel Reed’s, from this state, and, also one whole company in Colonel Prescott’s regiment.

There were only about six-hundred inhabitants in Wilton at that time, and small as it was, Wilton contributed at least thirty-three men in four different companies of Colonel Reed’s regiment to the troops that fought on that eventful day. A later account raises the number of Wilton men who fought at Bunker Hill to thirty-eight.

Listed on the roll of honor was Sergeant Francis Putnam in Captain William Walker’s company.

Among those recommended “To the President & the Honorable Council of the State of New Hampshire for Field Officers of the 12^th Regiment of Militia” was Captain Philip Putnam of Wilton—for Colonel

Other Putnam men who appear on the Revolutionary War Rolls of New Hampshire are: Caleb Putnam and Archelaus Putnam.

The following passage is taken from Revolutionary War Rolls, page 303:

In obedience to the Honorable the Provincial Congress of the Colony of New Hampshire, holden at Exeter Dec. 27, 1775.

We have taken an Account of the Number of the Soldiers of our Town, who served in the summer past in the Continental Army, and are enlisted there for the year coming.

Wilton, March ye 4^th, 1776.

In the Revolutionary War Rolls, page 416, there is given the roll of Captain Philip Putnam’s company, which had been recruited from the Sixth regiment of militia.

Listed as the sum of the Poll Tax for several, including Francis Putnam, is one Shilling, Ten Pence and Three Farthings.

Resolve of Congress.

In Congress, March 14, 1776. Resolved, that it be recommended to the several Assemblies and Councils or Committees of Safety of the United Colonies immediately to cause all persons to be disarmed within their respective Colonies, who are notoriously disaffected to the cause of America, or who refuse to associate to defend by Arms the United Colonies against the Hostile attempts of the British Fleets and Armies.

Charles Thompson, Secy.

ACTION OF THE TOWN OF WILTON ON THE

ABOVE RESOLVE OF CONGRESS.

In consequence of the above Resolution of the Honorable Continental Congress, and to shew our determination in joining our American Brethren in Defending the Lives, Liberties and Properties of the Inhabitants of the United Colonies, We, the subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost of our power, at the risque of our lives and fortunes, with arms oppose the Hostile Proceedings of the British Fleets and Armies against the United American Colonies.

This was signed by 128 persons.

In answer to a requisition from General Washington, the Legislature [of New Hampshire] on the fourth day of December, 1776, “Voted. That five hundred men be Draughted from the several Regiments in this State as soon as possible, and officered and sent to New York.” On the day following, the Legislature appointed the field officers. The cause of this call was, that the terms of service of the troops in garrison at Fort George and Ticonderoga would expire on the last day of December, and if their places were not filled, those posts would fall into the hands of General Sir Guy Carleton.

The following is taken from the Revolutionary War Rolls, page 480:

The preceding rolls show that the State of New Hampshire performed her share of the work of 1776 in full, as she had the year before, responding ably and patriotically to every call made upon her for men. In several instances her troops remained in the service beyond their terms of enlistment, notwithstanding they were of necessity scantily fed and clothed, and poorly provided with protection against the inclemency of the weather. . . .

New Hampshire troops participated in the battles at Trenton and Princeton, and honored themselves and the state by their bravery and good conduct.

Listed among the Revolutionary soldiers from Wilton are:

Jacob Putnam, five months by Johnathan Greele in the Ticonderoga voige, in the year 1776, for which he paid £6. By Ebenezer Carlton, one-eighth of a turn during the war, for which he paid £3 15s.

Capt. Philip Putnam, three months at New York in the year 1776, one month at Saratoga in the year 1777, Personal. By Ebenezer Coston, one-fourth of a turn during the war, for which he paid £7 10s. By Ebenezer Coston, one year at Boston and Roxbury in 1776, for which he paid £2 8s.

Benjamin Putnam, three years’ personal service done for the other States.

Finally, the wished for news of peace arrived. A general treaty had been signed at Paris on the 29^th of January 1783. An armed vessel, the Triumph, belonging to Count d’Estaing’s squadron, arrived at Philadelphia from Cadiz, on the 23^rd of March, bringing a letter from the Marquis de Lafayette to the President of Congress, communicating the intelligence. In a few days Sir Guy Carleton informed Washington by letter, that he was ordered to proclaim a cessation of hostilities by sea and land.

A similar proclamation issued by Congress, was received by Washington on the 17^th of April. Being unaccompanied by any instructions respecting the discharge of the part of the army with him, should the measure be deemed necessary, he found himself in a perplexing situation.

General Washington expressed the circumstances in a letter to the president, and earnestly requested a prompt determination on the part of Congress, as to what was to be the period of the services of the men, and how he was to act respecting their discharge. He then proclaimed at noon on the following day, and read in the evening at the head of every regiment and corps of the army, “after which,” adds he, “the chaplains with the several brigades will render thanks to Almighty God for all His mercies, particularly for His overruling the wrath of man to His own glory, and causing the rage of war to cease among the nations.”

Having noticed that this auspicious day, the 19^th of April, completed the eighth year of the war, and was the anniversary of the eventful conflict at Lexington, he went on in general orders to impress upon the army a proper idea of the dignified part they were called upon to act.

The letter which he had written to the president produced a resolution in Congress that the service of the men engaged in the war did not expire until the ratification of the definitive articles of peace; but that the commander-in-chief might grant furloughs to such as he thought proper, and that they should be allowed to take their arms with them.

Washington availed himself freely of this permission. Furloughs were granted without stint. The men set out singly or in small parties for their homes, and the danger and inconvenience were avoided of disbanding large masses, at a time, of unpaid soldiery.

The war worn soldier was always kindly received at the farm houses along the road, where he might shoulder his gun and fight his battles over again for his listeners.

The men thus dismissed on furlough were never called upon to rejoin the army. Once at home, they returned to domestic life. Their weapons were hung over their fireplaces as military trophies of the Revolution to be prized by future generations.

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Compiled by Donna Linford Putnam in December 2010 from: History of the Town of Wilton, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, with a Genealogical Register, by Abiel Abbot Livermore and Sewall Putnam. Some of the text is taken directly from that book. Information also comes from The Direct Line – Putnam Family History, by Read H. Putnam.