Individual Details
Ezra Putnam
(Abt 1728 - 19 Mar 1811)
From s "General Return of the Army of the United Colonies at Cambridge, Jan 8th, 1776," we learned that he then held the commission of Major in Col. Israel Hutchinson's Regiment, the 27th Foot. Among the other officers of this regiment were Captain Enoch Putnam, Adjutant Tarrant Putnam, Lieutenant (second) Tarrant Putnam, Ensign Jeremiah Putnam.
On the Coat Rolls, the rolls of men who served eight months from May to December, 1775, at the seige of Boston, occurs the name of Ezra Putnam, drummer, of Middleton; probably, this was the young son of Major Ezra.
After the Revolutionary War, Major Ezra settled on the old farm but in 1789 he and wife joined his sons Ezra , David and John in Ohio. Many letters still remain in the possession of Miss Susan Putnam of Danvers which throw much light on the incidents of the early settlements on the Ohio. From these letters and other sources we find that the sons went up the Muskingum River to their father's "donation land" in the fallof 1790. Soon after came the Big Bottom Massacre and the sons lost their lives. The old people were obligated to take refuge in Campus Martius and there for many years Mrs. Putnam kept a "domestic boarding house". They had many trials; the death of their son Nehemiah whom they had endeavored to persuade to settle in Ohio, the gradually failing memory of the Major, the severe times and high price of labor, all these are mentioned.
During the long evenings in Campus Martius it was a common occurrence to get the Major to sing a seventy verse ballad on the taking of Capestown, and to recount the many stories of the French and Indian Was in which he had taken part, having held an officer's commission at the taking of Cape Breton.
Both Major and Mrs Putnam are buried in the northern end of Rufus Putnam's lot at the Mound cemetery.
Upon their gravestones are the following inscriptions:
"Sacred to the Memory of Major Ezra Putnam: a native of Massachusetts, who died March 19th, 1811, aged 83 years."
"Sacred to the Memory of Lucy Putnam, who died July 20th, 1818, aged 87 years."
Major Ezra was short but not heavy built, his wife was stout, and both were of lively and cheerful dispositions.
Among the old letters mentioned is one of the date of 29th June 1790, in which description is given of the excitement and unbelief in Ohio of "a scheme to bring vessels to Marretta by fire works." Gen Rufus Putnam, however, the writer goes on to say, endorses the scheme.
Gen Rufus in his Memoirs states that all three of Major Ezra's sons left male issue; this is probably a mistake.
Events
| Birth | Abt 1728 | Salem Village, Mass Bay Colony |  | ||
| Baptism | 8 Jun 1729 | Salem Village, Mass Bay Colony | | ||
| Marriage | 21 Jun 1750 | Lucy Putnam | | ||
| Death | 19 Mar 1811 | Marietta, Ohio | |
Families
| Spouse | Lucy Putnam ( - 1818) |
| Child | Nehemiah Putnam ( - 1792) |
| Father | Ensign Ezra Putnam (1696 - 1747) |
| Mother | Elizabeth Fuller ( - 1747) |
| Sibling | Elisabeth Putnam (1721 - 1747) |
| Sibling | Mary Putnam (1722 - 1786) |
| Sibling | Nehemiah Putnam ( - 1747) |
| Sibling | Ruth Putnam ( - 1747) |
Endnotes
1. Eben Putnam. A History of the Putnam Family in England and America: recording the ancestry and descendants of John Putnam of Danvers, Mass., Jan Poutman of Albany, N. Y., Thomas Putnam of Hartford, Conn. (Salem, MA, Salem Press, 1891-1908); 2 volumes, p 170.
2. Eben Putnam. A History of the Putnam Family in England and America: recording the ancestry and descendants of John Putnam of Danvers, Mass., Jan Poutman of Albany, N. Y., Thomas Putnam of Hartford, Conn. (Salem, MA, Salem Press, 1891-1908); 2 volumes, p 170.
3. Eben Putnam. A History of the Putnam Family in England and America: recording the ancestry and descendants of John Putnam of Danvers, Mass., Jan Poutman of Albany, N. Y., Thomas Putnam of Hartford, Conn. (Salem, MA, Salem Press, 1891-1908); 2 volumes, p.83.
4. The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Salem, to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem, MA, 1918), Vol 2, p 211.
5. Eben Putnam. A History of the Putnam Family in England and America: recording the ancestry and descendants of John Putnam of Danvers, Mass., Jan Poutman of Albany, N. Y., Thomas Putnam of Hartford, Conn. (Salem, MA, Salem Press, 1891-1908); 2 volumes, p 171.
6. Eben Putnam. A History of the Putnam Family in England and America: recording the ancestry and descendants of John Putnam of Danvers, Mass., Jan Poutman of Albany, N. Y., Thomas Putnam of Hartford, Conn. (Salem, MA, Salem Press, 1891-1908); 2 volumes, p 170.