Notes |
- Seth, son of Thomas and Rachel (Wetherbee) Putnam, was born in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, September 16, 1756, a twin of Susannah. He died in Putnam, Ontario, Canada, September 3, 1827. His gravestone, erected in 1847, states he was born in Charlestown, New Hampshire, in 1758. He was a private in Captain Samuel Wetherbee's company, Colonel Isaac Wayne's regiment, which marched to reinforce the Northern Army in 1776. According to his gravestone he was a colonel in the Continental army. A family belief, as told in later years by his son Thomas, was that he was a member of the "Boston Tea Party." He was a man of education, with a good knowledge of civil and military engineering. In 1795 he emigrated to Canada to a wild and unbroken region. He entered into a contract with the Canadian government to construct a wagon road from the head of the lake where Hamilton now stands, to Chatham, eighteen miles east of Lake St. Claire, a distance of one hundred sixty miles, through a heavily wooded country. For this he was to receive sixteen hundred acres of land and a cash bonus. He built the road but never received his reward. He married, February 14, 1790, Sarah Harding (gravestone), of the Wyoming valley, Pennsylvania, one of the few who escaped from the massacre of Wyoming. She died about 1850. Children:
Lewis, born November 11, 1790, died aged three years.
William, born November 6, 1793; killed at the battle of Windsor, Canada, December 4, 1838; was associated with his brothers in business, all being prosperous farmers and lumbermen. He was captain of a Canadian troop and served at Lundy's Lane and Queenstown Heights. Later he joined in the "patriot" rebellion and led the attack on Windsor, which was made against his advice. He was instantly killed, shot through the brain. He married Eleanor, daughter of Sylvanus Dygert, a niece of General Nicholas Herkimer, and nearly related to the Van Rensselaers. Sylvanus was taken prisoner by the Indians in the same raid. His father was killed and scalped. He was held a prisoner at Montreal for three years.
Joshua, born January 5, 1798, died September 19, 1859; he married (first), name unknown; (second), Malinda Flanagen; (third) Mary Barrows; they bore him fifteen children.
Fanny, born May 16, 1802; married, June 21, 1820, Warner S. Dygert; married (second) Joseph Nicholas, a farmer near Ontario; two children.
Thomas, of whom further.
|