{"1": {"fulltext": "RUFUS PUTNAM,\\nFOUNDER AND FATHER OF OHIO.\\nAN ADDEESS\\nBY\\nGEORGE F. HOAK,\\nON THE OCCASION OF PLACING A TABLET TO THE MEMORY OF\\nRUFUS PUTNAM.\\nUPON HIS DWELLING-HOUSE IN RUTLAND,\\n17 SEPTEMBER, A. D. 1898.\\nPRESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON,\\n311 Main Street.\\n1898.", "height": "3624", "width": "2148", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "R U F U S 1 U T N yV M\\nFOUNDER AND FATHER OF OHIO.\\nAN ADDEESS\\nBY\\nGEORGE F. flOAK,\\nON THE OCCASION OF PLACING A TABLET TO THE 3IEJI0KY OF\\nRUFUS PUTNAM.\\nUPON HIS DWELLING-HOUSE IN RUTLAND,\\n17 SEPTEMBER, A. D. 1898.\\n^V V c c :si t c V ^tt a\\nTRESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON.\\n3 11 Main Street.\\n1898.", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "\\\\s\\nF^?^\\n66942", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "The General Putnam Ilou.se, in Rutland, with the farm con-\\ntaining about 150 acres, is now held by George F. Hoar,\\nElijah B. Stoddard and Burton W. Potter of Worcester, Trus-\\ntees, Avho ex[)ect to turn it over to the Trustees of Public\\nReservations as soon as the sum of 11,500 has been raised ])y\\nsubscription. This is in addition to about |2, S00, raised\\nah-eady.", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "Tablet placed upon the house in Rutland occupied by General\\nRuFUS Putnam, by the Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the\\nRevolution, September 17th, 1898.\\nHERE\\nFROM 1781 TO 1788\\nDWELT\\nGENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM:\\nSoldier of the Old French War\\nEngineer of the Works\\nWHICH compelled the British Army\\nto evacuate boston\\nand of the Fortifications of\\nWest Point\\nFounder and Father\\nof Ohio.\\nIN THIS HOUSE\\nHe planned and matured\\nTHE Scheme of the Ohio Company\\nAND from it issued the Call for the\\nConvention\\nwhich led to its organization.\\nOver this Threshold\\nHe went to lead the Company\\nWHICH settled Marietta\\nApril 7, 1788.\\nTO HIM\\nunder God it is owing\\nTHAT THE\\nGREAT Northwest Territory\\nWAS dedicated forever to\\nFreedom, Education and Religion\\nand that the\\nUnited States of America\\nis NOT NOW A\\ngreat Slaveholding Empire.\\nUnderneath the Tablet these words are inscribed Placed by the\\nMassachusetts Society, Sons of the Revolution, with a fac-simile of\\ntheir seal.", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "ADDRESS.\\nThis Society does well to mark with visible and\\nenduring tablets the spots where great deeds have been\\nperformed or great men have been born or dwelt.\\nWhatever Massachusetts has done, whatever she is\\ndoing, whatever she is to accomplish hereafter, is largely\\nowing to the ftict that she has kept unbroken the electric\\ncurrent flowing from soul to soul forever and forever,\\nas it was genei-ated now nearly three hundred years ago\\nat Plymouth. Her generations have taken hold of\\nhands.\\nThe men of Plymouth Rock and of Salem, the men\\nwho cleared the forest, the heroes of the Indian and the\\nold French wai S, the men who imprisoned Andros, the\\nmen who fought the Revolution, the men who humbled\\nthe power of France at Louisburg and the power of\\nSpain at Martinique and Havana, the men who won our\\nindependence and builded our Constitution, the sailors\\nof the great sea fights of the war of 1812, the soldiers\\nwho saved the Union, and the men who went with\\nHobson on the Merrimac, or fought with Dewey at\\nManila, or under Sampson or before the trenches at\\nSantiago, have been of one temper from the beginning\\n\u00e2\u0080\u0094the old Massachusetts spirit, which we hope may\\nendure and abide until time shall be no more.\\nWe guard with an att ectionate reverence even the\\ntombs and burial-places where the dust of our ancestors", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "6\\nhas been laid. As the great orator of New England^\\nsaid nearly eighty years ago\\nWe naturally look with strong emotions to the spot,\\nthough it be a wilderness, where the ashes of those we\\nhave loved repose. Where the heart has laid down what\\nit loved most, there it is desirons of laying itself down.\\nNo sculptured marble, no enduring monument, no honor-\\nable inscription, no ever-burning taper that would drive\\naway the darkness of the tomb, can soften our sense of\\nthe i-eality of death and hallow to our feelings the\\nground which is to cover us, like the consciousness that\\nwe shall sleep, dust to dust, with the objects of our\\natlection.\\nBut, after all, we cherish with greater and more\\nintense reverence the places where those whom we love\\nand honor have dwelt in life, the scenes on which their\\nliving eyes gazed and to which the living forms were\\nfamiliar, especially the scenes where the great heroes\\nand statesmen of the past have dwelt, or the great\\nbeneficent actions which have determined the currents\\nof our history have been jjerformed.\\nIt is such a man and such a deed that we are here to\\ncelebrate today. Many facts illustrating the character\\nof Rufus Putnam and the service he performed for his\\ncountry have been brought to light for the first time by\\nthe researches of recent investigation and the publica-\\ntion of records hitherto little known or explored,\\nespecially the archives in the Department of State and\\nthe diaries and correspondence of some of his associates.\\nRufus Putnam was one of those men, rare in all gen-\\nerations, perhaps more rare now than formerly, who\\nseem to be almost absolutely without care for self. He\\nseems to have been indiflterent to fame. He had little\\nuse for the first personal pronoun in his speech or his\\nwi itings. He was content to accomplish useful results.", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "lie was intent upon the goal, not upon the prize. If he\\ncould acconii)lisb useful results, he cared nothing for the\\nj)ride or glory of the achievement.\\nAmong the chief elements of his greatness is his great\\nunconsciousness. So much the more is it the duty of\\nposterity to guard his fame and pay him his due meed\\nof credit and honoi*. To the genius of Rufus Putnam\\nwas due the favorable result at three great turning-\\npoints in American history.\\nIt was his skill as an engineer that compelled the\\nevacuation of Boston. It was his skill as an engineer\\nthat fortified AVest Point. To him was due the settle-\\nment of the Ohio Territory and the adoption of the\\nOrdinance of 1787, which dedicated the Northwest\\nforever to freedom, education and religion, and, in the\\nend, saved the United States from becoming a great\\nslaveholding empire.\\nThe limit of the time at my command compels me to\\nrelate these great transactions rapidly. It must be but\\na sketch, a glance. But I will take time enough to\\nmake out my case.\\nIf the British could have held Boston until sufficient\\nreinforcements could have come over from England, it\\nwould have paralyzed the arm of Massachusetts, the\\nState which not only furnished more soldiers to the war\\nthan all the Southern States put together, but, what is\\nnot so well known, put upon the sea more sailors than\\nthe entire number of the whole Continental army put\\ntogether a naval power which, before the French alli-\\nance, raised the rate of marine insurance in England\\nto 28 per cent., and caused the merchants of Great\\nBritain to compel George III. and Lord North to make\\npeace.\\nThe investment of Boston by the patriotic forces and", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "the expulsion of the British was one of the most suc-\\ncessful audacities of military history. The British were\\nentrenched on a peninsula only accessible by a single\\nnarrow neck of land. They were an army of trained\\nveterans 8,000 strong, supported by a powerful fleet\\nwhose seamen brought up the force to 11,000, having\\nin the harbor at their command 120 transports well\\n])rovisioned, well equipped with ample supplies of ammu-\\nnition and cannon. They were in the best of spirits.\\nThe ofiicers and men alike beguiled their time with\\nstage plaj S, masquerades and other diversions, in com-\\nfortable quarters, without a thought of danger. Lord\\nHowe informed the ministry that there was not the\\nslightest fear of an attack. They had, of course, full\\ncommand of the harbor, into which vessels were con-\\nstantly bringing provisions in abundance.\\nOn the other hand, Washington had under his com-\\nmand a band of undisciplined husbandmen, scarcely\\n14,000 in number, with a few cannon which had been\\ncaptured from the enemy, and a few that had been\\ndragged overland from Lake George. He had at best,\\nas Mr. Bancroft states, only powder enough to supply\\nhis few cannon for six or eight days. His men had\\nnot been paid since the first of the preceding Decem-\\nber. The greater pai t of his men were enlisted for\\nbut two months.\\nThe resources of England seemed almost inexhausti-\\nble, and she had also engaged reinforcements of moi e\\nthan 20,000 German mercenaries. England could wait.\\nEvery day increased her strength and courage. Every\\nday diminished the hopes of the patriots.\\nWashington must fight at this great disadvantage or\\nthe cause of the country seemed hopeless. He had\\ndetermined, at whatever risk, to march his men across", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "9\\nthe ice against Boston, unless some plan for eoniniand-\\ning the town IVom the neighboring heights, an aLteni|)t\\nwhieh had so signally failed at Bunker Hill, should\\nbe found feasible.\\nWe shall see in a moment what Rufiis Putnam con-\\ntributed to this accomplishment, but for which the\\nstrength of Massachusetts must have been subtracted\\nfrom the cause of independence. You know well what\\nwould have become of the cause of independence with-\\nout it.\\nAVest Point, after Rufus Putnam fortitied it, was to\\nthe war of the Revolution what Vicksburg was to the\\nwar of the Rebellion. It prevented the separation of\\nNew England from the rest of the country, as Vicks-\\nburg, while it commanded the Mississii)pi, prevented\\nthe separation of the States in rebellion in the East and\\nWest, l^he diiference was that our Vicksburg was\\nnever captured.\\nI shall speak a little later of the historical results of\\nthe settlement of Ohio and the Ordinance of 1787. I\\nwill first give a brief sketch of the life of Rufus Put-\\nnam down to the time when he came to this house in\\nRutland and the time when he left it to found an em-\\npire in the i^orthwest, carrying with him the fate of\\nAmerica.\\nRufus Putnam was born in Sutton, in this county, on\\nthe 9th of April (O. S.), 1738. He came of a race of\\nWorcester and Essex County yeomen, distinguished in\\nevery generation, so far as w^e know their history, for\\npublic spirit, simplicity, integrity and common sense.\\nHe was cousin, with a single remove, of Genei-al\\nIsrael Putnam, the man who dared to lead where any\\nman dai-ed to follow. He was, I think, the gi-and-\\nnephew of eJoseph Putnam, father of Isi ael, another", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "10\\nhei o of the old Putnam breed, who defied another hor-\\nrible she-wolf, the witchcraft delusion, at the height of\\nits power in the very den where it was born,\\nElisha Putnam, father of Rufus, died when the son\\nwas seven years old. General Putnam s account of his\\nfamily says his father was a much respected citizen,\\ntown clerk, a deacon in the church, and representative\\nfrom Sutton in the General Court. He died June 10,\\n1745.\\nHis mother married again. The step-father seems to\\nhave cared little for the child. He was illiterate himself\\nand des})ised learning. The little boy, as he tells us in\\na pathetic diary written late in life, had no chance to go\\nto school, and little opportunity for learning at home.\\nNo books were furnished him, and he had little time to\\nuse books, if he had them.\\nCaptain Sadler, the step-father, kept a tavern. Rufus\\ngot a few pennies by waiting upon guests and blacking\\ntheir boots, with which he bought j^owder, and with the\\nhelp of an old gun killed some partridges, which he\\nsold and with the proceeds bought a spelling-book and\\nan arithmetic. Fi-om these he learned what he could,\\nand got as far as the rule of three in arithmetic. But\\nthe miserly step-fiither would not allow him the light of\\na tallow candle in the long winter evenings and I idi-\\nculed his aspirations for learning.\\nIn March, 1754, Putnam was apprenticed to Daniel\\nMathews, of Brookfield. He was then nearly sixteen\\nyears old. Mathews was a millwright. Putnam never\\nattended school but three days after he was nine years\\nold.\\nHis em])loyer, more generous than had been the step-\\nfather, gave him the use of candles for the long winter\\nevenings. He studied arithmetic, geography and his-", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "n\\ntoi y. He extended his knowledge of mathematics and\\nengineering, for wliieli he had a natural aptness. His\\nphysical frame grew as I apidly as his mind. When he\\nwas eighteen years old he had the foil vigor and stature\\nof a man six feet high. He was renowned Ibi- his great\\nstrength and activity in all athletic exercises.\\nIt was to those winter evenings in North Brookfield\\nand the studies by the light of the tallow candle that\\nhis country owed the ablest engineer officer of the\\nRevolution, and the wise, farsighted intellect that\\ndecided the fate of America.\\nI have, in my time, known many men famous in war,\\nin statesmanship, in science, in the professions and in\\nbusiness. If I were asked to declare the secret of their\\nsuccess, I should attribute it, in general, not to any\\nsup ^riority of natural genius, but to the use they made,\\nin youth, after the ordinary day s work was over, of the\\nhours which other men throw away, or devote to idle-\\nness or rest.\\nPutnam enlisted in the old French war at the age of\\nnineteen. His adventures in that war sound like one\\nof Cooper s romances. He saved enough of his bounty\\nand pay to buy a small faiin. He married in April,\\n17G1, Elizabeth, daughter of William Ayers of Brook-\\nfield, who died shortly afterward. January 10, 1765,\\nhe married again Persis Rice of Westboro, who was the\\nmother of his children.\\nHe was~made Lieutenant-Colonel of a Worcester\\nCounty regiment at the outbreak of the llevolution, and\\njoined the camp at Cambridge just after the battle of\\nApril 11). His genius as an engineer was soon dis-\\nclosed. He was, as Washington expressly and i-epeat-\\nedly certified, the ablest engineer officer of the war,\\nwhether American or Frenchman.", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "12\\nHe was soon called by a Council of general and\\nfield officei-s to direct the construction of a laige part\\nof the works on which the position of the army besieg-\\ning Boston depended. He told Washington he had\\nnever read a word on that branch of science. Bnt the\\nchieftain Avould take no denial. He performed his task\\nto the entire satisfaction of his commander, and was\\nsoon ordered to superintend the defences of Providence\\nand Newport.\\nOne evening in the winter of 1775-76 Putnam was\\ninvited to dine at headqnarters. Washington detained\\nhim after the company had de])arted to consult him\\nabout an attack on Boston. The Genei-al pi-eferred an\\niutrenchment on Dorchester Heights, which would com-\\npel Howe to attack him and risk another Bunker Hill\\nengagement with a diiferent result, to marching his own\\ntroops over the ice to storm the town. But the ground\\nwas frozen to a great depth and resisted the pickaxe\\nlike solid rock.\\nPutnam was ordered to consider the matter, and if he\\ncould find any Avay to execute Washington s plan to\\ni-eport at once. He himself best tells the story of the\\naccident we may almost say the miracle by which the\\ndeliverance of Massachusetts fi om the foreign invader,\\na veteran British army, eleven thousand strong, was\\nwrought by the instrumentality of the millwright s\\na])prentice.\\nI left the headquarters in company with another\\ngentleman, and on our way came to General Heath s. I\\nhad no thoughts of calling until I came against his\\ndooi and then I said, Let us call on General Heath,\\nto which he agreed. I had no other motive but to pay\\nmy respects to the General. While there I cast my\\neye on a book which lay on the table, lettered on the\\nback, Muller s Field Engineer. I immediately re-", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "13\\nquested the General to lend it to me. lie denied me.\\nI repeated my i-eqnest. He ag-ain i-efused, and told me\\nhe never lent his books. I told him that he must\\nrecollect that he was one, who, at Koxbury, in a measure\\ncompelled me to undertake a business, which, at the\\ntime, I confessed I had never read a word about, and\\nthat he must let me have the book. After some more\\nexcuses on his jjart and close pressing on mine I\\nobtained the loan of it.\\nIn looking at the table of contents his eye was caught\\nby the woi-d chandelier, a new word to him. He read\\ncarefully the description and saw its importance at a\\nglance. The chandeliers were made of stout timbers,\\nten feet long, into which were framed posts five feet\\nhigh and five feet apart, placed on the ground in par-\\nallel lines and the open spaces filled in with bundles of\\nfascines, strongly picketed together, thus forming a\\nmovable parapet of wood instead of earth, as theretofore\\ndone.\\nPutnam soon had his plan ready. The men were im-\\nmediately set to work in the adjacent apple orchard and\\nwoodlands, cutting and bundling up the fascines and\\ncarrying them with the chandeliers on to the ground\\nselected for the work. They were put in their place in\\na single night.\\nWhen the sun went down on Boston on the 4th of\\nMarch Washington was at Cambridge, and Uoi chestei\\nHeights as nature or the husbandman had left them in\\nthe autumn. When Sir William Howe rubbed his eyes\\non the morning of the 5th, he saw through the heavy\\nmists the intrenchments, on which, he said, the rebels\\nhad done more work in a night than his whole army\\nwould have done in a month. He wrote to Lord Dart-\\nmouth that it must have been the employment of at least\\n12,000 men. His own effective force, including seamen.", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "14\\nwas but about 11,000. Washington had but 14,000 fit\\nfor duty.\\nSome of our officers, said the Annual Register\\nEdmund Burke was the writer acknowledged that the\\nexpedition with which these works were thrown up,\\nwith their sudden and unexpected appearance, recalled\\nto their minds the wonderful stories of enchantment and\\ninvisible agency which are so frequent in the Eastern\\nromances.\\nHowe was a man of spirit. He took the prompt\\nresolution to attempt to dislodge the Americans the next\\nnight, before the works were made impregnable. Earl\\nPercy, who had learned something of the Yankee quality\\nat Bunker Hill and Lexington, was to command the\\nassault. But the power that dispersed the Armada\\nbaffled ail the plans of the British general. There came\\na dreadful storm at night, which made it impossible to\\ncross the bay until the American works were perfected.\\nWe take no leaf from the pure chaplet of Washing-\\nton s fame when we say that the success of the first great\\nmilitary operation of the Revolution was due to Rufus\\nPutnam. The Americans under Israel Putnam marched\\ninto Boston, drums beating and colors flying. The\\nvetei an British army, aided by a strong naval force,\\nsoldier and sailor, Englishman and Tory, sick and well,\\nbag and baggage, got out of Boston before the strategy\\nof Washington, the engineering of Putnam, and the\\ncourage of the despised and untried yeomen, from whose\\nleaders they Avithheld the usual titles of military respect.\\nIt resembled, said Burke, more the emigration of a\\nnation than the breaking up of a camp.\\nThe history of the founding of Ohio and of the Ordi-\\nnance of 1787 has been bi ought to light lately, chiefly\\nfrom researches in the Department of State, the pub-\\nlication of the diaries of Manasseh Cutler, the coi", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "1.-;\\nrespondcnce of Timothy Pickering and the papers of\\nKiifus King.\\nThis is a tit occasion to tell the story of Putnam s\\nshare in these great transactions. April 7, 1783,\\nTimothy Pickering, Quartei-master-General in the armies\\nof the United States, afterward Secretary of War,\\nSecretary of State, Seci etary of the Treasury, Kei)re-\\nsentative in Congress and Senator, writes a letter to Mr.\\nHodgdon, in which is the following passage:\\nA new plan is in contemplation, no less than forming\\na new State westward of the Ohio. About a week since\\nthe matter was set on foot and a plan is digesting for the\\npiu pose. Enclosed is a rough draft of some proposi-\\ntions respecting it. They are in the hands of General\\nHuntington and General Putnam for consideration,\\namendment and addition.\\nI he eleventh article of this draft enclosed in Pick-\\nering s letter contains this sentence The total exclu-\\nsion of slavery from the State to form an essential and\\nirrevocable part of the Constitution. General Hunt-\\nington is not, so far as I know, heard of again in the\\ntransaction, but Putnam is found pressing the scheme\\nthenceforth until its final accomplishment. April 14,\\n1783, Pickering again writes to Hodgdon. He says:\\nGeneral Putnam is warmly engaged in the new-\\nplanned settlement on the Ohio.\\nLater, a petition signed by 288 officers in the Conti-\\nnental Army is presented to Congress, praying for the\\nlocation and survey of the Western lands. This peti-\\ntion, in which Putnam heads the list of Massachusetts\\nsigners, is forwarded by him to Washington. A year\\nlater Putnam writes to Washington again, renewing his\\nurgent application to him for aid in his project. He\\nsays the j)art he has taken in promoting the [)etition is", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "IG\\nwell known. He has given much time to it since he\\nleft the army.\\nHe specially urges the adoption of the New England\\ntownship system. He asks the General to recommend\\nto him some member of Congress with whom he can\\ndirectly cori espond, as he does not like even to hint\\nthese things to the delegates from Massachusetts,\\nthough worthy men, as Massachusetts is forming plans\\nto sell her own eastern lands. Washington answers\\nthat he has exerted every power with Congress that he\\nis master of, and has dwelt upon Putnam s argument for\\nspeedy decision, but that Congress has adjourned\\nwithout action.\\nIn 1785 Congress appointed General Putnam one of\\nthe surveyors of the northwestern lands. Putnam\\naccepted the office. He says in his letter of acceptance:\\nA wish to promote immigration from among my\\nfriends into that country, and not the wages stipulated,\\nis my principal motive.\\nPutnam, however, had made some engagements which\\nmade it impossible for him to go in person to Ohio\\nand make the survey. His friend. General Tupper,\\nundertook the duty. Tupper could not get below\\nPittsburg in the season of 1785. He came back to\\nMassachusetts with such knowledge of the country\\nas he could get from inquiry, and reported to Putnam\\nat Rutland in this house on the 9th of January,\\n178G.\\nThe two veterans sat up together all night. At day-\\nbreak they had completed a call for the convention to\\nform a company. It was addressed to all officers and\\nsoldiers of the late war, and all other good citizens\\nresiding in Massachusetts who might wish to become\\npurchasers of lands in the Ohio country. The invitation", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "17\\nwas to extend afterward to inlial)itaiit.s of otlier States\\nas might be agreed on.\\nThis eonvention was eom})osed of delegates iVom tlie\\nvarious counties in Massachusetts, met at the Bunch of\\nGrapes in Boston, Mai ch 1, 1786, and chose a conunittee,\\nof whicli Putnam was chaii man, to di aft a phm for the\\norganization. This organization constituted the Ohio\\nCompany, of which Putnam, General Samuel H. Parsons\\nand Rev. Manasseh Cutler were chosen directors. Early\\nin 1787 the directors appointed Putnam superintendent\\nof all their affairs, and in the winter of 1786-87 the\\norganization was completed and the associates selected.\\nIt remained only to get the grant of the lands. There\\nhad been various schemes in Congress from March 1,\\n1784, for the organization of the Northwest territory.\\nJefterson reported one on the first day of March in that\\nyear, which contained a provision excluding slavery after\\n1800. The subsequent history proves beyond a question\\nthat a toleration of slavery until that time would have\\nended in making the whole territory slaveholding.\\nBut even that limited and ineffective prohibition was\\nstricken out by the Congress. March 16, 1785, Rufus\\nKing of Massachusetts offered a resolve that there\\nshould be no slavery in this territory. It was sent to a\\nconunittee of which he was chairman and amended by\\npostponing the prohibition of slavery till 1800, and with\\na clause providing for the surrender of fugitive slaves.\\nThat was never acted upon and died in committee.\\nIn 1786 a new committee w^as i-aised to pro})ose a })lan\\nfor the governmciut of the tei-ritory. They made a report\\nwhich contained no prohibition of slavery whatever.\\nThat rei)ort also remained without action until the end\\nof the Congress.\\nWhen Putnam had got his plan for the company I eady", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "18\\nand secured his associates, he sent General Parsons to\\nCongress to secure the grant of the lands and the pas-\\nsage of an ordinance for the government of the territory.\\nBut Parsons returned having accomplished absolutely\\nnothing.\\nPutnam was not discouraged. He met Manasseh\\nCutler, the other director, in Boston, June 25, 1787,\\nand it was agreed that Cutler should renew the attempt\\nin which Jeiferson and Rufus King and Parsons and\\nWashington and several committees of the Continental\\nCongress had so conspicuously failed.\\nManasseh Cutler records in his diary I conversed\\nwith General Putnam and settled the principles on which\\nI am to contract with Congress for lands on account of\\nthe Ohio Company.\\nCutler reached Kew York, where Congress was in\\nsession, on the 6th of July, and was introduced into their\\nchamber. He explained his scheme to the members of\\nCongress. In three days a new committee was ap-\\npointed, the ordinance, which had expired with the last\\nsession, brought forward and committed. A copy of\\nthe ordinance was sent to Cutler, that he might make\\nremarks and prepare amendments.\\nThe next day, the 10th, the ordinance was newly\\nmodelled. It was reported to Congress on the 11th.\\nBut it did not include the clause prohibiting slavery be-\\ncause, as Nathan Dane, who reported it, said, he had no\\nidea the States would agree to it. But Dane moved it\\nas an amendment. It was inserted and passed unani-\\nmously, save the single vote of Abram Yates.\\nDuring the two or three days that this ordinance was\\npending the committee proposed to reject some of Cut-\\nler s amendments; he does not specify which. There-\\nupon he paid his respects to all the members of Congi*ess", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "19\\nin the city, inforincd them of his intention to dejiart that\\nday, and if his terms were not acceded to, to tnrn his\\nattention to some other part of the conntry.\\nThey nrged him, as he says, to tarry till the next\\nday, and they would put by all other business to com-\\nl)lete the contract. He records further in his diary\\nthat Congress came to the terms stated in our letter\\nwithout the least variation.\\nWhy was it that Congress came in three days to\\nterms which the intluence of Washington and of Jeffei-\\nson had failed to accomplish for more than four years?\\nPutnam and Cutler were masters of the situation. The\\nOhio Company might well dictate its own terms, even in\\ndealing with the far-sighted statesmen of 1787.\\nThe purchase and settlement of this large body of the\\npublic lands removed from their minds several subjects\\nof deepest anxiety. It afforded a provision for the\\nveterans of the war. It extinguished a considerable\\nportion of the public debt. It largely increased the\\nvalue of the rest of the public domain. It placed the\\nshield of a settlement of veteran soldiers between the\\nfrontiers of ISTew York, Pennsylvania and Virginia and\\nthe most dangerous and powerful Indian tril^es on the\\ncontinent.\\nIt secured to American occupation a territory on\\nwhich England, France and Spain were still gazing with\\neager and longing eyes; in which England, in violation\\nof treaty obligation, still held on to her military posts,\\nhoping that the feeble band of our union would break in\\npieces. It removed a fear, never absent from the minds\\nof the public men of that da3% that the Western settlers\\nwould form a new confederacy and seek an alliance with\\nthe power that held the outlet of the Mississii)pi.\\nThe strength of this last apprehension is shown in", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "20\\nthe confidential coiTespondence of Washington. He\\ntwice refers to it in his farewell address, once when he\\nwarns the West against an apostate and unnatural\\nconnection with any foreig-n power and again, when he\\nurges them, henceforth to be deaf to those advisers, if\\nsuch there are, who would sever them from their breth-\\nren and connect them with aliens.\\nCutler returned to Massachusetts successful and in\\nti iumph. He was not himself one of the first settlers\\nill Ohio, but his sons represented him.\\nPutnam led his company down the Ohio River to\\nMarietta on board a galley appropriately named the\\nMayflower, giving new honor and fragrance to the\\nname. He landed with his little company of forty-eight\\nmen April 7, 1788.\\nThere is no question that but for this clause in the\\nOrdinance that territory, if it had remained a part of the\\ncountry, would have been slave territory. It Avould\\nhave been settled from Virginia and Kentucky. As it\\nwas, it was saved to freedom as by fire. The people of\\nIndiana repeatedly petitioned Congress to be relieved\\nfrom the clause prohibiting the introduction of slavery.\\nA majority of the people of Illinois was pro-slavery,\\nand the recognition of slavery in the first constitution\\nof that State was only prevented by the dexterity and\\nsagacity of Governor Coles.\\nWhen Ohio was admitted in 1802, the convention that\\nframed her Constitution contained a large number of\\nthe friends of slavery. Rufus Putnam, himself a meni-\\nIjer of the convention, called up late at night the son of\\nManasseh Cutler, also a member of the convention, from\\na sick bed, told him of the danger, and the two patriots\\nrepaired to the chamber just in time to save the estab-\\nlishment of slavery, which was lost by a single vote.", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "21\\nNow, in the li ^ht of this history, if Rufus Putnam l3e\\nnot entitled to the credit of the Ordinance of 1787, and\\nof having saved this country from becoming a great\\nslaveholding empire, then WeUington is not entitled to\\nthe credit of Waterloo, or Washington to the ci-edit of\\nYorktoAvn, or Grant to the credit of Api)omattox.\\nPutnam is the first person known to have in his pos-\\nsession five years before this enactment the plan for the\\norganization of the Ohio Company, in which the total\\nexclusion of slavery from the State was to form an\\nessential and irrevocable part of the Constitution. Then\\nfor the next four or five years he is found, and found\\nalone, pressing that scheme upon the consideration of\\nWashington, and through him upon a reluctant Con-\\ngress.\\nHe accepts the ofHce of surveyor, only that he may\\npromote this scheme. Not able to go himself, he re-\\nceives from General Tupper in this house the informa-\\ntion gained by him at Pittsburg. In this house is\\nformed the plan of the Ohio Company, and from it he\\nissued the call for its first convention. He is made\\nchairman of the committee to draw up a perfected\\nscheme. He is made by that company the general direc-\\ntor of its affairs.\\nAt its meeting in Boston, November 21, 1787, he is\\nchosen superintendent, to be obeyed and respected\\naccordingly. He sends Cutler to Congress, first hav-\\ning agreed with him in Boston upon the principles upon\\nwhich the company will make the purchase, is there\\nany doubt that among those principles Avas the inexora-\\nble condition of the exclusion of slavery, which was in\\nhis hands and upon which he had determined from the\\nbeginning?\\nHe leads the company to Marietta. On the first anni-", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "22\\nversary of the settlement of Marietta, in 1789, the\\ncompany voted that the 7th of April be forever observed\\nas a public festival, being, as they say, the day\\nwhen General Putnam commenced the settlement in this\\ncountry.\\nAll the contemporary histories of Ohio assign him this\\ncredit. Lossing calls him the father of Ohio. Burnet\\nsays, He was regarded as their principal chief and\\nleader. Harris dedicates the documents collected in his\\nappendix to Rufus Putnam, the founder and father of\\nthe State.\\nAnd at last, that the great drama might end as it\\nbegan, his vote saved the State from the imposition of\\nslavery by its constitutional convention in 1802. His\\nvote his single vote and his summons to the son of his\\nold friend, Manasseh Cutler secured the majority of\\none which saved the State from the imposition of slavery\\nin 1802.\\nSuppose those five States, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois,\\nIndiana, Wisconsin, which were formed from the Ohio\\nterritory, had been settled from Virginia, each of them\\nanother Missouri or another Kentucky? What think\\nyou would have been our condition today? A few\\nStates, perhaps, on our eastern and northern border\\nwithout slavery, but subjected forever, if the Union had\\nlasted, to the slaveholding rule of which we had experi-\\nence, even as it was, for the generation before the\\nbreaking out of the rebellion. If there be, in the annals\\nof this republic, save Washington and Lincoln alone, a\\nbenefactor whose deeds surpass those of Rufus Putnam,\\nI have read American history in vain.\\nWashington said of Rufus Putnam that he was the\\nbest engineer in the army, whether French or Ameri-\\ncan. At the end of the war he directed Putnam to", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "23\\nreport a comi)i ehcnsive plan for foi tifying the whole\\ncountry. I have seen General Putnam s elaborate\\nscheme, I think among his papers at Marietta College,\\nor in the archives at Washington. It was never\\nexecuted, in s]iite of earnest appeals of some of our\\nal)lest statesmen in every generation from Washington\\nto Jackson and Tilden and Eugene Hale.\\nIt remains a monument of that national improvidence\\nof which we have shown so many conspicuous examples,\\nespecially in the matter of preparation for defence and\\nfor war, and which, during the last few months, has even\\ndimmed the glories of Manila and Santiago.\\nTo be a great engineer is to be a great soldier. To\\nbe a great engineer w^ith only such advantages of educa-\\ntion as Rufus Putnam enjoyed is to be a man of con-\\nsummate genius. But to have been the trusted friend\\nof Washington; to have conceived as by a flash of in-\\nspiration the works which with an inferior force com-\\npelled England to evacuate a fortified town and to quit\\nMassachusetts forever; to have constructed the very\\nfortress and citadel of our strength and defence in the\\nwar of the Revolution; to have been in Lord Bacon s\\nfront rank of sovereign honor; to have founded a mighty\\nState, herself the mother of mighty States; to have\\nplanned, constructed and made impregnable the very\\ncitadel and fortress of liberty on this continent; to have\\nturned the mighty stream of current and empire from\\nthe channel of slavery into the channel of freedom, there\\nto flow forever and forever, if this be not greatness,\\nthen there is no greatness among the living or the dead.\\nI must not leave your opinion of the value of the great\\nwork of Rufus Putnam to depend upon my testimony\\nalone. Daniel Webster declared in his reply to Ilayne:\\nWe are accustouied to praise the lawgivers ol anti-", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "24\\nquity; we help to perpetuate the fame of Solon and\\nLycurgus, but I doubt whether one single law of any\\nlawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of\\nmore distinct, marked and lasting character than the\\nOrdinance of 1787.\\nIt fixed forever the character of the population in\\nthe vast regions northwest of the Ohio by excluding\\nfrom them involuntary servitude. It impressed on the\\nsoil itself, while it was yet a wilderness, an incapacity\\nto sustain any other than free men. It laid the interdict\\nagainst personal servitude in original compact not only\\ndeeper than all local law, but deeper, also, than all local\\nconstitutions.\\nMr. Webster added We see the consequences of\\nthe ordinance at this moment, and we shall never cease\\nto see them, perhaps, while the Ohio shall flow.\\nJudge Walker, the eminent Jurist of Ohio, declares:\\nUpon the surpassing excellence of this ordinance no\\nlanguage of panegyric would be extravagant. The\\nRomans would have imagined some divine Egeria for\\nits author. It approaches as nearly to absolute perfection\\nas anything to be found in the legislation of mankind;\\nfor, after the experience of fifty years, it would perhaps\\nbe impossible to alter without marring it. In short, it\\nis one of those matchless specimens of sagacious fore-\\ncast which even the reckless spirit of innovation would\\nnot venture to assail. The emigrant knew beforehand,\\nthat this was a land of the highest ])olitical as well as\\nnatural promise; and under the auspices of another\\nMoses, he journeyed with confidence toward his new\\nCanaan.\\nJudge Story says The ordinance is remarkable for\\nits masterly display of the fundamental principles of\\ncivil and religious liberty.", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "25\\nChief Justice Chase, in his sketch of the liistoiy of\\nthe Statutes of Ohio, said: Never, probably, in the\\nhistory of the world, did a measure of legislation so\\naccurately fulfil and yet so mightily exceed the anticipa-\\ntions of the legislators. The ordinance has well been\\ndescribed as having been a pillar of cloud by day and\\nof fire by night, in the settlement and government of\\nthe northwestern States.\\nDuring the years he lived in Rutland* he gave himself\\nwithout stint to the service of the town. ]^o work was\\ntoo humble for him if it were a duty or a service. He\\nhad the noble public spirit of his day. For five years\\nhe tilled this farm, and seems to have done everything\\nhis neighbors asked of him.\\nHe was representative to the General Court, select-\\nman, constable, tax collector, on a committee to lay out\\nschool lands, committee to make repairs of school-house,\\nState surveyor, commissioner to treat with the Penob-\\nscot Indians, volunteer in putting down the Shays rebel-\\nlion, on the committee to settle with Jabez Fairbanks.\\nHe was one of the founders and first trustees of the\\nLeicester Academy, and, with his family of eight chil-\\ndren, gave from his slender means \u00c2\u00a3100 towards its\\nendowment.\\nThe rest of his life is, in large part, the history of\\nMarietta for more than thirty years. The impression\\nof his character, says the historian, is strongly\\nmarked in the history of Marietta, in their buildings,\\ninstitutions and manners.\\nNow this seems to me to be a good, honest, old-\\nfashioned American story. It is a Massachusetts story.\\nIt is a Worcester County story, although we by no\\nmeans pretend to a monopoly of such things in Massa-\\nchusetts or in Worcester County. We have got over", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "26\\nwondering at them. The boy went to school but three\\ndays after he was nine years old. That has happened\\nbefore to many a boy who became a great man, from\\nUlysses to Abraham Lincoln.\\nA Worcester County farm in those days was a pretty\\ngood school. It was a pretty good school, both for the\\nintellect and the heart. The boy learned the secrets of\\nthe forest and the field, the names and habits of bird\\nand beast. He could take care of himself anywhere.\\nHe became an expert woodsman and sharpshooter.\\nHe heard high topics discussed in the church I beg\\nyour pardon in the meeting-house. The talk by the\\nblacksmith s forge and the tavern fire, and the rude\\ndrafting-board of the millwright, when the great politi-\\ncal contest with England was pending, was of the\\ntrue boundary between liberty and authority in the\\ngovernment of the State, and between men s free will\\nand God s foreknowledge and omnipotence in the\\ngovernment of the universe.\\nThe moral quality of our great English race, too,\\ncame out in that simple life of plain Hving and high\\nthinking. Every day brought to those frugal house-\\nholds its lesson of affection, of self-sacrifice.\\nLove had be found in huts where poor men he\\nHis daily teachers had been woods and rills,\\nThe silence that is in the starry sky,\\nThe sleep that is among the lonely hills.\\nThe old French war, with its adventures and escapes\\nthrough the forests, was better for him than a West\\nPoint education. But above all were the love of coun-\\ntiy, the sense of duty, the instinct of honor, glowing as\\nbright in the bosom of the country boy as in that of a\\nBayard or a Sidney. And so, when his country needed\\nhim and his God called him, he was ready.", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "27\\nMy friends, I do not know what you tliink about it.\\nBut for myself, as a son of Massachusetts, I would\\nrather possess among her historic monuments this simple\\ndwelling of this Rutland farmer, when I think of what\\nit stands for, all it has contained, all the memories that\\ncluster around it, than to have the palace of the Tui-\\nleries.\\nAs Edward Everett said of Mount Vernon The\\nporter s lodge, or the dog kennel of the palace, erected\\nby the gratitude of England to the victor of Blenheim,\\ncould not have been built for its entire cost.\\nHer Majesty s master of hounds, or the keeper of the\\nqueen s mews, or the purveyor of the royal kitchen, I\\ndare say, would disdain it as a dwelling-place. Cer-\\ntainly there were columns, there were carvings in the\\nfamous French palace built from the plunder of foreign\\ncapitals and the spoils of groaning peasants and subject\\npeoples, as a symbol of the glory of France and the\\nmilitary genius of her monarchs, which cost more than\\nthe whole of this simple structure. But at least an\\nangry people will never tear it down as the symbol of\\ntheir own degradation and oppression.\\nThree days at school after you were nine years old;\\nbootblack and blacksmith s assistant at Sutton; mill-\\nwright s apprentice of Brookfield; town constable of\\nRutland; friend of Washington deliverer under Wash-\\nington of Massachusetts from the foreign invader;\\nbuilder of our stronghold and citadel at West Point;\\nengineer of the great constitutional fortress of Ameri-\\ncan liberty; faithful over a few things, ruler over many\\nthings, we come today to your dwelling as to a\\nshrine.\\nIt is not to be forgotten. It must not be forgotten,\\nunless Mount Vernon is to be forgotten. There is", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "28\\nnothing left but a few stones of the cellar wall of Put-\\nnam s birthplace, as there is nothing left but a few\\nbricks of the birthplace of Washington. But this\\nhouse is still to be seen as Mount Yernon is still to\\nbe seen. It can be preserved at a slight cost for\\nmany centuries to come. This reverent, affectionate\\ntask is well worthy the piety and patriotism of our\\ngeneration.", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n014 574 364 3", "height": "3550", "width": "2085", "jp2-path": "rufusputnamfound00hoar_0032.jp2"}}