*GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM was a self-educated man, a
person of vision, living in that dangerous time when the United
States of America was on the verge of becoming unique in all the world. Rufus was not the charismatic and flamboyant figure that his more-famous cousin, Israel Putnam, was, but he
was daring in his own right, venturing out into what was still wilderness
of Ohio (the lands beyond Fort Pitt) to make a new and hopefully better
life for his family and the entire community waiting for him back in Rutland, Massachusetts. In 1886, Mary Cone compiled ""The Life of Rufus Putnam"..." including excerpts from Putnam's own memoirs and extracts from his journal: "And now, his public work was done, surrounded by his children and his children's children, with a thriving community to bear witness to his wisdom and far-seeing philanthropy, honored, with the respect of all who knew him, and cheered by the gratitude of those he had benefited, he waited in serene old age for the summons to start again for a new and better country, where life was ever fresh and peace eternal..." | |