Part
I, Chapter V -
MARRIAGE—EXPLORATIONS IN THE SOUTH.
After
the war was over, Mr. Putnam went back to building mills, farming, etc., in
which work he continued for seven or eight years. During this time he was
industriously adding to his stock of knowledge, making a specialty of practical
surveying, in which he was greatly helped by Mr. Timothy Dwight. He was, at
length, sufficiently master of the business to devote himself almost exclusively
to it. He was employed by the landholders of the neighboring towns, and by his
accuracy and faithfulness gave such satisfaction to his employers that his
services were much sought after.
In
1761 Mr. Putnam was married to Elizabeth Ayres, daughter of William Ayres of
Brookfield. But his dream of domestic happiness was very brief, and the awaking
there from was terrible. The wife died in less than a year after their marriage,
and in a few short months their infant son was laid beside the mother. Mr.
Putnam says in his journal, “Thus was I in less than a year deprived of mother
and child, and in them, as I then thought, of all earthly comfort.” To him
this early disappointment must have been very hard to bear, for until then he
had really had no home. But time, the great consoler, brought him relief; and in
January, 1765, he was married to Persis Rice, daughter of Zebulon Rice of
Westborough.
In
1772, Mr. Putnam engaged in an enterprise that at the time excited a good deal
of interest in New England, though the outcome thereof was disappointment.
Soon
after the close of the French and Indian war, General Lyman was sent to England
by a number of colonial officers and soldiers, in order to secure from the
British government a grant of land as a reward for military service performed
during the late war. He was detained there several years in vain endeavor to
obtain that for which he went. He returned in 1772. A meeting of “the Military
Adventurers” was called in Hartford, and General Lyman assured those concerned
that an order had been passed by the king in council, authorizing the governor
of “West Florida” to grant lands in that province to the officers and
soldiers who had served in the late war, in the same manner and proportion as
had been done to his majesty’s regular troops. As they had been liberally
provided for in the provinces acquired during the war, the prospect seemed good
that the colonial officers and soldiers would also reap a reward for duties well
done. To be sure, General Lyman brought no written vouchers to make the grant
sure, but a king’s word was thought to be sufficient to form a basis of
expectation and of action. The company, therefore, appointed a committee to
explore the country and lay out the tracts to be divided among the adventurers.
Colonel Israel Putnam and his younger relative, Rufus Putnam, were two of the
committee.
The
associates of the military company chartered a sloop, in which the exploring
party sailed from New York, January 10, 1773. They entered the bay of Pensacola,
March 1. Governor Chester and his council treated them kindly, but were obliged
to say that no order for granting lands to the Continentals had been received.
This was discouraging; still there was left the hope that some untoward event
had caused delay, and the order might yet come. At any rate, after the long
voyage, they could not be reconciled to the idea of returning without
accomplishing something; so the committee set about their explorations. Mr.
Putnam left, among his papers, a carefully drawn plan of the Mississippi river,
with all its windings and eccentricities to the mouth of the Yazoo, which was
the extent of their journeyings in that direction. They went up the Yazoo twenty
or thirty miles, when they concluded that they had reached the northern boundary
of West Florida. The explorers returned to Pensacola early in July, and waited
upon the governor to see if the expected order had been received during their
absence. No such order had arrived, but the delay was not considered conclusive,
and Governor Chester took the responsibility of making an offer of lands upon
terms so satisfactory that,
upon the
whole, it was thought advisable to attempt to make a settlement. Accordingly,
when the committee returned to Massachusetts, their report was so favorable, in
regard to soil, climate and conditions of the country they had been sent out to
investigate, that several hundred families from Massachusetts and other parts of
New England embarked for West Florida, there to make for themselves new homes.
But, unfortunately for their hopes and prospects, Governor Chester received, in
October, positive orders from the crown prohibiting him from granting or selling
any more lands upon any conditions whatsoever until the king’s further
pleasure should be signified. Thus the land office was closed to the poor
emigrants when they reached the place where they expected to find homes. Some
had spent all they had in getting there, and it was too late in the season for
them to return, even if they had the means. The governor kindly allowed them to
take possession of any unoccupied lands they could find, but the colony did not
prosper. On account of change of climate, exposure and hardships, many of the
colonists sickened and died, and there were very few to whom the issue was
beneficial.
Mr.
Putnam was occupied more than eight months in these explorations, and
for his time
and services, and to cover expenses withal, he received the munificent sum of
eighty dollars!