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                         General Rufus Putnam
               "Discreet and firm, but not conspicuous"
                      by Robert C. Barnard, MPS
     (Reprinted by permission of The Philalethes - December 1989)

     The  above quotation describing Rufus Putnam was written  by  his 
commander-in-chief  and friend, George Washington. Taken  in  context, 
Washington seemed to mean it as a compliment and not as a slur.

     Biographers of Putnam's career as a soldier describe him as brave 
and resourceful. Serving in the Revolutionary War with military giants 
such  as Washington, Arnold, Greene and Wayne. Putnam does  not  stand 
out  as a great strategist or the most eminent military  engineer.  He 
cannot be compared as a military leader to his cousin, Israel  Putnam, 
who was affectionately called "Old Put" by his men in the ranks.

     Nevertheless,  General Rufus Putnam was a great American,  worthy 
of  remembrance by his Masonic brethren. His most outstanding  service 
took place after the war ended.

     On   numerous  occasions,  he  acted  as  spokesman  to   present 
grievances  and  aid  former troops to receive  their  just  due  from 
Congress  and  the  Massachusetts General Assembly. He  called  for  a 
meeting  in  Boston to consider a settlement of veterans in  the  Ohio 
country and formed the Ohio Company to obtain land for them.

     He led the first party of settlers North of the Ohio River, built 
the  Campus  Martius fortification and founded the City  of  Marietta, 
Ohio.  The rest of his life was spent in serving his  fellow  citizens 
there. No wonder that history speaks of him as "the founder and father 
of Ohio."

     Masonic  annals  record  that  Rufus Putnam  became  a  Mason  at 
American  Union  Lodge in West Point, New York,  receiving  all  three 
degrees  during 1779. After founding Marietta, Ohio, he  served  seven 
terms  as  Master  of his Lodge there. In  1808,  he  was  unanimously 
elected  the first Grand Master of Freemasonry for the State of  Ohio. 
Thus, he may be called the father of Ohio Masonry as well. Such a  man 
is worthy of study.

     Rufus Putnam was born at Sutton, Massachusetts on April 9,  1738. 
His father died when he was seven and his mother soon married an  inn-
keeper.  Rufus  was cared for by various relatives  in  childhood  and 
apprenticed  to a millwright at the age of sixteen. He had  no  formal 
education,  but  succeeded  in educating himself  to  some  degree  in 
geography, history and mathematics.

     When  he  was nineteen, the French and Indian War broke  out  and 
Rufus immediately enlisted, serving around Lake Champlain and  getting 
practical training in building defensive works. The French were driven 
out of North America and in 1760 he returned home.

     Rufus'  marriage to Elizabeth Ayres in April was followed  by  he 
untimely death in November. She left an infant son who survived only a 
few months.

     Five  years  later, in 1765, he married Persis Rice.  During  the 
next fifty-five years, Persis was his loving wife and companion.  They 
had nine children. Rufus worked on his farm and as a surveyor and mill 
builder in these years between the wars.

     When  the  Revolutionary War began, Rufus entered the Army  as  a 
lieutenant-colonel. He soon took charge of the defensive works  around 
Boston.

     During the winter of 1775-76, when the ground was frozen to  make 
digging impossible, he invented movable breastworks or parapets  which 
were  used to surround the British and to harass them into  evacuation 
of  Boston. On August 5, 1776, Congress appointed him  chief  engineer 
with the rank of colonel.

     Believing  that  an engineer corps was necessary to  sustain  the 
American  Army  in  the  field, Rufus  applied  to  Congress  for  its 
formation,  but  no  action  was taken. He  then  resigned  from  that 
position and became colonel of a Massachusetts infantry regiment.

     Colonel  Putnam fought in several fierce engagements,  especially 
at  Stonypoint  and Verplanck Point. Between battles, he  rebuilt  the 
fortifications  at West Point which would become famous when  Benedict 
Arnold  plotted  to turn them over to the British. By the end  of  the 
war, Congress had made him a brigadier general.

     In peacetime, General Putnam gained fame as a surveyor of land in 
Maine  that  belonged to Massachusetts. During the  process,  Congress 
appointed  him a surveyor of Western lands and since he was  otherwise 
engaged,  he  sent his friend, General Benjamin Tupper,  to  take  his 
place.  When  Tupper  returned with a favorable  report  on  the  Ohio 
country,  Rufus gave his full attention to founding the  first  colony 
there.

     On  March  1,  1786, he and Tupper issued a  joint  call  for  an 
organizational  meeting at Boston. The Ohio Company was  then  formed, 
composed   largely  of  Revolutionary  veterans.  They  were   granted 
1,500,000 acres on the North bank of the Ohio.

     After  overcoming many difficulties, Putnam triumphantly led  the 
first contingent of settlers ashore on April 7, 1788. They immediately 
built  the Campus Martius Fort for protection and founded the town  of 
Marietta,  named  in  honor  of  Queen  Marie  Antoinette  of  France, 
America's ally.

     Masons  may be proud that one of the first buildings to be  built 
after their homes was the first Masonic Lodge in Ohio. They also built 
the first court house and held the first Sunday School meeting in  the 
future state.

     As  the  colony prospered and the settlement  of  Ohio  expanded, 
Putnam's  influence was felt far beyond the city that he  founded.  In 
March  of  1790,  Washington appointed him a judge  of  the  Northwest 
Territory. In May of 1792, he was commissioned a brigadier general  in 
the regular army and sent to treat with hostile Indians on the Maumee. 
In  September  of that year, he made a treaty with  the  lower  Wabash 
tribes. It was in 1796 that Washington appointed him  Surveyor-general 
of the United States.

     When the Ohio Constitutional Convention was held in 1802,  Putnam 
led the new state to prohibit slavery for all time. He was liberal  in 
his  efforts  to  unite  the  citizens  in  all  other  areas  of  the 
constitution.

     Strongly in favor of the educational institutions which he  never 
had  a  chance  to attend, he chose and surveyed  the  site  for  Ohio 
University  in  Athens.  This  is the  oldest  institution  of  higher 
learning in the states of the Northwest Territory.

     There is little flat land on the campus of Ohio University; it is 
located  in  the  foothills of the  mountains.  Present  day  students 
sometimes  laughingly  speculate  whether  the  father  of  Ohio   was 
completely sober during the surveying job. Just walking to class every 
day  helps  to  keep the undergraduates and faculty  in  top  physical 
condition!

     In his declining years, General Putnam continued to be as  active 
as  possible in the affairs of the state he had in so large a  measure 
founded. Ohio was his crowning glory. He died on May 4, 1824.

     The  judgment of posterity concerning Rufus Putnam  concurs  with 
the  previous  evaluation  of  George Washington.  He  was  brave  and 
resourceful, discreet and firm, and while he was not as  "conspicuous" 
as a Washington, he was a true American man and Mason.
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