Elizabeth Putnam (1765 - 1830)

Born 19 Nov 1765 in Brookfield, Worcester, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Died 8 Nov 1830 at age 64 in Marietta, Washington, Ohio, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Diane Hildebrandt [send private message]

Biography

Elizabeth "Betsey" was born on November 19, 1765 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.^[1] She was the oldest daughter of General Rufus Putnam and his second wife Persis Rice.^[2] She was named to honor her father's first wife Elizabeth Ayres.

A December 3, 1787 letter to her cousin John Mathews was signed as Betsey.^[3] In it she describes her father's upcoming January departure to the Ohio, her desire to move there, and her dismay at the events of Shays's Rebellion which occurred in the Massachusetts area. Betsey wrote: "These commotions seem to be over for the present, but I know not how soon they may revive again which make me more willing to leave a country the subject of such tumult."^[4] In November 1790, Betsey moved with her parents and siblings from Massachusetts to settle in the Northwest Territory at Marietta, Ohio.^[5]

An image of red and white leather shoes worn by Betsey during her lifetime is contained within the Ohio History Connection Museum Collections.^[6]

In November of 1828, Betsey Putnam filed her Will witnessed by Jabez Davis and Martha Robbins.^[7]

Betsey never married, choosing to remain in the Putnam's "Old Block House", ^[8] and passed away on November 8, 1830.^[2][9] She was interred in the family plot at Mound Cemetery, Marietta, Ohio.^[10]

Research Notes

• Brookfield's vital records has first name as Elisabeth. All other records have Elizabeth.
• Because no source found to support "In a letter General Putnam refers to her as Betty", it was removed.
• Contrary to FAG, the Putnam Family History and Rufus's Memoirs both record death year as 1830. The Ohio Genealogy Express lists her will made in 1828 and probated in 1831.

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQ6J-79H : 15 January 2020), Elisabeth Putnam, 1765.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Putnam: Vol. 1, Page 161
3. ↑ Volume 3, Item 4, Samuel P. Hildreth Collection, Marietta College, Special Collections
4. ↑ Pages 103-104 of The Mathews Family, Trana Mathews, 2020
5. ↑ Rufus Putnam Biography at Marietta College
6. ↑ archived Ohio Memory page
7. ↑ archived Ohio Genealogy Express page
8. ↑ Rufus Putnam House on Wikipedia
9. ↑ Page 36 of Memoirs of Rufus Putnam
10. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 17 February 2021), memorial page for Elizabeth Putnam (19 Nov 1765–8 Nov 1820), Find A Grave: Memorial #7008576, citing Mound Cemetery, Marietta, Washington County, Ohio, USA.