Sarah (Waldo) Putnam (1739 - 1808)

Born 19 Jan 1739 in Pomfret, Connecticut

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1808 at about age 68 in Belpre Township, Washington, Ohio, United States

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Biography

She was a woman of great spirit, and as firm of a patriot as the General himself, hating with all her soul the British oppressors,...and loving with equal ardor the American soldiers, supplying them with food and clothing to the extent of her abilities. In the winter of 1779 when the patriot troops suffered so much from the want of warm garments, she had spun and wove, in her own house, a number of blankets made of the finest wool in the flock, and sent on for their relief...No one at this day knows or can appreciate the value of the labors of American females in achieving our freedom. The wrought and suffered in silence, bearing many privations in common with their husbands and sons in the days which tried the patriotism of the colonists."

-Samuel Prescott Hildreth

Sarah and her family connections are described in great detail in both Samuel Prescott Hildreth's history of early settlers of Ohio and Waldo Lincoln's "Genealogy of the Waldo Family, Volume One." The detailed family anecdotes in Hildreth's book are not to be missed.

When Historian Hildreth compared Sarah Waldo Putnam's patriotism to that of the General, he was referring to her father-in-law, the legendary Major General Israel Putnam, dubbed the "Wolf Catcher" from a young age, who had distinguished himself at the battle of Bunker Hill and through many other battles.

In 1764 Sarah had married Putnam's son, also called Israel Putnam, also a notable revolutionary war participant. Later her husband became an associate of "The Ohio Company" and thus became one of the founding fathers of the early settlements in Ohio called Belpre and Marietta, For some time the Sarah and their younger children stayed back in Pomfret, Connecticut before finally settling west with her husband at Belpre at the land he had cleared for farming. Their older son Aaron Waldo Putnam accompanied his father west, founded his own farm, and survived a near drowning in the Ohio River by hitching a mile long ride on the tail of a formidable ox. Aaron, who went by the name Waldo, could not swim, but the beast of burden could.

Sarah and Israel's farm was on a bottom land next to the Ohio River opposite to the mouth of the Little Kenawha. The family came to play significant roles in the development of the region's agriculture, from establishing nursery stock of fruit to establishing breeding lines of oxen and dairy cows.

Sarah passed away in 1808.

Note: According to Waldo Lincoln, on December 22 1777, Sarah Putnam was one signer of the Will of her mother Abigail Waldo, Widow of Zachariah Waldo.

Sources

• Genealogy of the Waldo Family by Waldo Lincoln, Volume 1, page 174

• Biographical and Historical Memoirs of the Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio by Samuel P Hildreth, page 355

• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7WS-3FK : 7 January 2020), Sarah Waldo, 1739.

• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F746-L7N : 7 January 2020), Sarah in entry for Jason Waldo Putnam, 1767.

• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F746-L7G : 7 January 2020), Sarah in entry for David Putnam, 1769.

• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F746-L74 : 7 January 2020), Sarah in entry for William Pitt Putnam, 1770.

• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7W4-ZPG : 7 January 2020), Sarah in entry for Mollie Putnam, 1773.

• "Connecticut, Vital Records, Prior to 1850," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP3R-GC9G : 21 September 2019), Sarah in entry for George Washington Putnam, ; citing Birth, 1777, Compiled by Lucius A. and Lucius B. Barbour, housed at State Library, Hartford, Connecticut; FHL microfilm 007833263.

• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7W4-Z5R : 7 January 2020), Sarah in entry for Bettey Putnam, 1780.

• "Connecticut, Vital Records, Prior to 1850," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQD-RMYK : 21 September 2019), Sarah in entry for William Pitt Putnam, ; citing Death, 1800, Compiled by Lucius A. and Lucius B. Barbour, housed at State Library, Hartford, Connecticut; FHL microfilm 007833263.

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 02 December 2018), memorial page for Sarah Waldo Putnam (1740–1808), Find A Grave: Memorial #35475781, citing Rockland Cemetery, Belpre, Washington County, Ohio, USA ; Maintained by Richard Baldwin Cook (contributor 47181028).