CHARLES
SUMNER PUTNAM, of Conneaut, born in the township of Stockton,
Chautauqua county, New York, May 27, 1859, is one of the prominent
business and public men of Ashtabula county, having been a leader in
the newspaper field, as well as given noteworthy service to both the
state and national governments. He is directly descended from
John Putnam, who emigrated from England with his three sons
and settled in Massachusetts early in the seventeenth century.
Although General Israel Putnam sprang from a collateral
branch, Charles S. has an almost equally famous ancestor in
the person of General Rufus Putnam, a Revolutionary officer
of distinction, and the founder of Marietta, Ohio. Captain
Andrew Putnam, a near relative of the latter, moved from
Massachusetts and finally settled in Chautauqua county, New York, in
1817. His entire family of twelve boys and one girl
accompanied him at that time to what was a forest wilderness of
western New York. Newell, the eldest son (grandfather
of Charles S.), cleared and improved most of his farm of one
hundred acres, situated near the original family homestead, and
resided there for more than forty years. Then, retiring from
active work, he disposed of the property to his son, Welcome,
and removed to Conneaut, Ohio, living twenty years near the home of
his daughter, the wife of Rev. O. T. Wyman. At the
death of his wife, in 1887, Newell Putnam returned to
Chautauqua county, whither Mr. and Mrs. Wyman had moved, and
again made his home with his daughter. Two years prior to his
demise he again removed with her to Norwich, New York, where he
remained until his death, at the advance age of ninety-five years.
The decreased was an industrious, thorough and successful farmer, a
man of strict, even stern, morality, a tee-totaler, and a member of
the Baptist church. He was also a stanch patriot, being a
soldier in the war of 1812 and a participant in the battle of
Lundy's Lane.
Welcome, the father of Charles S. Putnam, was
born and reared on the old farm in Stockton, Chautauqua county, and
also died there in October, 1872, aged fifty-two years. He was
a sturdy pillar of the Methodist church, well educated, intelligent
and public-spirited. From the date of organization of the
Republican party, in 1856, he was one of its more ardent members in
Chautauqua county, and his unbounded admiration for its great
Massachusetts leader, Charles Sumner, was the cause of
bestowing the name upon his son. Welcome Putnam married
Mrs. Maria L. (Flagg) Putnam, and besides the son mentioned,
became the father of a daughter, May V., who was born in1861,
and married W. B. Horton, an insurance agent of Jamestown,
New York. The mother died in March, 1892, at the age of
seventy years, her characteristics of great energy and intense
devotion to the cause of the Methodist church being lightened by a
cheerfulness and sunny kindness which gave her broad and remarkable
influence. Mrs. Welcome Putnam was twice married, her
first husband being James Putnam,, cousin of Welcome,
by whom she had one son, Edgar P., of Jamestown, New York.
The latter made a fine record for bravery as a Union soldier, being
promoted from the ranks to major and honored with a congressional
medal of honor for distinguished gallantry on the battlefield.
He was with the Army of the Potomac all through his service of about
four years, serving for a time on General Sheridan's staff.
After the war he was employed on the government surveys in northern
Minnesota and invested in pine lands, which eventually netted him a
small fortune. In 1873 he returned to his former home in
Stockton and soon moved his own and his mother's family to
Jamestown, New York, where he, after several years in the drug
business, became postmaster and later county clerk of Chautauqua
county. He is now a prominent Republican and citizen f that
city, superintendent of its public parks, a director in its leading
banks, and owner of several valuable business blocks.
Charles S. finished his education in the
Jamestown union high school and in 1876, at the age of seventeen,
settled at Conneaut, the residence of his grandparents. He
there became a printer in the office of the Conneaut Reporter,
and on Mar. 8, 1878, married Laura E. Stone, daughter of
E. A. and Eliza A. Stone, and the children of their union are as
follows: Eppie May, born Jun. 3, 1879, now registry
clerk in the postoffice; and Walter E., born Feb. 14, 1886,
now manager of the Conneaut Printing Company, publishing the
Conneaut News-Herald. Mrs. Putnam was born Jun.
23, 1858, and is a lady of culture and high moral character, devoted
to her family and home rather than to social life. She is a
member of the Eastern Star.
In the fall of 1878, in company with his
brother-in-law, L. V. Stone, he established the Conneaut
Express. In the following year Mr. Stone sold his
interest to G. P. Foster, of Geneva, Ohio, where the
publication of that paper was continued, with Mr. Putnam as
editor and manager. After a long illness, the latter disposed
of his interest, and with restored health, located at Cleveland,
where he followed his trade as a printer for a year. In 1882
he returned to Conneaut, purchased a half interest in the
Reporter, with J. P. Reig, and the two continued its
publication until 1889. During the last year of this
partnership he held the state office of warden of Lake Erie, his
enforcement of the fishing laws being both vigorous and, at times,
most exciting. He resigned the office after one year's
experience. During 1888-89 he was also in the newspaper
advertising business. In 1890 he was appointed special census
agent, assigned to the work of collecting statistics relative to
farms, homes and mortgages. At its conclusion he was
transferred to a clerkship in the census bureau at Washington, but
resigned in June, 1892, to establish himself at Conneaut in the
furniture and undertaking business, with John Smith, who, in
June, 1893, sold his interest to C. H. Simonds, of Jefferson,
Ohio. Under the firm name of Putnam & Simonds, the
business was continued until March, 1900, when he sold his interest.
July 1, 1899, he became, by appointment of President
McKinley, postmaster of Conneaut, which position he still
occupies on the date of this publication, and is now serving his
third term in that office. Soon after becoming postmaster, he
was instrumental in securing the erection of one of the finest
buildings, with best equipment for postoffice purposes, outside of
the federal buildings, on the Western Reserve, and he is now
working, with good prospects of success, toward securing the
erection of a public postoffice building by the government.
One year after taking office he had secured city free delivery, this
service beginning simultaneously with the removal of the office into
its new building, in July, 1900. In March, 1904, he secured
rural free delivery for the entire territory around Conneaut.
Four routes were established, which superseded and abolished eight
small postoffices. During the period of his incumbency the
Conneaut postoffice has trebled its business and receipts. He
started in office with four employes; now he has supervision over
twenty-five regular and substitute employes.
Mr. Putnam is a member of the Colonial Club, the
Masonic and Elks lodges and is affiliated with the fraternal
insurance orders of Royal Arcanum, National Union and American
Insurance Union.
Source: History of the Western Reserve By Harriet Taylor Upton And a
staff of Leading Citizens collaborated on the Counties and
Biographies - ILLUSTRATED - VOL. III - Publ. The Lewis
Publishing Company - Chicago - New York - 1910 Page 1308 |
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