Ohio History Journal

RUTLAND-"THE CRADLE OF OHIO."   A LITTLE JOURNEY TO THE HOME OF RUFUS PUTNAM. E. O. RANDALL. It was in the bright and cheery days of September, 1908, that the Editor left the palatial Pullman car at Worcester and

boarded a trolley that bore him along a rambling route amid tiny lakes and quiet hills to the little burg of Jef- ferson. Here the trolley was exchanged for a motor bus, the electric wings of which fluttered with intermittent and uncertain rapidity till the pas- sengers were delivered at the steps of the broad piazza of the Muschopauge hotel, a hos- pitable and spacious summer abode crowning the hill which boasts of being one of the highest elevations of the noble commonwealth of Massachu- setts. Certainly the "Cradle.

of Ohio" was most picturesquely chosen. Rutland lies in the center of the state and from the lookout of the afore- said hostelry an unsurpassed panorama meets the eye, a scene where mountains rise, umbrageous dales descend, sparkling lakelets dot the plains and rippling rivulets run their sil- ver courses around the feet of tree-clad hillsides. Rutland is on the midway divide between the valleys of the Connecticut and Merrimac rivers. It revels in the pride of its position and we were told that on a clear day the spectator's range of vision sweeps in the blue hills of Milton, near the Atlantic, the High- lands on the Connecticut, while Wachusett rises close at hand in the adjacent town of Princeton, and old Monadnock, mon- arch of all he surveys, rears his rugged outline against the north- 54

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Rutland- "The Cradle of Ohio."            55

 

ern sky. From this same outlook, which boasts an elevation of

1,250 feet above the sea level, the pointed spires of fourteen

surrounding towns may be seen. The good people of Rutland

are not cramped for residence space. Perhaps a thousand in-

habitants abide within its precincts. Its external appearance and

characteristics have hardly changed in a couple of centuries. Its

principal street, a mile and a half long and some two hundred

feet wide, runs through the village center. From this spacious

avenue the side streets cut at right angles. The large, home-

like, frame houses, natty and trim as freshly dusted band-boxes,

stand today as many stood before the days of the American

Revolution. Time cuts no figure in a New England village.

There is not a street lamp or light in Rutland, and when the

shades of night envelope its clean and garden like thoroughfares,

and the stars and moon are veiled, those who do not intuitively,

or by habit, know their way, must like the watchman in "Much

Ado About Nothing" carry a lantern. But little wonder the

good Rutlanders strive to keep their quiet and peaceful village

in all its pristine purity and beauty. It may have the evidences

of antiquity, but its old age is not that of decaying decline, but

rather that which the poet has depicted as "serene and bright."

But if Rutland has the charm of restful quiet and pictorial sim-

plicity it has the greater enchantment of historic perspective.

History reveals that the site of this time honored town was

purchased from the Indian possessors by the early colonists in

December, 1686. The record of this real estate transaction is

still extant; the names of the grantees to the deed being "the

marks of five Indians with long, unpronounceable names, setting

forth that, for the sum of twenty-three pounds, they sell to six

white men, properly named, a tract of land twelve miles square,

the boundaries thereof being specified." This tract included

several towns besides Rutland and was the very heart of the

state. Later a six-mile square tract was surveyed off the above

purchase and named "Rutland," presumably from the town or

the Duke of Rutland in England. But if the Indians sold the

land for a good price and gave possession and title, it did not

prevent the simple and guileless children of the forest from pro-

ceeding to massacre and tomahawk the first settlers. Such was

the fate, with others, of Rev. Joseph Willard, the first minister,

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56       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

who was accorded the "ministry lot"-one of the sixty-three

into which the town was divided-and upon which the par-

sonage in the shape of a log fort was built. The militant min-

isterial mansion was incorporated into the original village inn,

which was later superseded by the present ample and inviting

Muschopauge House, now the popular caravansary for summer

seekers after invigorating air, entrancing scenery and historic

reminiscence. Old England, itself, presents no more park-like

drives than do those leading for miles in every direction from

Rutland, as we may testify from experience through the cour-

tesy of Mr. Louis N. Hanff, long time resident and town clerk

of Rutland. But the allurements of Rutland's scenic attrac-

tions must not entice us from the historic purpose of our visit.

On the eastern outskirts of the village, almost the last house

on the north side of the broad main avenue, back some two

hundred feet from the road and fronted by many stately repre-

sentatives of the olden forest, that like perpetual sentinels guard

the approach, is the Rufus Putnam House. It stands intact,

unsullied, almost precisely as it stood a century and a half ago.

It is one of the most substantial and imposing residences in the

town and is a well preserved specimen of the architecture of its

day. It was built about the middle of the eighteenth century,

by one then known as Colonel John Murray. Many years be-

fore when a boy he left his native Ireland as John McMorroh

and immigrated to the American Colonies. He landed without

means save his energy and thrift. He settled in Rutland and

became its wealthiest and most prominent citizen, acquiring

much land and living like a luxurious Tory, for such he was,

having no sympathy with the colonial sentiment of independence.

He was married twice in Rutland and the large tombstone of

his wives may still be seen in the village cemetery. He built

several houses in Rutland for his children, when they married

and left the paternal roof. The house in question was the home

of his second daughter who married Daniel Bliss of Concord.

But the tide of the Revolution brought a turn in the affairs of

Colonel Murray. He was the town's representative to the

General Court of the Colony at the time of the Stamp Act. The

people of Rutland were against the odious law - their repre-

sentative misrepresented them. In a communication couched in

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Rutland - "The Cradle of Ohio."          57   no dubious terms, the patriots admonished the colonel to adhere to the wishes of the loyal colonists and not to those of oppres- sive England. He heeded not the admonition but accepted the appointment of collector of revenues by Great Britain. A sam- ple incident of the times occurred. Colonel Murray was given to understand that it would be conducive to his health to seek residence elsewhere. He hastily departed "in the night by un- frequented roads of the country and escaped to Nova Scotia." His several homes were confiscated and sold. The fine Rutland home was purchased by Rufus Putnam in 1780, while the latter was engaged in the War for Independence.

Who and what was Rufus Putnam? He descended from the sturdiest Anglo Saxon stock that came from Old England in the early colonial days. He was born at Sutton, Mass., April 9, 1738, in the fifth generation from John Putnam who with his family emigrated to America from their English Bucking- hamshire home in 1634. When the boy was but seven years of age his father died. A year or two after his widowed mother married Captain John Sadler. The illiterate and unsympathiz- ing stepfather denied the boy the most meagre means of educa- tion but it was the familiar story of unavailing attempts to smother the irresistible yearnings in the mind of an ambitious

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58       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   boy. Sadler entertained travelers who often gave the boy "tips" for services rendered. With the money thus obtained powder and shot were purchased, an old shot gun was pressed into service and the birds "brought down" sold. From this game fund a spelling book and arithmetic were secured. His patience and persistency did the rest for he was his own and only teacher. A boy that would push through such a prepara- tory school was booked to graduate in the university of success. In the Spring of 1754, when scarcely sixteen he was bound as an apprentice to the mill-wright trade, one of the most im-

portant businesses of the times, under Daniel Mathews, of Brookfield. This service lasted three years during which Rufus gained steadily in rudimentary book "larnin," in practical knowl- edge and experience and in physical growth and prowess, for he became an athlete in size and strength, measuring full six feet in stature with brawny limbs and toughened muscles. His apprenticeship was at an end. He had impatiently awaited its close. The French and Indian War began with it. The strug- gle between France and England over their rival claims for American territory was at its height. The colonies were con-

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Rutland- "The Cradle of Ohio."            59

 

ending for the supremacy of their mother country. Thus far

the gage of battle lay mostly with the French. Widespread

alarm stirred the colonists throughout New England, as well as

in Pennsylvania and Virginia. We may well imagine how the

sentiments of ambition, adventure and colonial patriotism stirred

the spirit of the restless youth. Freed from the apprenticeship

of the mill and farm he eagerly sprang into military service. It

was in March, 1757, that the raw recruit set out with his com-

pany. That his self instruction was unusually successful is

proven by the diary which he fully and faithfully kept during

his enlistment which lasted in all some three years. The origi-

nal manuscript, yellow with age, of this priceless journal in Put-

nam's handwriting, is now preserved in the Library of Marietta

College. It is not pertinent to our narrative that we follow the

career of the soldier in this interesting campaign of the Seven

Years War. He was with the section of the English and

colonial troops who maneuvered about the localities of the

upper Hudson and Lakes George and Champlain. His first taste

of the soldier's hunger, cold, suffering and danger was with the

Ranger scouts about Fort Edward. Here he came in contact

with the Indian mode of warfare, witnessed for the first time

the inhuman barbarities with which the savage allies of the

French tortured and butchered their prisoners. Here too, he

came in touch with the distinguished cousin of his father, Cap-

tain Israel Putnam, who had already displayed the qualities of

an able and dauntless warrior, traits that made him so famous

in the subsequent revolt of the colonies. Rufus at once ad-

mired his dashing relative and learned from him many lessons

of military tactics. Our volunteer was witness to the siege and

capture of Fort William Henry by the Marquis de Montcalm

and his overwhelming army of French and Indians. After

severe sufferings in the camp and on the march in the bitter win-

ter Putnam was honorably discharged and reached home in Feb-

ruary (1758). But the war was far from ended. Until now

it had been a continued series of disaster and disgrace for the

Crown and her colonies; one British army after another had

been defeated or captured. The banner of the Bourbons was

being borne into the very heart of the British possessions. The

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60       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   people of England alarmed and disheartened clamored for a new hand at the governmental helm. George II yielding to the popular pressure, called William Pitt, the "great commoner," to guide the floundering course of England. Pitt's tremendous force and sagacity instantly aroused the English arms every- where. French armies were repulsed in India, in Africa, in Europe, and in America. The colonists were enthusiastic in their admiration for Pitt and their confidence was unbounded. Twenty-five thousand colonial troops were raised and added to the twenty-five thousand Royal Regulars from England, and General Abercrombie, the new English commander, thus lead a force of fifty thousand against the twenty thousand French armament. Rufus Putnam re-enlisted. The campaign was that

of 1758 about Lake George. It did not add to the glory of Abercrombie or the advantage of England. The end of the year found Putnam again at the Sutton home. In the Spring (1759) he enlisted for the third time. His company was under General Amherst in the attack on Fort Ticonderoga. The French forces yielded the Fort, embarked on Lake Champlain for Crown Point, a strong fort which the French blew up and then continuing their retreat proceeded on down the lake to Montreal. The reason of the precipitate withdrawal of the French from their intrenched positions was the news of Gen- eral Wolfe's advance on Quebec. In March, 1760, Rufus Put- nam again answered the call for troops for another campaign.

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Rutland- "The Cradle of Ohio."            61

 

His company was stationed at the outlet of Lake George and

there remained till the end of the war. In the Spring of 1761,

when he returned to his home, this time New Braintree, and

his employment of building mills and farming he had become

inured to the hardships of a soldier's life and skilled in the arts

of warfare both savage and civilized. This education was his

preparation for the later achievements of his career.

In April, 1761, our hero took for a wife Miss Elizabeth

Ayres, whose father was a wealthy landholder of Brookfield.

Sorrow quickly followed his new happiness for within a year

the death of his wife and a little son left him wifeless and child-

less. Four years later he was married to Miss Persis Rice of

Westborough, Mass. It was a fortunate and congenial alliance

lasting more than half a century and from which union many

children were born. After his service in the French and Indian

War, Putnam for a few years pursued the vocation of building

mills and of farming. He then turned his attention to survey-

ing, in those days a lucrative, honorable and much sought

business. This practical acquisition was another valuable step

in his preparation for later accomplishments. Immediately fol-

lowing the Seven Year's War the British Government established

three new provinces out of their newly acquired American terri-

tory, viz.: (I) Quebec, which included not only French Canada

but the domain between the Ohio, the Great Lakes and the Mis-

sissippi, later known as the Northwest Territory: (2) East

Florida, and (3) "West Florida. The British Government also

granted their regular troops certain portions of American land

for their military services. Subsequently the crown and council

reluctantly included the Colonial troops in this land reward.

Land for this purpose was to be set apart in West Florida and

in the winter of 1772-3 Rufus Putnam with a number of others,

one of whom was Colonel Israel Putnam, left their New Eng-

land homes to locate and secure Florida reservations. The party

was known as "The Military Company of Adventurers." They

sailed from New York in the sloop "Mississippi," coasted along

the shores of Florida, visited Jamaica and Cuba, and thence

proceeded to the mouth of the Mississippi River, which they

navigated up as far as the mouth of the Yazoo, whence they

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62       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   returned down the river and to New York by the route pursued from the start. This journey occupying many months was one of great interest and profit to Putnam, giving him accurate knowledge of the vast territory traveled, its rivers and re- sources; its extent and opportunities. He came in contact with the Spanish and French settlements and the chief settlements of the various southern Indian tribes. No lands were secured, owing to conflicting conditions existing between the Crown gov- ernment and the colonial authorities. The King's promises to the colonial soldiers proved unavailing. Putnam however, sur-

veyed certain sections of East Florida and so favorably reported the advantages of the country that many New England families' emigrated thither and settled. Thus ended the expedition of the "Company of Military Adventurers." It was a sample dream of expectations that was dispelled in a rude awakening. It was the close of the year 1773, when members of this land-grant party returned to their Massachusetts and Connecticut homes. The rumblings of the Revolution were becoming more and more audible. The storm burst on the Commons of Lexington and the Bridge of Concord in April, 1775. Rufus Putnam, in ardent sympathy with the cause of the colonies, entered the army as

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Rutland--"The Cradle of Ohio."            63

 

lieutenant colonel of Colonel David Brewer's regiment, stationed

at Roxbury. We cannot follow our subject through the details

of the Revolution. It is not necessary to our purpose. As be-

fore in his military campaigns, he kept a complete journal of

his doings and the events through which he passed. Like Wash-

ington, Putnam is his own best biographer. The manuscripts

of his handwriting are the bases of nearly all that has since been

written concerning him. His rise to influence and fame in the

Revolutionary ranks however deserves passing note. General

Thomas was in charge of Roxbury. It was unprotected save

by a "board fence." A council of officers was held to consider

means of defense. Engineers were rare and where was there

a man to execute the work in hand? To General Thomas it was

suggested that among his officers was Colonel Rufus Putnam

who had engineering experience in the late French and Indian

War. On being summoned by the General, Colonel Putnam

frankly stated as his journal reads, that he "had never read

a word on the subject of fortification; it is true that I had

been employed on some work of that sort under British engineers

but I pretended to no knowledge in regard to laying out works.

But no excuse would avail. Undertake I must." And under-

take he did. The defenses were erected at Roxbury and proxi-

mate points. Generals Washington and Lee came over to ex-

amine the defenses. Both generals spoke words of entire ap-

probation. Rufus Putnam had found his place in the Revolu-

tionary ranks and in the esteem and confidence of the Colonial

Commander. The rest is easily told. The defenses about Dor-

chester, Cobble Hill and elsewhere were Putnam's work. At

Washington's request he made surveys and maps of courses,

distances and relative situations of the army's works in

Cambridge, and its vicinity. He accompanied General Lee to

Providence and Newport planning batteries and elevations. In

the Winter of 1776, Washington was engaged in plans to dis-

lodge the British from Boston. General William Howe occupied

the city with eight thousand of his Majesty's choice troops.

These could be supplemented at a moment's notice from the

ships that "rode gaily in the harbor."  Large reinforcements

were expected in the Spring. The situation demanded that

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64      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

something be done. Washington assembled his generals in con-

sultation. Putnam was present by special invitation, and re-

tained by the commander after all others had left. Washington

doubted the result of storming the city. It would be better, if

possible, to draw the enemy out toward Dorchester, and attack

them there. If the colonists could maintain themselves on the

landneck between Boston and Dorchester they would command

the city and harbor. But the intense cold had so deeply frozen

the earth that the excavating of it and erection of entrench-

ments therewith was impossible.  There was the problem.

Washington left it to Putnam to invent a solution. On his

return to his quarters Putnam stopped at the quarters of General

Heath. On the general's table lay a copy of Muller's "Field

Engineer."  Putnam had never read a book on the subject.

He borrowed Muller. His eye quickly fell on the word

"Chandelier."  The problem was solved. His entrenchments

were made of Chandeliers. The adjacent apple orchards and

woodlands supplied the lumber. Stout timbers, ten feet long

were cut, into which were set upright posts five feet high and

five feet apart. These framework arrangements were placed up-

right loosely on the frozen ground in two parallel lines a short

space apart and fastened together by connecting timbers. The

open space between the parallels was filled with bundles of sticks

and branches. Thus was made a movable parapet, an entrench-

ment of wood, easily set up wherever most serviceable. The

British soldiers in Boston, retired on the evening of March ₄th

secure in the idea that the Colonists were helpless in their efforts

to dislodge them from the city. On the following morning the

"King's own" arose and rubbed their eyes in bewilderment, for

they beheld the colonial patriots completely protected by a de-

fense that had arisen as if by magic. It was a typical incident of

Yankee ingenuity and industry. It has been truly said that these

unusual and unexpected defenses frightened Howe into evacu-

ating Boston. Putnam was now Washington's engineering re-

liance, and in August, 1776, on recommendation of the American

Commander, Putnam was appointed by Congress as engineer

with rank and pay of colonel. From that time on he was one of

Washington's chief and most trusted confidants. He rendered

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Rutland - "The Cradle of Ohio."            65

 

conspicuous services in the siege of New York by the British.

At the close of the year he withdrew from the engineering de-

partment and was made colonel of a Massachusetts regiment.

This placed him where he wished to be, in the active and fight-

ing field and in the Burgoyne campaign he, with his brave

Massachusetts men, again traversed the ground that had become

so familiar to him in the French War. But he could not escape

the responsibility of his engineering ability. Again and again

he was consulted by Washington and the other colonial generals.

Of all the foreign engineers who had been engaged and em-

ployed, not one had yet been found with the sound judgment

and practical skill of this untaught American. His advice and

co-operation were constantly in demand wherever the Continental

Troops were struggling for advantage. At the close of 1779

Colonel Putnam was transferred to the command of a regiment

of light infantry, one of the four regiments composing the

brigade of General Anthony Wayne. This brigade was regarded

as the "flower" of the army and the officers were chosen by

Wayne himself. It was a great and coveted distinction to serve

in Wayne's legion. It was in the latter part of this Winter

(1780) that Putnam got leave of absence to visit his family with

whom he remained several weeks and during this furlough he

purchased the Rutland residence and thereto removed his family

which had been living at North Brookfield. From now on to the

close of the Revolution Putnam moved amid the vicissitudes of

war, sustaining his reputation for ability, sagacity, resourceful-

ness and indubitable confidence and courage. The course of the

war was inseparably part of his career. He evinced traits of

statesmanship no less than those of the military strategist. Twice

he was influential and tactful in assisting in the efforts to suppress

desertion and even revolt of the Colonial Troops because of

their lack of proper equipment, provision and pay. The rising

republic was bankrupt and its army more or less in a constant

state of want and distress. As early as the beginning of 1781

Putnam foresaw the difficulties of providing for these veterans.

penniless and homeless as they surely would be at the end of the

war. He addressed a long letter to the General Court or Legis-

lature of Massachusetts describing the current grievances of the

Vol. XVIII-5.

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66       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

troops and counseling the adoption of means for their sus-

tenance when the war should close. Like many another he him-

self grew weary and despondent over the situation and would

have withdrawn from the army but Washington wrote him

(December, 1782) to hold on, he could not spare so valuable

and trusty an officer. On January 8th (1783) Congress made

Putnam   a  Brigadier-General.  This  deserved  recognition

strengthened his patience and stimulated his patriotism. With

renewed zeal as a soldier he remained with the fortunes of the

army till the declaration of peace, April 9, 1783.

In June following the peace and before the final disband-

ment of the army at New Windsor, the officers to the number

of 283, belonging chiefly to the northern states, petitioned Con-

gress for a grant of land in the western country. General

Rufus Putnam, in their behalf, addressed a letter to General

Washington on the subject urging the latter's influence with

Congress in the matter. This letter at some length courteously

and forcefully presents the situation. It is a masterful docu-

ment and one of the preliminary steps towards the settlement of

Ohio. He notes the vast importance to the United States of

the acquisition of the Northwest Territory. The necessity of

securing the allegiance of the Indian tribes thereof, suggesting

as instruments towards that peaceful alliance the establishment

of garrisons at important western points on the Lakes, and for

the security of probable settlements a chain of stockade forts

from the Ohio, on the Muskingum or Scioto northward to De-

troit. He had wonderful knowledge of and insight into the

Indian situation and its liabilities. "This whole tract," he

writes, "is supposed to contain about seventeen million, four

hundred and eighteen thousand, two hundred and forty acres."

The land to which the soldiers were entitled by resolve of

Congress would amount to two million, one hundred and

six thousand, eight hundred and fifty acres, or one-eighth

of the whole. He closes by expressing the probability that

"the country between Lake Erie and the Ohio will be filled

with inhabitants, and the faithful subjects of the United

States so established on the waters of the Ohio and the

lakes, as to banish forever the idea of our western territory

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Rutland-- "The Cradle of Ohio."           67

 

falling under the dominion of any European power." In April,

1784, Putnam wrote another letter to Washington concerning

the position of the officers aforesaid. He says the settlement

of the Ohio country is constantly on his mind, others look long-

ingly in the same direction: "We are growing quite impatient,

and the general inquiry now is, when are we going to the

Ohio?" In the summer of 1785 Putnam was engaged by the

state of Massachusetts to survey the latter's lands on the Bay

of Passamaquoddy. The state authorities also appointed him

on the committee for the sale of the state's eastern lands. At

the same time he was appointed by Congress one of the sur-

veyors of the national lands, northwest of the Ohio river. That

Putnam might fulfill his contract with the state of Massachu-

setts, he got Congress to appoint General Benjamin Tupper tem-

porarily, in his place, until he could devote himself to the office.

As Mr. Tupper now enters the thread of our story to be an

inseparable factor in it to the end, a few words as to his iden-

tity will not be amiss. His life runs singularly parallel to that

of Rufus Putnam. Benjamin Tupper was born at Stoughton,

Mass., the same year that saw the birth of Rufus Putnam.

While a mere lad Benjamin's father died and the boy, like

Rufus, had to enter the school of self-support and hard-knocks.

He was a private soldier in the French and Indian War, and

was one of the first to enlist in the Colonial ranks at the out-

break of the Revolution. He began as lieutenant of a company

but for bravery and activity in service he was rapidly promoted

until at the close of hostilities he bore the title of a brigadier-

general. Also like Putnam, Tupper became expert as a sur-

veyor. In his military career General Tupper came in contact

with both Generals Rufus Putnam and Washington. During

the Revolution, Washington constantly turned the attention of

his officers and soldiers to the valley of the Ohio, which he had

visited and the opportunities of which he thoroughly compre-

hended. Tupper had therefore learned much of the western

El Dorado. The Ordinance by Congress of 1785 provided for

a survey of a portion of the lands northwest of the Ohio river.

In the summer of that year a battalion of the first regiment of

United States troops, as a defense against the Ohio Indians, had

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68       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   taken post at the mouth of the Muskingum under command of Major Doughty and erected a fort which received the name of Fort Harmar. It was about this time that Putnam was named by Congress to survey a portion of the lands in Ohio. General Tupper was made his temporary substitute, but the Indian hos- tilities in the Ohio country prevented any surveying until after

the treaty with the savages made by General Parsons and other United States agents, on the Miami in July, 1786. Tupper had gotten as far as Pittsburg in his proposed western surveys. He was obliged to return to his Massachusetts home when he made so favorable a report, from what he had learned, of the fertil- ity and beauty of the trans-Alleghany country that General

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Rutland--"The Cradle of Ohio."           69

 

Putnam decided to join with him in proposing an association for

the purchase of western lands and the settlement thereon. Ac-

cordingly these two veteran generals, strengthened and sea-

soned by the experiences of the two wars, yet in the prime of

life and their powers, met on the ₉th of January, 1786, at that

historic Putnam home in Rutland. The two projectors of the

enterprise sat up the entire night discussing and maturing plans

that were to result in the founding of a western empire. What

would we give for a snap-shot of those two nation builders

seated before that spacious old fireplace in their wigs and knee

breeches, smoking their pipes and no doubt refreshing their

"inner man" with draughts that cheered - for what other pur-

pose would have been that capacious cellar - as they consulted

maps of the Ohio country and eagerly considered ways and

means. It was a dream of empire to be realized beyond the

imagination of man. The result of that memorable conference

was that the two promoters united in a publication which ap-

peared in the public papers of New England on the 25th of

January, 1786, headed "Information," and dated January 10th,

1786, and signed Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper.

The "Information" was a public notice addressed to all

officers and soldiers who served in the "late war" and who were

by ordinance of Congress (1785) to receive certain tracts of

land in the Ohio country and also all other good citizens "who

wished to become adventurers in that delightful region" to meet

in certain towns specified in the different counties of the com-

monwealth of Massachusetts-and inhabitants in other states

as should be subsequently agreed upon-to appoint delegates

to a meeting to be held at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern in Bos-

ton, March 1, 1786, to form an association by the name of the

Ohio Company. The counties and towns for the respective

meetings were named in the notice. In accordance with the

various meetings held, there met at the Bunch of Grapes Tav-

ern on March 1, delegates chosen from eight counties. They

were:   Winthrop Sargent and John Mills, from    Suffolk;

Manasseh Cutler, from Essex; John Brooks and Thomas Cush-

ing from Middlesex; Benjamin Tupper, from Hampshire;

Crocker Sampson, from Plymouth; Rufus Putnam, from Wor-

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70       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   cester; John Patterson and Jahlaliel Woodbridge, from Berk- shire, and Abraham Williams, from Barnstable. This meeting elected General Rufus Putnam chairman of the convention and Major Winthrop Sargent, clerk. Putnam, Tupper and others glowingly described the Ohio country and its advantages as a place of settlement. A committee consisting of Putnam, Cutler, Brooks, Sargent and Cushing was named to draw up articles of association. The "convention" met again March 3d, to hear the report of the committee. These articles of agreement for "con- stituting an association of the Ohio Company" were lengthy

and elaborate. The articles state the design of the association to be to raise a fund in continental specie certificates "for the sole purpose and entire use" of purchasing lands in the western territory. The fund was not to exceed one million dollars in continental specie certificates and one year's interest thereon. Each share was to be one thousand dollars, and each share- holder was to contribute, in addition to one year's interest on the certificates, ten dollars in specie, as an expense fund. No per- son was permitted to hold over five shares. Five directors, a treasurer and a secretary were to be appointed. Business af- fairs moved slowly in those good old days and the next meet-

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Rutland- "The Cradle of Ohio."             71

 

ing of the proposed association, called by special advertisement,

was held March 8, 1787, at Bracket's Tavern, Boston. At this

meeting it was reported that two hundred and fifty-of the

one thousand -shares had been subscribed. Of the five direc-

tors provided by the articles of agreement, three were then

elected: General Samuel H. Parsons, General Rufus Putnam

and Rev. Manasseh Cutler. The selection of the two other

directors was postponed until the next meeting. The directors

appointed General Parsons, one of their number, to apply to

Congress, then assembled in New York, for a purchase of lands.

He made the application on the 9th of May, but after the 11th

of that month there was no quorum till the 4th of July. Gen-

eral Parsons having returned home the directors appointed

Manasseh Cutler as the special agent of the association, to make

a contract with the "Continental Congress" for a tract of land

in the Great Western Territory "of the Union." And now the

trend of events herein related, center in and depend upon Manas-

seh Cutler. A man wonderfully well equipped and endowed

for the mission. His influence in the settlement of Ohio and

the larger movement of the political organization of the North-

west Territory can hardly be overestimated. The specific part

played by Doctor Cutler will be detailed in a subsequent article

concerning his home and his efforts in behalf of the Ohio Com-

pany, suffice it to say now that but for the ability and diplomacy

of this man, the project of the settlement of Ohio would have

temporarily failed and probably the course of early Ohio history

would have been far different. Doctor Cutler reached New

York on July ₅th, (1787) found a quorum of Congress present

and set about his work immediately. Congress was considering

the "Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the

United States Northwest of the River Ohio." Dr. Cutler had

much to do with its shaping and passage. It became a law on

July 1₃th. Just two weeks after the passage of the famous

"Ordinance of 1787," viz., on July 27th, Congress enacted an

ordinance of land sale in the Northwest Territory, acceptable to

the Ohio Company. It is thus to be noted that the Ordinance

of 1787 for the organization of the Northwest Territory and the

law authorizing the sale to the Ohio Company were closely re-

• 18
 

72       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. lated, the one bearing directly upon the other. The purchase would not have been made without the Ordinance and the Ordi- nance could not have been enacted except as an essential condi- tion of the purchase. The act by Congress authorized the sale of five million acres lying north of the Ohio River, west of the seven ranges and east of the Scioto River, one million five hundred thousand for the Ohio Company and "the remainder," to quote Dr. Cutler's diary, "for a private speculation in which many of the principal characters of America are concerned." This "private specula-

Cellar, Rufus Putnam's House.

tion" mentioned by Dr. Cutler was that of the Scioto Company. The total price agreed upon was $3,500,000, something like two- thirds dollar per acre, but the payments were to be made in pub- lic securities at their face value and such securities or conti- nental certificates were worth only twelve cents on the dollar, the real price of the land thus became only eight or nine cents per acre. After the passage of the purchase ordinance, Dr. Cutler made a contract with the government for the purchase by the Ohio Company of 1,500,000 acres. This contract was signed by Samuel Osgood and Arthur Lee on behalf of the Treasury of the United States and by Manasseh Cutler and

• 19
 

Rutland-"The Cradle of Ohio."            73

 

Winthrop Sargent for the Ohio Company. By the advice of

Thomas Hutchins, who was the Geographer of the United

States, the tract for the Ohio Company was located on the Ohio

and Muskingum Rivers. Mr. Hutchins considered it "the best

part of the whole western country," and he had visited the coun-

try from Pennsylvania to Illinois. At a meeting of the Ohio

Company in August (1787), in the Bunch of Grapes Tavern, Dr.

Cutler made report of the contract he had entered into with the

board of the national treasury. On the 30th of the same month,

it was voted that a tract of 5,760 acres of land, near the con-

fluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers be reserved for a

city and commons. On October 27, the first half million of

dollars on the contract was paid by the Ohio Company to the

Treasury of the government. At a meeting of the agents and

directors of the company, held at "Cromwell's Head" Tavern in

Boston, November 21, 1787, it was resolved among other things

that "the house lots shall consist of ninety feet front and one

hundred and eighty feet in depth." Other details of the plan

of the first settlement were agreed upon. This meeting also

ordered that no more subscriptions for shares be received after

the first of January and that they adjourn to meet at Rice's

Tavern, Providence, Rhode Island, on the first Wednesday of

March (1788) for the purpose of drawing the eight acre lots,

which were to be surveyed by that time. Two days later (No-

vember 23, 1787,) at another meeting held at Bracket's Tavern,

Boston, it was ordered that four surveyors be employed; that

twenty-two men shall attend the surveyors; that there be added

to this number twenty men, including six boat builders, four

house carpenters, one blacksmith, and nine common workmen,

in all forty-eight men. The boat builders were to proceed at

once, "on Monday next," to the Youghiogheny River to con-

struct the transports to convey the first installment of the com-

pany to the Muskingum. Thus the scheme rapidly advanced.

The land secured and plans perfected; nothing remained but

the execution. In accordance with all the preliminaries twenty-

two of the number who were boat-builders and mechanics, as-

sembled at Danvers, Mass., on December 1st, (1787) under

command of Major Haffield White; the remainder of the com-

• 20
 

74       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

pany gathered at Hartford, Conn., early in January (1788).

Those who met at Danvers were the first to start for their new

possessions, called by many who derided and ridiculed this

scheme, "Putnam's Paradise" and "Cutler's Indian Heaven."

Some of the party started from Dr. Cutler's home at Ipswich.

He prepared a large, well built wagon for their use, covered

with black canvas, on which he himself had painted in large

white letters "For the Ohio." Dr. Cutler personally accom-

panied the company to Danvers, where he bade them farewell

on their departure, November 30, 1787. Dr. Cutler never went

to Marietta as a resident, but visited the settlement in the sum-

mer of 1788. His son, Jervis Cutler, was one of the Danvers'

party and it is said was the first to leap ashore at the landing

of the "Mayflower." Two other sons of Manasseh Cutler later

joined the Marietta colony. The route of Major White's party

was along the old military road across Pennsylvania and over

the Alleghanies. After a journey of nearly eight weeks, they

arrived at Sumrill's Ferry, now West Newton, Pa., on January

23, 1788, where they remained till April 1, engaged in the build-

ing of the boats that were to carry them down the Ohio to their

destination. The second division of the company rendezvoused

at Hartford, Connecticut, on the first of January, 1788. They

were there met by General Rufus Putnam who was personally

to have commanded their journey, but as he says in his journal,

"was under the necessity of going by New York, so the com-

pany went forward in command of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat."

Dispatching his business at New York, Rufus Putnam pressed

forward and overtook the Sproat division at "Lincoln's Run

near Sweetterret (Swatara) Creek" foot of the Tuscarawas

Mountains. They reached Sumrill's Ferry, where they found

the White party, February 14, 1788. After the arrival of Put-

nam's party the work of boat building was redoubled. The

largest convoy built was at first named the "Adventure Galley"

afterwards called the "Mayflower" in remembrance of the ves-

sel that landed at Plymouth (1620) and had among her famous

passengers ancestors of some of the Ohio Company. The sec-

ond "Mayflower" was 45 feet long and 12 feet wide, with an es-

timated burden of 50 tons. The "Mayflower" was not suffi-

• 21
 



• 22
 

76       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

ciently capacious to carry all the "forty-eighters" with their

horses, wagons, baggage, tools and provisions, so an additional

large flat-boat, called the "Adelphia" and three canoes were con-

structed. In this little fleet the advance corps of the Ohio Com-

pany "set sail," April 1, 1788, under the command of General

Rufus Putnam, superintendent of the settlement. There were

forty-eight men in the expedition, no women or children were

with this advance contingent. The families were brought later.

The flotilla glided down the Youghiogheny into the Mononga-

hela and finally passing under the shadow of Fort Pitt swung

into the "broad bosom of the Ohio." This journey is a thrice

told tale, not to be here repeated. The pioneers arrived at Fort

Harmar, just below which they hauled to on April 7, 1788, in the

afternoon amid fog and rain. The current had carried them

beyond their intended landing point. The commandant of the

fort, Major Doughty, sending some soldiers to their aid, Put-

nam's little band towed the boats up stream, and crossing the

Muskingum, landed upon the site of Marietta. The "adven-

turers" were welcomed by a party of about seventy Wyandot

and Delaware Indians, warriors, women and children, of whom

the famous Captain Pipe was the principal character. The

landing of the stores and baggage was begun at once as well as

the erection of General Putnam's large tent, known as a

"marquee," a portion of the plunder taken by General Putnam's

regiment from the British at the surrender of Burgoyne's army

in the Revolution. Thus was planted the Marietta settlement,

the first purely colonial one in the Northwest Territory after

its organization. There were many white settlers in various

localities, traders' stations, missionary posts, etc., west of the

Alleghanies previous to the arrival of the Ohio Company im-

migrants, but the latter was the first distinct permanent Ameri-

can western settlement. It was the capital of the Territory and

on the 9th of July (1788) Territorial Governor Arthur St. Clair

arrived in Marietta and took up there his official residence. The

founding of this pioneer center is the starting point of Western

History. It was a most wisely chosen locality, the settlers were

of the best brawn and brain of New England. George Wash-

ington wrote from Mt. Vernon on the 1₉th of June (1788) to

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Rutland-"The Cradle of Ohio."             77

 

Richard Henderson on inquiry in regard to western lands, speak-

ing of the Ohio Company, "No colony in America was ever set-

tled under such favorable auspices as that which has just corn

menced at the Muskingum. Information, property, strength,

will all be its characteristics. I know many of the settlers, per-

sonally, and there never were men better calculated to promote

the welfare of such a community. If I was a young man, just

preparing to begin the world, or if in advanced life and had a

family to make a provision for, I know of no country where I

should rather fix my habitation than in some part of the region

for which the writer of the queries seems to have a predilection."

Washington knew whereof he spoke for in his voyage down the

Ohio in the Autumn of 1770 he was at the mouth of the Mus-

kingum and noted its advantages as a location for a western

settlement.

*    *    *    *    *

Thus historic Rutland was the "Cradle of Ohio. In the

old Putnam house, now the cherished and well-preserved property

of "The Rufus Putnam Memorial Association," inaugurated by

the late Senator George F. Hoar of Massachusetts, was born

the purpose and plan of the Ohio Company, when on that

never-to-be-forgotten night of January 9, 1786, Rufus Putnam

and Benjamin Tupper turned their backs upon the trials and

hardships of the past and looked with hope and courage to

peaceful homes for their declining years on the banks of

La belle Riviere.

It was in September, 1790, that General Putnam, who in

the meantime had made several trips back and forth, left his

Rutland residence for his Western home with his family consist-

ing of wife, five daughters and two sons, the latter William

Rufus and Edwin. The hired men and teamsters and some

neighbors who united in the emigration made the party number

in all twenty-six. Benjamin Franklin Stone, then a boy little

more than eight years of age was one of the party and subse-

quently in his remarkable autobiography, begun at the age of

seventy-eight and completed at ninety-one, told the story of that

journey of eight hundred miles from Rutland to Marietta. In

his account Mr. Stone says of the party, "there were three ox-

• 24
 

78       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. wagons with two yokes of oxen to each, and General Putnam's two-horse carriage and one saddle horse. My mother had one cow, and Putnam had three or four neat cattle, including a bull of choice breed." On the black canvas sides of the wagon of General Putnam, painted by himself, in large white letters were the words, "To Marietta on the Ohio." The plucky pioneer caravan was eight weeks on the journey, proceeding to Sumrill's

Ferry on the Youghiogheny where they waited a few days till the boats were finished which General Putnam had engaged the summer previous, when he was returning from Ohio to New England. General Putnam lived at and guided the destinies of the Marietta settlement until his death, May 4, 1824. His grave appropriately marked, is in the revered cemetery of Marietta. The monument bears the sentiment, "The memory of the just is Blessed."

• 25