Editorialana. 295
THE MEMOIRS OF RUFUS PUTNAM.
Compiled and annotated by Miss Rowena
Buell, Marietta, Ohio.
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and
New York.
This is a work of rare historical value,
and one which every
student of history, and particularly of
Ohio history, will covet and
consult with great satisfaction. It
consists mainly of the official papers
and correspondence connected with the
life and deeds of General Rufus
Putnam, who was the leader in the little
band of pilgrims who came
from New England, and in the later
Mayflower sailed down the Ohio
and landed, on that memorable 9th of
April, 1788, at the present site
of Marietta. Next to the settlement of
Plymouth by the passengers
of the first Mayflower, this second
voyage was fraught with greatest
results to American history. The
"Adventure," as the Mayflower was
first called, was to the great northwest
empire what that little ship,
which landed upon the bleak shores of
Cape Cod, in December, 1620,
was to the American colonies of the
new-born American republic.
The material comprising this book is
historical, and admirably ar-
ranged and edited by Miss Buell. The
first part is autobiographical,
giving the family history and descent of
Rufus Putnam, beginning with
his first American ancestor, John
Putnam, who came to Salem in
1634. The second part covers General
Putnam's military and public ser-
vices until 1804. General Putnam was a
distinguished participant in the
Revolutionary War, enjoying the personal
friendship and esteem of
Washington; he was an engineer of
superior attainment and superin-
tended all the defenses of New York in
1776, and aided in construct-
ing the fortifications at West Point.
The War of the Revolution over,
he began the second period of his
career, perhaps more distinguished,
certainly more romantic and not less
courageous, by his services in direct-
ing the first settlement in the
Northwest Territory.
Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, and
President Perry, of Marietta
College, contribute introductory pages
to this volume, which is pub-
lished under the auspices of The Society
of Colonial Dames of America
in the State of Ohio.
It is a volume which should be in every
Ohio library, and which
will be of value to all students of
early American history, and particularly
of the foundation and development of the
Northwest Territory and the
state of Ohio. Miss Buell has
contributed a most valuable volume to Ohio
literature.
THE VANISHED EMPIRE.
"The Vanished Empire," by
Waldo H. Dunn; published by The
Robert Clark Co., Cincinnati.