Person:Thomas Putnam (28)

By the time Thomas Putnam was born his family had already been living in Massachusetts for more than 100 years, and were a prominent family. His grandfather and great-grandfather (both named Edward Putnam) were Deacons and the family were heavily involved in the Salem witch trials. Thomas' father Holyoke had been born in Salem but moved inland to Middleton where he started his family with his first wife Eunice, and by 1744 Holyoke had moved further inland to Sutton where he was admitted to the church in March 1744.

Thomas Putnam was born on 1 July 1754 in Sutton, Massachusetts, the son of Holyoke and his second wife Esther Lovell. Holyoke was 47 when Thomas was born and already had 7(?) other children. Holyoke died when Thomas was just three years old, and his mother Esther died in 1770 when Thomas was 16. It is likely that Thomas then lived with one of his elder siblings, perhaps his half-brother Ebenezer who had already married and had two young children, or maybe Ezra. In any case, these three brothers were all early settlers of Bethel, Vermont.

Thomas probably moved with his brother Ebenezer to Westminster, VT. He was there by December 1781 when his intention to marry Susanna Stone of Rutland, VT, was recorded in Rutland. On 12 June 1782 the couple were married in Rutland, VT.

Their first child Lucretia was born in Westminster on 8 June 1783 (this birth was later recorded in Bethel).

They soon moved to Bethel in Windsor County, Vermont, where Thomas and his older brother Ebenezer were recorded on a list of Freemen in 1784.

Thomas' elder brother Ezra moved to Bethel around the same time, and all of Ezra's children were born in Bethel.

There were other Putnam relatives in Vermont at the time, the closest (genealogically speaking) being Thomas' uncle Miles Putnam and cousins (Miles sons) Daniel, Edward who were living 45 miles away in Thomlinson (now Grafton), VT.

Other children?

Some people also list a Thomas Putnam who appeared on the 1810 Ferrisburg, VT census as a possible son but I have concluded this is unlikely. If he were the son of Thomas and Susanna he would be the younger of the two men indicated in the 1810 census, aged 26-44, meaning the latest he could have been born was before 1784. Thomas and Susanna were married on 12 June 1782, had their first child on 8 Jun 1783 in Westminster. It is possible that Thomas was then born before 6 Aug 1784 but seems unlikely that Lucrecia's birth would be listed but not Thomas.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Windsor, Vermont, United States. 1790 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   p. 36 (Bethel), line 18, Thomas Putnam; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M637, roll M637_12.

   1790 United States Federal Census
   Name: Thomas Putnam
   Township: Bethel
   County: Windsor
   State: Vermont
   
   Number of Free White Males Under 16: 3 (Luther, David, ? - who is the extra person?)
   Number of Free White Males 16 and Over: 1 (Thomas)
   Number of Free White Females: 2 (Lucretia, Susannah)
   
   Number of Household Members: 6

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Windsor, Vermont, United States. 1800 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   Bethel, p. 484, line 7, Thomas Putnam; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M32, roll 52.

   1800 United States Federal Census
   Name: Thomas Putnam
   Township: Bethel
   County: Windsor
   State: Vermont
   
   Free White Males Under 10: 2 (Asa, Lovell)
   Free White Males 10 to 15: 2 (Luther, David)
   Free White Males 45 and Over : 1 (Thomas)
   Free White Females 10 to 15 : 1 (Lucretia? - she would have been 17)
   Free White Females 45 and Over : 1 (Susanna)
   
   Number of Household Members Under 16 : 5
   Number of Household Members Over 25 : 2
   Number of Household Members: 7

3. ↑ United States. 1810 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M252)
   Bethel, p. 487, line 10, Thomas Putnam; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M252, roll 65.

   1810 United States Federal Census
   Name: Thomas Putnam
   Township: Bethel
   County: Windsor
   State: Vermont
   
   Free White Males 10 to 15: 1 (Lovell)
   Free White Males 16 to 25: 2 (David, Asa)
   Free White Males 45 and Over: 1 (Thomas)
   Free White Females 26 to 44: 1 (Lucretia)
   Free White Females 45 and Over: 1 (Susanna)
   Number of Household Members Under 16: 1
   Number of Household Members Over 25: 3
   Number of Household Members: 6

4. ↑ Cambridge (Vermont). Town Clerk. Town and vital records, 1785-Oct. 1999; indexes, 1772-1999. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1951-1999)
   A / 173.

   Cambridge vs. Thomas Putnam
   To either constable of Cambridge in the county of Franklin Vermont.
   You are hereby required to Summons Thomas Putnam now residing in Cambridge to depart said town with all his family - thereof fail not but of this precept and your doings herein due return make according to law. Given under our hands at Cambridge this sixth day of March 1813
   James B. Gilmore
   Samuel Montague Jr.
   Selectmen
   
   Franklin Cambridge March 15th 1813 Served the within precept by putting into the hand of the within named Thos. Putnam a true and attested copy of the same and of this my return thereon endorsed. Salmon Green Constable
   The foregoing is a true record of the original precept and of return thereon endorsed at full length. Recorded March 16 1813
   J U Young Town Clerk

5.   Massachusetts, United States. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620–1988: [database on-line]. (Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011)
   Sutton; Births, Marriages and Deaths register: Thomas Putnam b. July 1 1754.
6. ↑ ^6.0 6.1 Massachusetts, United States. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620–1988: [database on-line]. (Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011)
   Rutland; Births, Marriages and Death: Thomas Putnam, Intention of Marriage to Susanna Stone, 20 Dec 1781.
7. ↑ Vermont, United States. Vermont, United States. Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005: Database with images. (FamilySearch, 19 April 2021)
   Bethel, Windsor, Vermont, United States, Births, marriages, deaths 1769-1857 16.

   Lucrecia Putnam daughter of Thomas and Susanna Putnam was born in Westminster June the 8th 1783

8. ↑ Bethel (Vermont). Town Clerk. Town records, 1782-1886. (Montpelier, Vermont: Vermont Public Records Division, 1973)
   Town records 1790-1886 vol 1-3, Vol. 1 pg 7.

   List of Free Men in the Town of Bethel, 1784, Thomas Putnam