R ' U U S P U T N A M ,

'OU NDER AND 'AT HER O' OHI O .

A D D R E

' H AR GEORGE . O ,

OCCASION O' PLACING A TAB LET T O THE

'U S PU TNAM RU ,

U PON H I S DW ELL ING - H OU SE I N

1 898 . 1 7 SEPT EM BER, A. D .

W u r n fi t e r , ima m .

'OU NDER AND 'AT H ER O' O HI O .

A N A D D R E S S

a L 1 - E ' II AR G EORG . O ,

ON T H E OCCASION O' PL ACIN G A TAB L ET T O T H E M EM OR' O'

'U PUTNAM RU S .

I D - U PON H S W EL L IN G H O U SE IN RU T L AN D ,

1 7 SEPT EM BER, A . D . 1 89 8 .

o flv r c e fi t e r , gu m s .

P R E S S O ' C H A R L E S H A M I L T O N .

3 1 1 M A I N S T R E E T .

1 8 9 8 .

T he G e e P m H o u se R w h the f m c o n n ral utna , in utland , it ar

b o 1 5 0 e s i s no w h e b G e o e '. H o taining a ut acr , ld y rg ar

h S o B o W Po e o f W o e s e T s E B . li'a t ddard and urt n tt r rc t r , ru

e e s w h o e x e to o v e t o the T s e e s o f P b t , p ct turn it r ru t u lic

Re se r v ati o n s a s so o n a s th e su m o f has b e e n rais e d by

T h s i s o n t o b o se s ubs cripti o n . i in additi a ut rai d al r e ady . T abl e t place d upo n the ho u se in Rutland o ccupie d by G ENERAL

RU 'U S PU T NAM b the M s s use s So ie o f the So s o f the , y a ach tt c ty n

Re v o lu io Se e mb e 1 7 1 89 8 . t n , pt r th ,

G ENERAL RU 'U S P U T NAM S OLDIER O F THE O LD 'RENC H WAR EN G INEER OF THE WOR 'S WHICH COM P ELLED THE BRITISH ARM' T o E VAC U ATE BOSTON AND O F THE 'O RT I'IC AT IO NS O F WEST POINT 'O U NDER AND 'ATHER OF O HIO .

IN T H 'S HO U S E H E PLANNED AND MAT U RED THE S CHEME O F THE O HIO C O M PAN' AND FROM IT ISS U ED THE C ALL FO R THE C O N V ENTION WHICH LED TO ITS O RG ANI'ATIO N . O V ER THIS T HRESHOLD H E WENT T o LEAD THE C OM PAN ' W HICH SETTLED M ARIETTA

AP 7 ” 8 8 . RIL ,

T O H IM U NDER G O D l T Is OWIN G THAT THE G REAT NORTHWEST T ERRITOR' WAS DEDICATED FORE V ER T o ' O EDU C AT IO N R G O REED M , AND ELI I N AND THAT THE U NITED S TATES O 'AMERICA i s N OT No w A S V O G E G REAT LA EH LDIN M P IRE .

U nde rne ath the T able t the se w o rd s a r e in scribe d Place d by the ” M s s u se s So ie So ns o f the Re v o lu io w i f a c - simile o f a ach tt c ty , t n , th a the i r se al . ADD RE S S .

T H I S Society does well t o mark with visible and enduring tablets the spots where great deeds have been

performed o r great men have been born o r dwelt .

Whatever Massachusetts has done , whatever she is

t o t doing , whatever she is accomplish hereaf er , is largely owing t O the fact that she has kept unbroken the electric fl current owing from soul to soul forever and forever , as it was generated now nearly three hundred years ago m at Ply outh . Her generations have taken hold of hand s . Of The men Plymouth Rock and of Salem , the men

o f t h e who cleared the forest , the heroes Indian and the wh o Old French wars , the men imprisoned Andros , the men who fought the Revolution , the men who humbled the power o f France at Louisburg and the power Of S w o n o u r pain at Martinique and Havana , the men who

o u r independence and builded Constitution , the sailors O f 1 81 2 the great sea fights Of the war Of , the soldiers w ho U saved the nion , and the men who went with

o n o r Hobson the Merrimac , fought with Dewey at

o r o r n a t Manila , under Sampson before the tre ches

o ne Santiago , have been Of temper from the beginning — o ld h O e the Massachusetts spirit , which we p may endure and abide until time shall be no more . We guard with an affectionate reverence even the tombs and burial - places where the dust o f o u r ancestors 6

has been laid . As the great orator of New England said nearly eighty years ago

We naturally look with strong emotions to the spot , though it be a wilderness , where the ashes Of those we have loved repose . Where the heart has laid down what

m s u o f . it loved ost , there it is de iro s laying itself down N O sculptured marble , no enduring monument , no honor

- able inscription , no ever burning taper that would drive

away the darkness Of the tomb , can soften our sense of the reality o f death and hallow to 0 m feelings the 1 s ground which to cover us , like the consciousness that l u t he Of o u r we sha l sleep , dust to d st , with Objects ff a ection .

But , after all , we cherish with greater and more intense reverence the places where those whom we love n d and ho or have welt in life , the scenes on which their living eyes gazed and t O which the living forms were n w familiar, especially the sce es here the great heroes

o r and statesmen Of the past have dwelt , the great b e ne fi c e nt actions which have determined the currents o f our history have been performed . It is s u ch a man and such a deed that we are here to

celebrate today . Many facts illustrating the character Of Rufus Putnam and the service he performed for his country have been brought to light for the first t ime by the researches of recent investigation and the publica o f tion records hitherto little known or explored , especially the archives in the Department Of State a nd a n the diaries d correspondence of some o f his associates . e n Rufus Putnam was one of those men , rare in all g

e r a ti o ns r w ho , perhaps more ra e now than formerly ,

seem to be almost absolutely without care for self. He

seems t o have been indifferent to fame . He had little u se fo r the first personal pronoun in his speech or his

u . w ritings . He was content to accomplish seful results n o t . He was intent upon the goal , upon the prize If he

fo r could accomplish useful results , he cared nothing the

pride o r glory o f the achievement . Among the chief elements of his greatness is his great O unconsciousness . S much the more is it the duty o f posterity t O guard his fame and pay him his due meed

Of credit and honor . To the genius Of Rufus P u tnam was due the favorable result at three great turning points in American history . It was his skill as an engineer that compelled the ev a cuation of Boston . It was his skill as an engineer T hi that fortified West Point . O m was due th e set tle ment Of the Ohio Territory and the adoption Of the 1 7 87 Ordinance of , which dedicated the Northwest

t o a nd forever freedom , education and religion , , in the U end , saved the nited States from becoming a great slaveholding empire . The limit of the time at my command compels me to relate these great transactions rapidly . It must be but a I sketch , a glance . But will take time enough to

o u t m ake my case . If the British could have held Boston until suffi cient reinforcements could have come over from England , it

u o f M wo ld have paralyzed the arm assachusetts , the State which no t only furnished more soldiers to the w a r t than all the Southern Sta es put together , but, what is no t u so well known , put pon the sea more sailors than the entire number o f the whole Continental army put —a together naval power which , before the French alli

o f m a ance , raised the rate arine insurance in Engl nd 28 . O f to per cent , and caused the merchants Great

Britain to compel George III . and Lord North to make peace . The investment of Boston by the patriotic forces and 8 the expulsion of the British was one Of the most suc c e s sfu l audacities o f military history . The British were entrenched on a peninsula only accessible by a single narrow ne c k Of land . They w ere an army of trained fl veterans strong , supported by a powerful eet whose seamen brought up the force to having in the harbor at their command 1 20 transports well

u provisioned , well equipped with ample supplies of amm niti o n and cannon . They were in the best of spirits . T he Offi cers and men alike beguiled their time w ith

stage plays , masquerades and other diversions , in com l fo r t ab e . quarters , without a thought Of danger Lord Howe informed the ministry that there was not the O f slightest fear Of an attack . They had , course , full

o f command the harbor , into which vessels were con

st a ntly bringing provisions in abundance .

On the other hand , Washington had under his com

Of u mand a band undisciplined h sbandmen , scarcely

in number , with a few cannon which had been

' captured from the enemy , and a few that had been

dragged overland from Lake George . He had at best , B l as Mr . ancroft states , only powder enough to supp y

f i s n his e w cannon fo r six Or eight days . H m e had no t been paid since the first Of the preceding Decem

he r . The greater part Of his men were enlisted for

but two months . The resources o f England seemed almost ine xh au sti O f ble , and she had also engaged reinforcements more

than German mercenaries . England could wait . v E ery day increased her stre ngth and courage . Every

day diminished the hopes o f the patriots . Washington must fight at this great disadvantage or f the cause o the country seemed hopeless . He had

determined , at whatever risk , to march his men across 9

a es s a fo r the ice gainst B ton , unles some pl n command

t he t he s a n a t e ing town from neighboring height , t mpt h h a d s o s n n H w ich ig ally failed at Bu ker ill , should

o be f und feasible . We shal l see in a moment what Rufu s Putnam c o n

b fo r w t he tri uted to this accomplishment , but hich strength o f Massachusetts must have been subtracted

m ' u fro the cause Of independence . o know well what would have become O f the cause Of independ ence with o u t it .

West Point , after Rufus Putnam fortified it , was to the war Of the Revolution what Vi cksburg was to the w ar o f the Rebellion . It prevented the separation Of

New England from the rest Of the country , as Vicks i t burg , while commanded the Mississippi , prevented the separation Of the States in rebellion in the East a nd

Th ff r 'Vest . e di erence was that o u Vicksburg was never captured . I shall speak a little later O f the historical results o f

h Of 1 7 I t e settlement Ohio and the Ordinance Of 78 . will first give a brief sketch o f the life o f Rufu s Put nam down to the time when he came t o this house in Rutland and the time when he left it t o found an em

o f pire in the Northwest , carrying with him the fate

America .

u s o n Ruf s Putnam was born in Sutton , in thi county , the 9 t h o f April (O . 1 738 . He cam e Of a race o f

Worcester and Essex County yeomen , distinguished in

a so fo r every gener tion , far as we know their history ,

public spirit , simplicity , integrity and common sense . o f a He was cousin , with a single remove , Gener l “ w h o Israel Putnam , the man dared to lead where any ” I t o . man dared follow He was , think , the grand

e w s u o f e a n phe Of Jo eph P tnam , father Isra l , nother 1 0

hero of the Old Putnam breed , who defied another hor

s h e - w O f rible olf, the witchcraft delusion , at the height its power in the very den where it was born .

h o f Elisha Putnam , fat er Rufus , died when the son ’ was seven years Old . General Putnam s account of his family says his father was a much respected citizen , town clerk , a deacon in the church , and representative

. 1 0 from Sutton in the General Court He died June ,

1 745 .

- His mother married again . The step father seems to have cared little for the child . He was illiterate himself

r . bo and despised lea ning The little y , as he tells us in t O o a pathetic diary written late in life , had no chance g to school , and little Opportunity for learning at home . NO books were furnished him , and he had little time to use books , if he had them .

- u Captain Sadler , the step father, kept a tavern . R fus got a fe w pennies by waiting upon guests and blacking

their boots , with which he bought powder , and with the

o f a n Old s help gun killed ome partridges , which he

sold and with t h e proceeds bought a spelling - book and

. d an arithmetic From these he learned what he coul , f and got as far as the rule o three in arithmetic . But the miserly step - father would not allow him the light of a tallow candle in the long winter evenings and ridi

u l e d c his aspirations fo r learning .

1 75 4 t o In March , , Putnam was apprenticed Daniel f B kfi l O r o o e d . Mathews , He was then nearly sixteen

years Old . Mathews was a millwright . Putnam never attended school but three days after he was nine years

Old .

His employer , more generous than had been the step

o f fo r father , gave him the use candles the long winter

. m r evenings He studied arith etic , geog aphy and his 1 1

tory . He extended his knowledge Of m athematics and

fo r s engineering , which he had a natural aptnes . His physical frame grew a s rapid ly as his mind . When he was eighteen years Old he h a d the full vigor and stature m a n of a six feet high . He was renowned for his great strength and activity in all athletic exercises . It was to those winter evening s in North B r o o kfi e ld and the st u dies by the light o f the tallow candle that his country owed the ablest engineer Offi cer of the

Revolution , and the wise , farsighted intellect that decided the fate o f America . I have , in my time , known many men famous in war,

s in tatesmanship , in science , in the professions and in business . If I were asked t o declare the secret of their I no t success , should attribute it , in general , to any e t O sup riority Of natural genius , but the use they made , ’ Of in youth , after the ordinary day s work was over , the

w h o r hours hic other men throw away , devote to idle ness o r rest . Putnam enlisted in th e Old French war at the age o f ni neteen . His adventures in that war sound like one ’ o f Cooper s romances . He saved enough O f his bounty t o and pay buy a small farm . He married in April , 1 7(51 l b , E iza eth , daughter of William Ayers Of Brook fi e ld 0 1 . 1 765 , who died shortly afterward January , ,

O f he married again Persis Rice Westboro , who was the mother o f his children .

' fi He w a s ma d e Lieutenant - Colonel Of a Worcester R County regiment at the outbreak Of the evolution , and joined the camp at Cambridge just after the battle Of 1 0 April . His genius as an engineer was soon dis

. at closed He was , as Washington expressly and repe e d l f y certified , the ablest engineer O ficer Of the war , o r whether American Frenchman . 1 2

He was soon called by a Council o f general and field officers t o direct the constr u ction o f a large part o f the works o n which the position of the army be si e g ing Boston depended . He told Washington he had never read a word on that branch of science . But the chieftain would take no denial . He performed his task

s o f w a s to the entire atisfaction his commander , and soon ordered to s u perintend the defences o f Providence and Ne w port .

One evening in the winter O f 1 775 - 76 Putnam was a invited to dine t headquarters . Washington detained him after the company ha d departed to consult him

o n G about an attack Boston . The eneral preferred an

m o n c o m intrench ent Dorchester Heights , which would pel Howe to attack him and risk another Bunker Hill ff engagement with a di erent result , to marching his own troops over the ice to storm the town . But t he ground was frozen t o a great depth and resisted the pickaxe like solid rock . t O Putnam was ordered consider the matter , and if he ’ could find any way t o execute Washington s plan to

report at once . He himself best tells the story Of the — — accident w e may almost say the miracle by which the

deliverance Of Massachusetts from the foreign invader , n a veteran British army , eleven thousand stro g , was ’ wro u ght by the instrumentality Of the millwright s

apprentice . “ I left the headquarters in company with another ’

m o n . I gentle an , and our way came to General Heath s had no thoughts o f cal ling until I came against hi s I ’ door , and then said , Let us call on General Heath ,

t o which he agreed . I had no other motive but to pay s I my re pects to the General . While there cast my 0 11 o n 0 11 eye a book which lay the table , lettered the ' ’ ’ I back , Muller s Field Engineer . immediately 1 3

e qu sted the General to lend it t o me . He deni e d me .

I . a repeated my request He gain refused , and told me he never lent his books . I told him that he must o ne s r recollect that he was , who , at Roxbury , in a mea u e me compelled to undertake a business , which , at the I I time , confessed had never read a word about , and m that he must let e have the book . After some more excuses o n his part and close pressing on mine I ” Obtained the loan Of it . In looking at the table o f contents his eye was caught ”

w . by the ord chandelier , a new word to him He read carefully the description and saw its importance at a glance . The chandeliers were made of stout timbers , ten feet long , into which were framed posts five feet

a high and five feet apart , pl ced on the ground in par allel lines and the open spaces filled in with b u ndles of fascines , strongly picketed together , thus forming a Of o f movable parapet wood instead earth , as theretofore done . im Putnam soon had his plan ready . The men w ere mediately set to work in the adjacent apple orchard and woodlands , cutting and bundling up the fascines and carrying them with the chandeliers on to the ground

fo r h selected the work . T ey were put in their place in a single night . When the sun went d own o n Boston 0 11 the 4th Of W March ashington was at Cambridge , and Dorchester Heights as nature o r the husbandma n had l e ft them in the a utumn . When Sir William Howe rubbed his eyes

0 11 Of 5 th the morning the , he saw through the heavy

a th e mists the intrenchments , on which , he s id , rebels had done more work in a night than his whole army would have done in a month . He wrote to Lord Dart m o uth that it must have been the employment Of at le a st n ff . o w men His e ective force , including seamen , 1 4 was but about Washington had but fit for duty . ' o f f n Some our o ficers , said the A nual Register Edmund Burke was the writer— “ acknowledged that the w expedition with which these orks were thrown up , h wit their sudden and unexpected appearance , recalled to their minds t he wonderfu l stories o f enchantment and invisible agency which are so frequent i n the Eastern ” romances .

Howe was a man Of spirit . He took the prompt resolution to attempt to dislodge the Americans the next night , before the works were made impregnable . Earl w ho Of ' Percy , had learned something the ankee quality at Bunker Hill and Lexington , was to command the assault . But the power that dispersed the Armada b a ffi e d all the plans of the British general . There came ” a dreadful storm at night , which made it impossible to cross the bay until the American works were perfected . We take no leaf from the p u re chaplet Of Washing ton ’ s fame when we say that the success Of the first great military operation Of the Revolution was due to Rufus

P u tnam . The Americans under Israel Putnam marched

n fl . i to Boston , drums beating and colors ying The b veteran British army , aided y a strong naval force , soldier and sailor, Englishman and Tory , sick and well ,

o t o u t bag and baggage , g of Boston before the strategy of Washington , the engineering of Putnam , and the

o f courage the despised and untried yeomen , from whose leaders they withheld the usual titles o f military respect . ” “ “ o f It resembled , said Burke , more the emigration a ” nation than the breaking up o f a camp . The history Of the founding Of Ohio and Of the Ordi 1787 t o fl nance Of has been brought light lately , chie y from researches in the Department of State , the pub

li c at i o n Of the diaries Of Manasseh Cutler , the cor

1 6

v t o h well known . He has gi en much time it since e left the army . He specially urges the adoption o f the N e w England township sys tem . He asks the General to recommend to him some member Of Congress with whom he c a n

t o directly correspond , as he does not like even - hint these things to the delegates from Massachusetts , though worthy men , as Massachusetts is forming plans t o sell her own eastern lands . Washington answers that he has exerted every power with Congress that he ’ O f m is master , and has dwelt upon Putna s argument for speedy decision , but that Congress has adjourned without action . In 1 785 Congress appointed General Putnam one o f

o f the surveyors the northwestern lands . Putnam f a ' accepted the o fice . He says in his letter of cceptance “ A wish t O promote immigration from among my friends into that country , and not the wages stipulated , n is my pri cipal motive . e Putnam , however , had made some ngagements which made it impossible fo r him t o go in person to Ohio

m . and ake the survey His friend , General Tupper , n u dertook the duty . Tupper could not get below

Pittsburg in the season o f 1 785 . He came back to Massachusetts with such knowledge Of the country

a nd as he could get from inquiry , reported to Putnam 9 th Of a at Rutland in this house on the Janu ry , 1 786 .

T he two veterans sat up together all night . At day break they had completed a call for the convention to f form a company . It was address e d to all O ficers and

Of w a r soldiers the late , and all other good citizens residing i n Massachuset ts who might wish to become purchasers Of lands in the Ohio country . The invitation 1 7 was to extend afterward t o inhabitants of other Sta te s ” o as might be agreed n. This convention was composed o f delegates from t he

u o f various counties in Massachusetts , met at the B nch

1 1 786 e Grapes in Boston , March , , and chos a committee , o f a fo r which Putnam was ch irman , to draft a plan the

o th organization . This organization c nstituted e Ohio

o f m . Company , which Putnam , General Sa uel H Parsons

Re . and v . Manasseh Cutler were chosen directors Early in 1 787 the directors appointed Putnam superintendent o f ffa Of 1786—87 all their a irs , and in the winter the

a organization was completed and the ssociates selected . n It remained only t o get the grant Of the la ds . There a 1 had been various schemes in Congress from M rch ,

178 fo r 4 . , the organization Of the Northwest territory Jefferson reported o ne o n the fi rs t day of March in that year , which contained a provision excluding slavery after

1 8 00 . The subsequent history proves beyond a question that a toleratio n o f slavery unt il that time would have ended in making the whole territory slaveholding . But even that limited and ineffective prohibition was 1 6 1 785 . R stricken out by the Congress March , , ufus 'ing o f Massachusetts offered a resolve that there

11 t o should be 0 slavery in this territory . It was sent a committee of which he was - chairman and amended by

O f 1800 postponing the prohibition slavery till , and with a clause providing for the surrender of fugitive slaves .

That was never a cted upon and died in committee .

In 1 786 a new committee was raised to pre pose a. plan fo r d the government Of the territory . They ma e a report which contained no prohibition Of slavery whatever . That report also rem a ined wit hout a ction until the end

Of the Congress . 'Vhen Putn a m had go t his pl a n fo r the company re a dy 1 8

and secured his associates , he sent General Parsons to Congre ss to secure the grant o f the lands and the pas

Of fo r Of sage an ordinance the government the territory . But Parsons returned having accomplished absolutely nothing .

Putnam was no t discouraged . He met Manasseh

u 25 1 787 C tler , the other director , in Boston , June , , and it was agreed that Cutler should renew the attempt i n which Jefferson and Rufus 'ing and Parsons and Washington and several committees of the Continental

Congress had so conspicuously failed . “ Manasseh C u tler records in his diary ' I conversed w ith General Putnam and settled the principles on which I am to contract with Congress for lands on account Of ” the Ohio Company . ' Cutler reached New ork , where Congress was in

o n 6th Of session , the July , and was introduced into their f chamber . He explained his scheme to the members o

Co ng1 e s s . In three days a new committee w a s a p pointed , the ordinance , which had expired with the last s A o f ession , brought forward and committed . copy the ordinance was sent to Cutler , that he might make remarks and prepare amendments . l 0th The next day , the , the ordinance was newly t O 1 h 1 t . modelled . It was reported Congress on the But it did not include the clause prohibiting slavery b e t cause , as Nathan Dane , who repor ed it , said , he had no idea the States would agree to it . But Dane moved it a s an amendment . It was inserted and passed unani m l Of ' o u s . y , save the single vote Abram ates During the two o r three days that this ordinance was pending the committee proposed to reject some of Cut ’ ler s a mendments ; he does no t specify which . There upon he paid his respects to all the members o f Congres s 1 0

in the city , informed them Of his intention to depart that

hi s day , and if his terms were not acceded to , to turn ” O f n attention to some other part the cou try . “ They urged him , as he says , to tarry till the next

c o m day , and they would put by all other business to ple t e the contract . He records fu rther in his diary that Congress came to the terms stated in o u r letter ” without the least variation . W hy was it that Congress came in three days t o terms which the influence o f Washington and o f J e ffe r son had failed to accomplish for more than four year s ' o f P u tnam and Cutler were masters the situation . The o w n Ohio Company might well dictate its terms , even in

- dealing with the far sighted statesmen Of 1 787 . The purchase and settlement Of this large body Of the p u blic lands removed from their minds several subjects f of deepest anxiety . It a forded a provision for the u veterans o f the war . It exting ished a considerable portion Of the public de bt . It largely increased the value of the rest O f the public domain . It placed the shield of a settlement Of veteran soldiers between the

o f ' frontiers New ork , Pennsylvania and Virginia and the most dangerous and powerful Indian tribes o n the continent . It secu red t o American occupation a territory 0 11

a which England , Fr nce and Spain were still gazing with eager and longing eyes ; in which England in V iolation o f l o n treaty Obligation , stil held to her military posts , hoping that the feeble band Of o u r union would break in pieces . It removed a fear , never absent from the minds o f the public men Of that day , that the Western settlers would form a ne w confederacy a nd seek an alliance with

e the power that held the outl t Of the Mississippi . The strength o f this last apprehension is shown in 20

the confidential correspondence of Washingt on . He — twice refers to it in his farewell address , once when he warns the West against “ an apostate and unnatural ” a connection with any foreign power ; and ag in , when he

t o t o urges them , henceforth be deaf those advisers , if w h o such there are , would sever them from their breth ren and connect them with aliens . Cutler returned to Massachusetts s u ccessful and in n triumph . He was o t himself one of th e first settlers

in b u t . Ohio , his sons represented him Putnam led his company down the Ohio River to Marietta o n board a galley appropriately named the

M a o w e r a nd yfl , giving new honor fragrance to the

- name . He landed with his little company of forty eight

7 1 788 . men April , There is no question that but for this clause in the

Ordinance that territory , if it had remained a part of the

d e r . country , woul have be n slave territo y It would have been settled from Virginia and 'entucky . As it fi r f t o e . o was , it was saved freedom as by . The people Indiana repeatedly petitioned Congress to be relieved from the clause prohibit ing the introduction o f slavery .

o f - A majority of the people Illinois was pro slavery , a nd the recognition o f slavery in the first constitution o f that State was only prevented by the dexterity and sagacity of Governor Coles . 1 8 02 When Ohio was admitted in , the convention that framed her Constitution contained a large number o f

s . the friend of slavery Rufus Putnam , himself a mem

o f th e o f ber the convention , called up late at night son

s o f Manasseh Cutler , al o a member the convention , from

o f t he a sick bed , told him danger , and the two patriots repaired t o the chamber just in time to save the estab

li shm e nt o f s . lavery , which was lost by a single vote 21

l o f Now , in the ight this history , if Rufus Putnam be t o o f o f 1 787 not entitled the credit the Ordinance , and of having saved this country from becoming a great W t t o slaveholding empire , then ellington is not enti led

o r t o o f the credit of Waterloo , Washington the credit

' w o f . orkto n , or Grant to the credit Appomattox P u tnam is the first person kno w n t o have in his pos session five years before this enactment the plan for the o f organization the Ohio Company , in which the total exclusion o f slavery from the State was to form a n essential and irrevocable part of the Constitution . Then

r for the next fou or five years he is found , and found h o f alone , pressing t at scheme upon the consideration u Co n Washington , and thro gh him upon a reluctant gress . f o f He accepts the o fice surveyor , only that he may

. r e promote this scheme Not able to go himself, he c e iv e s from General Tupper in this house the informa h tion gained by him at Pittsburg . In t is house is

m t he for ed plan of the Ohio Company , and from it he issued the call for its first convention . He is made chairman o f the committee to draw up a perfected b scheme . He is made y that company the general dirce ff tor of its a airs . 21 1 787 At its meeting in Boston , November , , he is “ chosen superintendent , to be obeyed and respected n ” . t o accordi gly He sends Cutler Congress , first hav ing agreed with him in Boston upon the principles upon h I s w ich the company will make the p u rchase . there any doubt that among those principles was the ine x o r a

th e o f w a s ble conditionof exclusion slavery , which in his hands and upon which he had determined from the beginning '

l l e leads the company to Marietta . On the first anni 22

v e r sa r o f 1 789 y of the settlement Marietta , in , the company voted that the 7th of April be forever observed “ as a public festival , being , as they say , the day when General Putnam commenced the settlement in this ” country . All the contemporary histories of Ohio assign him this

n a . credit . Lossi g c lls him the father of Ohio Burnet “ says , He was regarded as their principal chief and ” leader . Harris dedicates the documents collected in his f appendix to Rufus Putnam , the ounder and father of ” the State . And at last , that the great drama might end as it began , his vote saved the State from the imposition of 1 02 slavery by its constitutional convention in 8 . His vote— his single vote and his summons to the son of his — old friend , Manasseh Cutler secured the majority of o ne which saved the State from the imposition o f slavery 1 02 in 8 . M n Suppose those five States , Ohio , ichigan , Illi ois , w Indiana , Wisconsin , hich were formed from the Ohio territory , had been settled from Virginia , each of them another Missouri or another 'entucky ' What think you would have been our condition today ' A few

o u r States , perhaps , on eastern and northern border U without slavery , but subjected forever , if the nion had h e x e r i l asted , to the slaveholding rule of whic we had p n ence , even as it was , for the ge eration before the b reaking out of the rebellion . If there be , in the annals o f n this republic , save Washington and Lincoln alo e , a s benefactor whose deeds urpass those of Rufus Putnam ,

I have re a d American history in vain . Washington said of Rufus Putnam that he was the n best engi eer in the army , whether French or Ameri

A o f can . t the end the war he directed Putnam to

24 qu ity ; we help to perpetuate the fame of Solon and I u h Lycurgus , but do bt whet er one single law of any ff lawgiver , ancient or modern , has produced e ects of more distinct , marked and lasting character than the

Ordinance of 1 787 . “ It fixed forever the character of the population in the vast regions northwest of the Ohio by excluding from them involuntary servitude . It impressed on the i soil tself, while it was yet a wilderness , an incapacity to sustain any other than free men . It laid the interdict against personal servitude in original compact not only l deeper than all loca law , but deeper , also , than all local ” constitutions . “ Mr . Webster added ' We see the consequences of the ordinance at this moment , and we shall never cease fl o w to see them , perhaps , while the Ohio shall

' Judge Walker , the eminent Jurist of Ohio , declares U pon the surpassing excellence of this ordinance no language of panegyric would be extravagant . The Romans would have imagined s ome divine Egeria for

u its a thor . It approaches as nearly to absolute perfection as anything to be found in the legislation of mankind ; fo r , after the experience of fifty years , it would perhaps

o n . be imp ssible to alter without marri g it In short , it is o ne o f those matchless specimens of sagacious fore cast which even the reckless Spirit o f innovation would a not venture to assail . The emigr nt knew beforehand , that this was a land of the highest political as well as natural promise ; and under the auspices of another

Moses , he journeyed with confidence toward his new

Canaan . Judge Story says ' “ The ordinance is remarkable for its masterly display of the fundamental principles of t ” civil and religious liber y . 25

o f th e Chief Justice Chase , in his sketch history of ” a ' the St tutes of Ohio , said Never , probably , in the o f d o f history the worl , did a measure legislation so accurately fulfil and yet so mightily exceed the anticipa tions of the legislators . The ordinance has well been described as having been a pillar o f cloud by d ay and o f fire by night , in the settlement and government of ” the northwestern States . During the years he lived in Rutland -h e gave himself n o f without s ti t to the service the town . No work was too humble for him if it were a duty or a service . He

a had the noble public spirit of his day . For five ye rs e he till d this farm , and seems to have done everything his neighbors asked of him .

He was representative to the General Court , select

o u t man , constable , tax collector , on a committee to lay

o f - school lands , committee to make repairs school house , w Pe no b State surveyor , commissioner to treat ith the scot Indians , volunteer in putting down the Shays rebel

the . lion , on committee to settle with Jabez Fairbanks He was one of the founders and first trustees of the

Leicester Academy , and , with his family of eight chil £100 dren , gave from his slender means towards its endowment .

o f The rest of his life is , in large part , the history “ Marietta for more than thirty years . The impression ” “ of his character , says the historian , is strongly o f marked in the history Marietta , in their buildings , institutions and manners . o ld Now this seems to me to be a good , honest ,

d . fashione American story . It is a Massachusetts story W It is a orcester County story , although we by no means pretend t o a monopoly o f such things in Massa c hu se tt s or in Worcester County . We have got over 26

wondering at them . The boy went to school but three o ld days after he was nine years . That has happened before to many a boy who became a great man , from

U lysses to Abraham Lincoln . A Worcester County farm in th o se days was a pretty good school . It was a pretty good school , both for the intellect and the heart . The boy learned the secrets of the forest and the field , the names and habits of bird o f and beast . He could take care himself anywhere . m He beca e an expert woodsman and sharpshooter . He heard high topics discussed in the church— I beg

— - your pardon in the meeting house . The talk by the ’ blacksmith s forge and the tavern fire , and the rude

- o f drafting board the millwright , when the great politi

n o f cal co test with England was pending , was the true boundary between liberty and authority in the ’ n th e s gover ment of State , and between men free will and God ’ s foreknowledge and omnipotence in the government of the universe .

T he u o f moral q ality our great English race too , came out in that simple life o f plain living and high thinking . Every day brought to those frugal house

- o f ff s a c r ifi c e . holds its lesson a ection , of self

L o v e had he f o und in huts w he r e p o o r m e n li e H i s d il e e s d b e e w o o ds d ills a y t ach r ha n an r , T he sil e e i s i t he s sk nc that n tarry y, l i s m o the lo e l ill T he s e e p that a ng n y h s .

The old French war , with its adventures and escapes through the forests , was better for him than a West

Point education . But above all were the love of coun o f t h e o f try , the sense duty , instinct honor , glowing as bright in the bosom o f the country boy as in that of a

Bayard or a Sidney . And so , when his country needed him and his God called him , he was ready . 27

I . My friends , do not know what you think about it o f I But for myself, as a son Massachusetts , would rather possess among her historic monuments this simple

o f I o f dwelling this Rutland farmer , when think what the it stands for , all it has contained , all memories that cluster around it , than to have the palace of the Tui

l e r i e s . As Edward Everett said of Mount Vernon ' “ The ’ o r porter s lodge , the dog kennel of the palace , erected by the gratitude of England to the victor of Blenheim , n ” could o t have been built for its entire cost . ’ o f Her Majesty s master of hounds , or the keeper the ’ o f I queen s mews , or the purveyor the royal kitchen ,

- dare say , would disdain it as a dwelling place . Cer t ainl y there were columns , there were carvings in the fa mous French palace built from the plunder of foreign capitals and the spoils o f groaning peasants and subject o f o f peoples , as a symbol the glory France and the

u military geni s of her monarchs , which cost more than the whole of this simple structure . But at least an angry people will never tear it down as the symbol of their own degradation and Oppression . Three days at school after yo u were nine years old ; ’ bootblack and blacksmith s a ssistant at Sutton ; mill ’ wright s apprentice o f B r o o kfi e ld ; town constable of Rutland ; friend of Washington ; deliverer under Wash ingt o n o f Massachusetts from the foreign inv a der ; builder o f our stronghold a nd citadel at West Point ; engineer o f the great constitutional fortress o f Ameri

can liberty ; faithful over a few things , ruler over many — w e t o w things , come today your d elling as to a

shrine .

It is not to be forgotten . It must not be forgotten ,

unless Mount Vernon is to be forgotten . There is 28

nothing left but a few stones of the cellar wall of Put ’ a nam s birthplace , as there is nothing left but few bricks of the birthplace of Washington . But this house is still to be seen as Mount Vernon is still to be seen . It can be preserved at a slight cost for

u . ff many cent ries to come This reverent , a ectionate task is well worthy the piety and patriotism of our generation .