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 .