USA > Vermont > Genealogical and family history of the state of Vermont; a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol I > Part 72
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tional Bank, of Burlington and president of the Society of the College Street Congregational church.
Mr. Roberts was married October 20, 1886 to Miss Minnie Elizabeth Lyman, a daughter of Edward and Minerva ( Briggs) Lyman, of Bur- lington. The Lyman family has been a leading one in Windsor county, Vermont, for a century past. The father of Mrs. Roberts, born in Wood- stock, this state, became a prominent merchant and banker of Burlington.
JOHN L. F. BURDICK, M. D.
John L. F. Burdick, who was a prominent physician of Winooski, Vermont, was descended from an ancient New England family, which originated in England and first appears in the form of Burdette, of which the present family name is a corruption. The great-great-grand- father of John L. F. Burdick, was a captain of an English vessel, and after passing most of his life on the ocean settled in Rhode Island. Thence, during the eighteenth century, Elijah and Lybius Burdick, half-brothers, emigrated to the vicinity of Hoosick Falls, New York. The latter after- ward settled in Warren county, New York, while Elijah became one of the first settlers in West- ford, Vermont, as stated in the history of that town. In that town, on the 30th of January, 1790, was born Nathaniel, father of John L. F. Burdick and the third of the six children of Elijah Burdick and his wife, Rhoda. Rhoda Burdick died in Westford in the early part of the last century. Elijah died on the 29th of De- cember, 1815. Nathaniel Burdick married Mary Benjamin, of New York state, immediately after which event he went to Ira, Rutland county, re- maining there until about 1841. He then passed about three years in Westford, and removed to De Kalb, St. Lawrence county, New York, where he spent the remainder of his days, until March II, 1863. He was a farmer of more than usual intelligence and performed the duties that fell to his lot with a cheerful readiness that commanded the esteem of his fellow-townsmen and acquaint- ances. He was a member of the old Democratic party until the time of Fremont, for whom he voted, and after whose defeat he always advo- cated the principles of the Republican party.
Although not an office-secker, he was jus- tice of the peace for some time while residing in Ira, and after his removal to New York, was honored by an clection to the legislature of that state, a more difficult position to attain than a corresponding office in Vermont. His wife sur- vived him until January 10, 1872, when she died in Rossie, New York, at the home of her daugh- ter, Julia R. Wetmore. They had seven chil- dren, named as follows in the order of their birth : Thomas Benjamin, Charles W., Julia R., Mary 1., John L. F., Emily A. and Horace W., all of whom are deceased. Three of the brothers, Thomas B., Charles W. and John L. F., practiced medicine.
John Lafayette Burdick was born in the town of Ira, Rutland county, Vermont, on the 16th of December, 1824, where were born also all of his brothers and sisters. He attended the com- mon schools of his native town until about his seventeenth year, after which he pursued his studies for two years in a select school in West- ford, one term in Potsdam, New York, and four years in Gouverneur Academy, New York, receiv- ing a thorough mathematical training at the lat- ter institution under the tuition of Dr. J. W. Armstrong, of Gouverneur. He was then en- abled to enter Union College one year in ad- vance. He remained in this institution one year and a half, being forced to withdraw during his junior year by a severe attack of typhoid fever. In the fall of 1849 he took a tour through the Atlantic and Southern states for the recovery of his health, an object which he accomplished in about a year. When he was again able to en- gage in some active occupation, he was pur- suaded to open a select school in Westford, Ver- mont, which he taught very successfully for two terms, having a regular attendance of no fewer than eighty pupils. The two school years imme- diately following the summer of 1850 were passed as principal of the graded school at Winooski, but the fall terms of 1851 and 1852 were occupied in attendance upon lectures at the Castleton Medical College. By dint of thorough and persistent study, he was graduated from that college in the fall of 1852. He at once opened an office in Winooski and prosecuted a successful and growing practice up to the time of his death.
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Dr. Burdick's first political affiliation was with the Democratic party of ante-bellum times. Hiş sympathies and better judgment were alien- ated, however, during the agitation of the Free- soil arguments, from which time he was a straightforward member of the Republican party. As a consequence of his high social and profes- sional station he was repeatedly urged to enter the field as a candidate for political office, but persistently and firmly declined, believing that he could better perform his mission by confining his activities to his practice, and to a solution of the questions it involved. He was an enthusiastic student and practitioner of medicine. His fellow physicians appreciated this fact, and manifested their appreciation by several gratifying elections to high positions. For example, he was elected to the presidency of the old Chittenden County Med- ical Society a number of times, and was twice president of the Burlington Medical and Surgical Club. He was one of the attending physicians of the Mary Fletcher Hospital every year from its inception till his death. He was gratified by these evidences of confidence in him, because it was his delight to deserve the esteem of his fel- lows in the medical profession.
Although not members of any church, Dr. and Mrs. Burdick had a strong preference for the Baptist denomination, in accordance with family tradition. As there was no Baptist church, however, in Winooski, they regularly attended and contributed to the support of the Congrega- tional church.
November 16, 1851, Dr. Burdick married Miss Anna L., daughter of Eli Warren Burdick, of Westford, she received an academical education at Bakersfield, Vermont. They had one child, a daughter, Lucy Florence, born September 17, 1874, who pursued her studies at home until en- tering the University of Vermont, from which she graduated in the class of 1895. She after- ward taught two years in public schools, since which time she has given her attention to the study of music. Miss Burdick also assists stu- dents of the university to pass examinations in mathematics, in which science she is considered most remarkably proficient. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and is very popular in college circles.
On December II, 1897, Dr. Burdick died, un-
feignedly regretted by all who had ever been brought within the sphere of his influence. His death left a void in the community in which so many years of his long and useful life had been passed, and a few members of which had not had cause to bless him for the skill and kindliness with which for nearly a half century he had led the life of an enlightened, benevolent physician, and an honorable and high-minded man. Among the characteristics which caused Dr. Burdick to be universally beloved was the pleasure which it afforded him to aid the young in obtaining an education, his predilections in this regard having been fostered by his experience as a teacher. Mrs. Dr. Burdick died at the age of sixty-five.
Mrs. Burdick's sister, Mrs. L. E. Ballard, who for a number of years followed the profession of teaching and was prominently known in edu- cational circles, was a granddaughter of Elijah Burdick, mentioned in the sketch of Dr. John L. F. Burdick as one of the pioneer settlers of West- ford, Vermont. Eli Warren Burdick, son of Eli- jah, spent his life as a farmer in Westford, where he died at the age of seventy-eight. His wife, Julia C. Burdick, was born in Rhode Island, and was, with her husband, a member of the Baptist church, in which Mr. Burdick took an especially active part, being for many years the leader of the choir. Their family consisted of four children, two of whom are living : Mrs. L. E. Ballard, men- tioned at length hereinafter; and Mrs. Julia F. Dykc.
Mrs. Ballard was educated in the New Hamp- ton Institute in Fairfax, Vermont. and later was for some time a teacher in the common schools of Winooski, where for fifteen years she was a leading educator, having charge of a department. and filling the position of an influential worker in the cause of education. She became the wife of Alfred Cowles Ballard, July 2, 1868. who for a number of years was one of the leading lawyers of Winooski, Vermont.
Alfred Cowles Ballard. a native of Goshen, Connecticut, passed his boyhood in Tinmouth, Vermont, and was a graduate of the University of Vermont. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company B, Ninth Regiment, Vermont Volun- teers, in which he was commissioned second lieu- tenant, and later promoted first lieutenant, and with his regiment participated in the most impor-
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tant campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. At the end of his period of service he was honora- bly discharged, and returned to Winooski, where he engaged in the practice of his profession. Mr. Ballard was deeply interested in politics, in which he took the active part for which his gifts as a public speaker peculiarly fitted him. In the forci- ble and eloquent addresses which he was solicited to deliver in all parts of the state, his influence was always exerted on the side of high principle and enlightened progress. Mr. Ballard was an earn- est temperance worker, and did all in his power to advance the cause of education, acting for six years as superintendent of schools in Winooski, Vermont. He was active in Masonic circles, and occupied a high place in the regard of all who knew him, whether socially or professionally. Mr. and Mrs. Ballard were members of the .Con- gregational church, to which Mrs. Ballard still belongs. Both took an active part in church work, Mr. Ballard being superintendent of the Sunday- school in which his wife was a teacher, she be- ing also organist of the church for nearly twenty years. Mrs. Ballard is interested in education, particularly in the work of the young ladies of the University of Vermont. The pleasant elo- cution evenings given by the latter annually originated through her, and she gave the first prize of fifty dollars in gold, which has been kept up by others ever since.
Mr. Ballard died on the 28th of November, 1874, at the comparatively early age of forty years. It was felt that by his death not only his family and immediate friends, but the whole com- munity had sustained a serious loss. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Ballard has resided with the family of Dr. Burdick.
WARREN EDWARD PUTNAM, M. D.
Dr. Warren E. Putnam, of Bennington, Ver- mont, known throughout the state for his excel- lent professional attainments and for his literary accomplishments, is descended from one of the earliest and most worthy New England families, which, in its various generations, for nearly seven centuries has contributed of its members those who have been signally useful in every honorable walk of life.
The family comes of old English stock, the
original name having been De Puttenham. The earliest mention of the family, so far as known, is found in the "Domesday Book," compiled by or- der of William the Conqueror, and is seen among the three thousand names there enumerated. Puttenham, Herts county, England, was the first known scat of the family and is mentioned in the great survey ordered by King William. The village, as is seen, bore the family name and does so to this day. The "De" was dropped from the name in the thirteenth century, and "Puttenham" was changed into the anglicized form of Putnam in the fifteenth century. The former estate and home of the family in the parish of Puttenham and Aston Abbotts is now owned and occupied by the Earl of Roseberry.
The coat of arms which has been borne by the Putnams from early times, prior to the visita- tions, was first granted to Sir George Puttenham, of Sherfield, and to Nicholas Putnam, of Penne, and is described in the Visitations of Bucks, by Harvey, in 1566 and 1634 and in the Visitations of Hampshire in the latter year. These arms are also described by Burke in his "General Armory." They consist of a sable between eight crosses crosslit-fitchee, argent a stork of the last beaked and legged gules. Crest, a wolf's head gules.
Dr. Putnam's genealogical descent, so far as known, is as follows: Simon De Puttenham, liv- ing in 1199 ; Ralph De Puttenham, of Puttenham, born in 1217; Richard, born in 1263; John, 1291 ; Thomas Puttenham, reign of Edward I; Roger, high sheriff for Herts in 1322; Henry, 1300- 1350; Sir Roger, 1320-1380; William Puttenham, of Puttenham and Penne, 1370-1452; Sir George, 1408-1473; Nicholas Putnam, of Penne, born in 1460; Henry, living in 1527; Richard, 1523- 1556: Nicholas, of Wingrave, died in 1598; his . son John was the first member of the family to come to America. The names of the wives of the English ancestors are not given for lack of space, but several of them were of noble blood. The genealogical line here given is all from rec- ord and is believed to be absolutely correct. John Putnam, of Aston Abbotts, county of Bucks, Eng- land, mentioned above, was born about 1580, and came to America in the year 1634. His wife, Priscilla Gould, to whom he was married in Eng- land, was admitted to the church in Salem, Mas- sachusetts, in 1641, and he became connected with
-
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it six years later, and was made a freeman the same year. In 1644 the town of Salem voted that "a patrol of two men be appointed each Lord's Day to walk forth during worship and take notice of such as did not attend worship, and who were idle, etc," and to present such cases to the magis- trates. All those appointed were men of stand- ing in the community, and for the ninth day those designated were John Putnam and John Haw- thorne. John Putnam was a farmer and exceeding- ly well off for that day, and he must have been a man of considerable education, for he wrote a fair hand, as is shown by deeds on record. He died suddenly, in Salem village, Massachusetts, December 30, 1662, aged about eighty years, and the following account of that event was written in 1733 by his grandson, Edward Putnam: "He ate his supper, went to prayer with his family, and died before he went to sleep."
Lieutenant Thomas Putnam, eldest son of John and Priscilla Putnam, was baptized at Aston Abbotts, county of Bucks, England, March 7, 1614, and died at Salem village, Masachusetts, May 5, 1686. It is of record that he participated in the famous "Narragansett fight," being lieu- tenant of a troop of horse. He was married at Lynn, Massachusetts, August 17, 1643, to Ann, daughter of Edward and Prudence (Stockton) Holyoke, who came from one of the most promi- nent and aristocratic families in the colony, and were founders of the present city of Holyoke, Massachusetts. She occupied in the church the "principal pew" reserved for women, the leading church distinction in that day. Her death oc- curred September 1, 1666. Lieutenant Thomas and Ann (Holyoke) Putnam were the grandpar- ents of Major General Israel Putnam, and great- grandparents of Major General Rufus Putnam. Ann Holyoke was also the great-aunt of Edward Holyoke, president of Harvard University from 1737 to 1769. After the death of his first wife Lieutenant Putnam married, September 14, 1666, Mary Veren, widow of Nathaniel Veren, a wealthy merchant of Salem. She died in March, 1694. On November II, 1672, Lieutenant Put- nam was made chairman of the committee to carry on the affairs of the parish. He was the wealthiest citizen of Salem.
Sergeant Thomas, son of Lieutenant Thomas and Ann (Holyoke) Putnam was born in
Salem, Masachusetts, January 12, 1652; on Feb- ruary. 2 of the same year he was baptized in the First church, and he died in Salem May 24, 1699. September 25, 1678, he was married to Ann, youngest daughter of George and Elizabeth Carr, of Salisbury, where she was born June 15, 1661 ; her death occurred at Salem June 8, 1699. Thomas Putnam received a liberal education and wrote a fine, clear hand. Many of the records of the witchcraft trials, in which he took a promi- nent part, were written by him. He was the largest taxpayer in Salem, and a man of great influence in the Massachusetts colony.
Seth Putnam, son of Sergeant Thomas, was born in Salem, in May, 1695, and died in Charles- town, New Hampshire, November 30, 1775. September 16, 1718, he was married to Ruth, daughter of John Whipple ; she was born in 1692 and died in Charlestown February 1, 1785. Seth Putnam aided in forming the first church in Charlestown and was one of the first ten mem- bers. August 14, 1753, the first town meeting was held in that place, and he was chosen a tith- ing man. He was highly respected in the com- munity, and his tombstone bears the inscription, "The memory of the just is blest."
Thomas Putnam, the sixth son of Seth and Ruth Putnam, was born in Billerica, October 22, 1728, and died in Charlestown, New Hampshire, August 20, 1814. He was married in Lunen- burg, Massachusetts, January 24, 1754, to Rachel, daughter of Captain Ephraim and Joanna (Bel- lows) Wetherbee, of Charlestown, Massachu- setts ; she was born April 3, 1733, and died June 12, 1812. Thomas Putnam took part in the French and Indian wars as soon as he was able to bear arms, for in 1750 we find him the fourth name on the rolls of Captain Steven's company. He was prominent in both civil and religious af- fairs. He was one of the first members of the church in Charlestown and was afterwards a deacon. In Acworth he was the first justice of the peace; he was moderator of the town meet- ings there in 1775 and 1779. and selectman from 1772 to 1778, with the exception of 1774 and 1777, his service being during the most important years of the Revolutionary war period.
Seth Putnam, son of the last mentioned par- ents, was born in Lunenburg, Masachusetts, Sep- tember 16, 1756, and died in Putnam, Upper
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Canada ( now Ontario), September 3, 1827. He was married on February 14, 1790, to Sarah Harding, who was born in Nova Scotia May 14, 1763, and who died in 1827. When Seth P'ut- nam was nineteen years old he was a private in Captain Samuel Wetherbee's company in Colonel Isaac Wyman's regiment, which marched to re- inforce the northern army in June, 1776. He afterward became an officer in the Revolutionary army. He was also a member of the famous "Boston Tea Party." He became a pioneer in Canada, where he purchased a large tract of land, and was a successful farmer up to the time of his death. He built the great macadam high- way for the government, one hundred and sixty miles in length, from Hamilton, Upper Canada, to Chatham, Upper Canada.
Thomas Putnam, the son of Seth and Sarah (Harding) Putnam, was born in Delaware, Up- per Canada, October 28, 1804, and died March 26, 1880. In his youth, in his father's house, he witnessed the historic interview between Gen- eral Proctor and Tecumseh, the night previous to the battle of the Thames, in which the great In- dian chief was killed. General Proctor made the house of Seth Putnam his headquarters at that time. In 1825, the year he attained his majority, Mr. Putnam located in Dorchester, Upper Can- ada, where lie laid the foundation of an extensive mercantile and manufacturing business, and be- came so prominent a citizen that in 1839 the name of the town was changed to that of Putnam in his honor. Mr. Putnam first married Nancy Dy- gert. daughter of Sylvanus Dygert, a prominent citizen of his county ; by her he had a son and a daughter, Marshall S. B. Putnam and Harriet A. Putnam. He next married Nancy Harris, daughter of the Rev. John Harris, of Boston, one of the best known clergymen of his day, who never had but one pastorate- and held that for forty years. She was also the grandniece of General Nicholas Herkimer, who commanded the American forces at the battle of Oriskany, one of the pivotal battles of the Revolution, where, having received a fatal wound, he still continued to command his troops while calmly smoking his pipe, saving his one thousand men from utter annihilation at the hands of overwhelming num- bers under command of Sir John Johnson, Jos- eph Brant, the famous Indian chief, and the 110-
torious Butlers. Congress erected an imposing monument to his memory a few years ago. It is placed over his grave two miles cast of Little Falls, New York, and may be seen on the south side of the New York Central Railroad, near a large red brick house, his home. Nancy Harris was also near kin to the Van Rensselaers, as was his first wife, and also, by marriage, grandniece of General Philip Schuyler. Thomas Putnam had six sons and one daughter ; Dr. Putnam, the sub- ject of this sketch, was the youngest son of the second wife. During the troublous times in- cident to the Canadian rebellion of 1837-38 Mr. Putnam sympathized with the supporters of re- sponsible government, and thus became an object of suspicion to the Tory party then in power, so much so, in fact, that he was obliged to remain in concealment many weeks to save himself from imprisonment and probably a worse fate. He had previously, in anticipation of trouble, con- structed a secret chamber in his house which could be entered only through a concealed sliding panel. He remained in this room six weeks, dur- ing which time British soldiers scarched the house more than once. This chamber was still to be seen in the old mansion a few years ago, and may be there still. He greatly aided the rebel cause with both money and influence. Mr. Putnam was appointed a magistrate by the gov- ernor and held the office for forty-two years ; this is a life appointment in Canada. He refused all other public offices which were frequently tend- ered him. Mr. Putnam, always known in his county as the "Squire," met with business re- verses late in life which left him only a very mod- erate competence after honorably satisfying the honest demands of every creditor in full, although not compelled to do so by law at the time, his losses having been due to the dishonesty of a partner whom he trusted. Thomas Putnam's eldest brother, General William Putnam, whom the historian Thellier, in his "History of the Canadian Rebellion," speaks of as "the brave and chivalrous, although too daring Putnam," com- manded the rebel troops at the battle of Windsor, where he fell at the head of his men, shot through the brain. His career for the last two years of his life, to quote the words of a prominent writer, was one of "the most romantic" in the annals of the country. He served as an aide de camp to
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General Sir Isaac Brock at Lundy's Lane, and was with that gallant soldier when he fell mor- tally wounded at Queenstown Heights, holding his head upon his knee until Brock breathed his last. He was afterwards commissioned captain of the London Guards, which position he held ten years previous to the Canadian rebellion of 1837-38.
It is from this long line of distinguished an- cestors that Dr. Putnam has come, and he was born to the last named parents in Putnam, Can- ada, May 6, 1857. He acquired his preliminary education in the village schools, and afterward graduated from the Brantford Collegiate Insti- tute in Canada. He studied medicine in the Cleveland (Ohio) Homeopathic Medical Col- lege, from which he was graduated with honors, and he subsequently took post-graduate courses, attending lectures and clinics in St. Thomas Hos- pital, London, England, hospitals in Paris, France, and later in Chicago. After his return from abroad he practiced his profession for twelve years at Hoosick, New York. In 1893 he moved to Bennington, Vermont, where he has built up a large and lucrative practice. His high profes- sional standing is attested by his connection with leading medical societies, among which are the Vermont state Homeopathic Medical Society, the Vermont State Sanitary Association, the Peeks- kill (New York) Medical Society, the Medical Society of Northern New York; the Cleveland Homeopathic Alumni Association and the Ameri- can Institute of Homeopathy. In 1896 Governor Grout appointed him to the position of surgeon general of the state of Vermont, with the rank of brigadier general. a splendid testimonial to his professional ability and personal worth; he did not serve, however, as he was not a member of the National Guard. He is loyally devoted to the interests of his town, and an active participant in all movements having for their end the advance- ment of the community. He is an influential member of the executive committee of the Ben- nington board of trade. His political affilia- tions are with the Republican party, but he has had little ambition to hold office; he has been village trustee and in March, 1902, was elected by a large majority to the office of president of Bennington. He is also president of the Ben- nington board of health. Through his distin-
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