Gideon Putnam
Encyclopedia
Gideon Putnam was an entrepreneur and a founder of Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...

. He also worked as a miller
Miller
A miller usually refers to a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a cereal crop to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents in other languages around the world...

 and built the city's Grand Union
Grand Union Hotel (Saratoga Springs, New York)
The Grand Union Hotel was located on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, New York. The hotel began as a boarding house, built by Gideon Putnam in 1802, but grew into the world's largest hotel, before it was demolished in 1953....

 and Congress Hotels. The Gideon Putnam Hotel in the Saratoga Spa State Park
Saratoga Spa State Park
Saratoga Spa State Park is a state park located in Saratoga County, New York in the USA. The park is in the City of Saratoga Springs, near US 9 and NY 50.-History:...

 is named after Putnam.

Putnam was a nephew of revolutionary war generals Rufus Putnam
Rufus Putnam
Rufus Putnam was a colonial military officer during the French and Indian War, and a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War...

 and Israel Putnam
Israel Putnam
Israel Putnam was an American army general and Freemason who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War...

.

Early life

Putnam was born to Mary (née Gibbs) and Stephen Putnam in 1763 in Sutton, Massachusetts
Sutton, Massachusetts
-Library:The Sutton Free Library was established in 1876. In fiscal year 2008, the town of Sutton spent 0.7% of its budget on its public library—some $18 per person.-Education:...

. He was one of twelve children. In 1787, when Putnam was 19 years old, Putnam married 16-year-old Doanda Risley of Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

. They went on to have five sons and four daughters. Their son Lewis was the "first white child born in Saratoga". The couple traveled to Middlebury, Vermont, where Putnam attempted to make a living as a miller. The settlement is now within the grounds of Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...

. Since the nearest gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...

 was 40 miles (64.4 km) away with thick woods in between, he devised a method to grind grain on his own, "[cutting] out the top of [a] stump, and with a wooden pestle fitted to the excavation [grinding] their grain". Finding these circumstances undesirable, the Putnams moved to Rutland, Vermont, where their first son Benjamin was born.

In 1788 the Putnams traveled to Bemis Heights, New York, with Doanda's sister and brother-in-law, Anne (née Risley) and Dr. Clement Blakesley, respectively. Putnam found the land and wood in Bemis Heights to be especially agreeable, so he resolved to stay, constructing a loghouse for shelter. However, in spring of that year, torrential rains swept into the area, and the families were marooned by floods. A neighbor, Zophar Scidmore, came to their rescue in a sailboat. After staying in Scidmore's home for several days, the families departed, following an Indian trail to Saratoga Springs.

Saratoga Springs

In spring 1789, the Putnams settled in western Saratoga Springs, where 25-year-old Putnam constructed a log cabin adjacent to a freshwater spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...

. In reflection of his new life, Putnam said, "This is a healthy place; the mineral springs are valuable, and the timber is good and in great abundance, and I can build me a great house".

Sawmill

In 1791, Putnam rented 300 acres of land from Dirck Lefferts and opened a sawmill on Fish Creek, which flows from Saratoga Lake to the Hudson River. With the help of wheelwright
Wheelwright
A wheelwright is a person who builds or repairs wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the archaic word "wright", which comes from the Old English word "wryhta", meaning a worker or maker...

 William Patching, Putnam's sawmill produced staves and shingles
Shake (shingle)
A shake is a basic wooden shingle that is made from split logs. Shakes have traditionally been used for roofing and siding applications around the world. Higher grade shakes are typically used for roofing purposes, while the lower grades are used for siding purposes...

. The first shipment of lumber was sold in New York City; shortly thereafter his business became successful.

Hotel

In 1802, Putnam purchased an acre of land from Henry Walton beside Congress Spring and hired carpenters to build the first hotel of Saratoga Springs. Completed and opened in 1803, the three-story guesthouse was named "Putnam's Tavern and Boarding House", though designated "Putnam's Folly" by locals for its "pretentiousness" and his "optimism and ambition". The guesthouse was rather conspicuous, for the entire area was blanketed in wilderness. At the time, the village comprised "a few log cabins, and the visitors were all invalids". New settlers in the area had the opportunity to buy plots of Putnam's property, and they instantly sold out. A couple years later, Putnam expanded the hotel, including a parlor, dining room, and ballroom. The guesthouse's name was later changed to "Union Hall". It was owned by Putnam's progeny until 1864, when it was sold to the Leland Brothers, who renamed it "Grand Union" in 1969.

Planning the village

In 1805, Putnam purchased more land from Walton—130 acres adjacent to the acre he had originally purchased near Congress Spring—and began to allocate the area. On the west side of the land, he arranged a village, which was to have broad roads, with the springs in the center. The springs were to be public—"forever remain open and free to the people". The southwest area was "set aside ... for a cemetery, which he later gave to the village, and he also provided land for a church of whichever denomination was established first". The Baptists were the first to build a church there. Putnam also had a plot for a school, and planted poplar
Poplar
Populus is a genus of 25–35 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar , aspen, and cottonwood....

s alongside Broad street.

Springs

Putnam uncovered and tubed several mineral spring
Mineral spring
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce water containing minerals, or other dissolved substances, that alter its taste or give it a purported therapeutic value...

s: in 1806, Washington Spring, in 1805, Columbian Spring, Hamilton Spring (named after Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...

, son-in-law of Philip Schuyler
Philip Schuyler
Philip John Schuyler was a general in the American Revolution and a United States Senator from New York. He is usually known as Philip Schuyler, while his son is usually known as Philip J. Schuyler.-Early life:...

, who was an earlier settler of Saratoga), and lastly, in 1809, Congress Spring. Gradually, more newcomers began visiting the village, so "to accommodate whom he built a bath house
Public bathing
Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...

 near the present Congres[s] Spring". Inhabitants of nearby Ballston
Ballston, New York
Ballston is a town in Saratoga County, New York, USA. The population was 8,729 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from an early settler, Eliphalet Ball.The Town of Ballston is in the south part of the County and is north of Schenectady....

 came to eat dinner with Putnam and drink from Congress Spring. In 1811, seeing the success of the hotel, Putnam decided to build another one, which later became Congress Hall.

Death

While overseeing the construction of the future Congress Hall, Putnam fell off the scaffolding
Scaffolding
Scaffolding is a temporary structure used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures. It is usually a modular system of metal pipes or tubes, although it can be from other materials...

 and broke some ribs. On December 1, 1812, at the age of 49, he died of a lung disease complication and pneumonia. He was the first to be buried in Putnam's Cemetery
Gideon Putnam Burying Ground
The Gideon Putnam Burying Ground is located on South Franklin Street in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It contains over 150 graves of early and mid-19th century residents of the city, all from the period between 1812 and 1871. It was restored in the 1980s after suffering from almost a...

, which he had himself laid out.

Legacy

Putnam is the namesake of the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Spa State Park.

Considering Putnam's accomplishments and contributions, in Our County and its People: a Descriptive and Biographical Record of Saratoga County, New York, George Baker Anderson concluded that "Gideon Putnam, though not the pioneer, was in reality the founder of the village of Saratoga Springs." He said, "To Gideon Putnam belongs the credit for starting the boom which made Saratoga Springs a formidable rival of the famous Ballston Spa
Ballston Spa, New York
Ballston Spa is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,556 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Saratoga County. The village is named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregationalist clergyman and an early settler. The village lies on the border of two...

, a movement which eventually gave to the former place the prestige and glory which originally accompanied the name of the latter. It was his capital which laid the foundations of the famed Grand Union hotel, and gave that village a name which it has ever since borne—the prince of watering places in America, and the peer of any in the world."

Richard L. Allen, Putnam's grand son-in-law, opined in An Analysis of the Principal Mineral Fountains at Saratoga Springs, "It was to Putnam that we are indebted, more than to any other individual for improvements at the Springs, during this period of its history. His enterprise and energy cleared away the forest trees from the adjacent plains, converted the rich pineries into materials and means for the further development of the town, erected public buildings for the accommodation of visitors, opened highways about the town, improved and laid out streets in the village; excavated, tubed and secured the mineral springs.... He was emphatically the man of his day in this locality, and he made such an impression on the place of his choice, that his name must be co-existent with the history of the village which his energy did so much to develop. He possessed a will which no ordinary obstacle could long withstand, and by his exertions the din and hum of civilization soon took the place of the deep and solemn murmur of the primitive pine forest."

Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester declared in History of Saratoga County, New York, with Illustrations Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, "Gideon Putnam was in every sense a remarkable man. Possessed of indomitable perseverance, stern resolution, and invincible energy, he early encountered the trials and privations incident to a pioneer life, and carved out from the primitive forest one of the most beautiful villages in the country, and which has proved one of the most popular places of summer resort. Its broad streets, free fountains, and abundant religious and educational advantages bear testimony alike to his comprehensive ingenuity, his liberality, and his respect for truth. He not only gave the burial-ground to the village, but also the ground for the village academy, and to the Baptist church the ground on which it stands. He made such an impression on the place of his choice that his name must ever stand first among those whose early self-denials and energetic lives have conferred so much upon the village."

External links

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