Family Reunion: Putnam

an overview of my work on this surname

Aletha Frederick Putnam was the daughter of Charles Walter Putnam (1859–1922) and Daisy Deane Frederick (1871–1964), born on 16 Nov 1899 in New Albany, Floyd County, Indiana. Her family moved to Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, between 1904 (when her younger brother was born in New Albany) and 1910. Aletha attended Council Bluffs High School in 1916.^[1][2][3]

Aletha married Howard William Martin (1897–1970) on 3 Jul 1919 in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. They resided with Aletha's family in 1920.

We looked at Howard’s line in Family Reunion: Martin, so today we’re looking up Aletha’s tree.

Her father, Charles Walter Putnam, was the son of George C Putnam (1835–1873) and Elizabeth Ann Force (1836–1918), born in Oct 1859 and raised in Rochester, Monroe County, New York. After the close of the Civil War, the Putnam family lived in Brownstown, Wayne County, Michigan. After the death of George Putnam in 1873, Elizabeth took Charles and his sister, Carrie, back to Rochester. In 1880, Charles moved from Rochester to New Albany, Floyd County, Indiana, where he lived with his maternal grandparents.

George C Putnam was the son of John Putnam (1802–1854) and his wife, Elmira, born about 1835 in Greece, Monroe County, New York. George appears to have served as an officer in the New York National Guard from 1858 to 1860, and he served in the 13th New York Infantry during the Civil War, rising to the rank of captain.

George had at least one brother named John and two sisters - but there are a lot of folks named “Putnam” out there to investigate. If any of these folks are interesting to you, I’d love to hear from you!

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