Gideon Putnam (1763 - 1812)

Born 17 Apr 1763 in Sutton, Worcester, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1 Dec 1812 at age 49 in Saratoga Springs, Saratoga, New York, United States

Biography

Gideon Putnam is Notable.

Gideon Putnam was an American entrepreneur and the modern "founder" and developer of Saratoga Springs, New York. ^{[1] [2]} He built Saratoga's Grand Union and Congress Hotels. ^[1] There is also a Gideon Putnam Hotel, in Saratoga State Park, that is named for him. ^[1]

Gideon was born in Sutton, Massachusetts 17 April 1763 to Stephen and Mary (Gibbs) Putnam. ^{[3] [1]} He died at Saratoga Spring, New York on 1 Decemberf 1812 of an inflammation of the lungs ^[3] and is buried in the Gideon Putnam Burial Ground (Putnam Cemetery). ^[4] He married Doanda Risley of Hartford Connecticut ^[3] in 1787. ^[1] Together they were the parents of several children: ^[3]

• Betsey, b. 30 June 1786; m. 6 Oct. 1805, Isaac Taylor.
• Benjamin Risley, b. 23 July 1788; d. 10 Oct. 1846.
• Lewis, b. 17 Aug. 1790; d. 5 July 1873.
• Rockwell, b. 3 Nov. 1792.
• Aurelia, b. 14 Mar. 1791; m. Joel C. Clement.
• Nancy, m. 29 Sept. 1814; Ferdinand Andrews.
• Washington, b. 29 Sept. 1798; of Saratoga.
• Phila (1), b. 25 July 1801; d. 22 Aug. 1805.
• Lorin , b. 20 Sept. 1803; d. 11 Sept. 1841.
• Phila (2), b. 23 Jan. 1806; d. 15 Mar. 1808.
• Phila (3) b. 12 May 1808; m. 22 Sept. 1824, Abel A. Kellogg, lawyer.

Founding of Saratoga Springs

Soon after Gideon and Doanda were married they went to Middlebury, Vermont where they built a log cabin. ^[3] This settlement was about 40 miles, through dense woods, from the nearest gristmill and he devised his own method do grind his own grain by creating a very large mortar and pestle out of a cut tree trunk. ^[1] Not finding this place satisfactory, they next moved to Rutland, Vermont. ^{[3] [1]} After that they went to "Five Nations" or "Bemis Flats," in New York, where they were joined by Doanda's sister, Anne, and her husband, Dr. Clement Blakesley. ^{[3] [1]} After suffering losses in a severe spring thaw, or freshet, torrential rains and requiring rescue due to flooding, they decided to follow the Indian trail and settled in Saratoga Springs in 1789. ^{[3] [1] [5] [6] [7]} At this time the area was only settled by a handful of families, but the recuperative properties of the springs were gaining notoriety and visitor traffic was increasing. ^[3]

About 1800 Gideon leased three hundred acres and built another cabin for his growing family. ^[3] He worked as a miller and found the lumbering business profitable when his product was sold in New York City. ^[1] Within two years he had paid for his farm in full. ^[3] In 1802 he purchased more land and built a hotel, named "Putnam's Tavern and Boarding House," now called the Grand Union. ^{[3] [1]} The original hotel was nothing more than a three-story guesthouse. ^[1] At the time the only visitors were invalids. He was able to sell plots of his land to new settlers. ^[1] A few years later, he expanded the hotel by installing a parlor, dining room, and ballroom, now calling it Union Hall. ^[1] In 1805, he laid out a village, burial place, and church site upon 150 acres that he had purchased. ^[3] The following year he excavated and tubed some of the springs and erected a bath house. ^[3] In 1811 he began building Congress Hall which proved to be his undoing. During the construction, he fell and broke several ribs. The following November he developed an inflamation in his lungs and died. ^[3] He was buried in the town cemetery which he had gifted to the town. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13} Wikipedia contributors, "Gideon Putnam," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gideon_Putnam&oldid=1034540360 : accessed October 9, 2022).
2. ↑ Putnam, Eben. The Putnam Lineage: Historical-Genealogical Notes Concerning the Puttenham Family in England, Together With Lines of Royal Descent, and Showing the Ancestors of John Putnam of Salem and His Descendants Through Five Generations, Together With Some Account of Other Families of the Name and of the Putmans of the Mohawk Valley, Salem, Massachusetts: The Salem Press Company, 1907; digital images, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov : accessed 9 October 2022); citing pg. 160, 329
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15} Putnam, Eben. A History of the Putnam Family in England and America, Recording the ancestry and descendants of John Putnam of Danvers, Mass., Jan Poutman of Albany, N. Y., Thomas Putnam of Hartford, Conn., Salem, Massachusetts : Salem Press Publishing and Printing Co., 1891-1908; digital images, HathiTrust Digital Library (https://catalog.hathitrust.org : accessed 9 October 2022); citing Vol. I, pg. 160, 280-282.
4. ↑ Kuenzel, Charlie. "This Week in Saratoga County History: The Death of Gideon Putnam;" pdf dated 3 December 2020, Wordpress (https://wordpress.com) and blogpost dated 10 December 2020 (Saratoga Today).
5. ↑ 1790 Census. "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKP-G8Y : accessed 13 August 2021), Gideon Putman, Saratoga, Albany, New York, United States; citing p. 331, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 6; FHL microfilm 568,146.
6. ↑ 1800 Census. "United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH5B-GFZ : accessed 13 August 2021), Gideon Putnam, Saratoga, Saratoga, New York, United States; citing p. 1109, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 27; FHL microfilm 193,715.
7. ↑ 1810 Census. "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2X-NJB : accessed 13 August 2021), Gideon Putman, Saratoga, Saratoga, New York, United States; citing p. 856, NARA microfilm publication M252 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 35; FHL microfilm 181,389.

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q5559649, en:Wikipedia
• Anderson, George Baker. Our County and its People: a Descriptive and Biographical Record of Saratoga County, Boston : The Boston History Company, 1899.
• Allen, Richard L. An Analysis of the Principal Mineral Fountains at Saratoga Springs, New York, New York : Ross & Tousey, 1858.
• Sylvester, Nathaniel Bartlett. History of Saratoga County, New York, with Illustrations Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Philadelphia : Everts & Ensign, 1878.
• Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/80671547/gideon-putnam: accessed 07 October 2022), Find A Grave: Memorial #80671547 memorial page for Gideon Putnam (10 Apr 1763–1 Dec 1812), F, citing Putnam Cemetery, Saratoga Springs, Saratoga County, New York, USA; Maintained by Dave Peck (contributor 46966140).
• Wikipedia: Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga Springs, NY (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Union_Hotel_(Saratoga_Springs,_New_York))
• Gideon Putnam Hotel History, Gideon Putnam Hotel, Saratoga Springs, NY (https://www.gideonputnam.com/explore/gideon-putnam-history)
• Putnam's Plats, Mapping Saratoga Springs, Skidmore Saratoga Memory Project (https://ssmp.skidmore.edu/exhibits/show/mappingsaratoga/mapmakers/putnam)