James Osborne Putnam (July 4, 1818 – April 24, 1903) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

Putnam was born July 4, 1818, in

Attica, New York Attica is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Wyoming County, New York, Wyoming County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 7,702 as of 2010. The Town of Attica is on the northern boundary of the county ...

. He was the son of Congressman

Harvey Putnam Harvey Putnam (January 5, 1793 – September 20, 1855) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and served in the New York Senate. Early life Putnam was born in Brattleboro, Windham Cou ...

(1793–1855) and Myra Osborne (1795–1863). He was the great-grandson of Col.

Benjamin Simonds Benjamin Simonds (12 February 1725/6-11 April 1807) was a militia commander of Massachusetts during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. He was colonel of the all-Berkshire regiment of about five hundred men known as the � ...

on his maternal side. He was educated at Middlebury Academy in

Wyoming, New York Wyoming is a village in Wyoming County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village has a total population of 434. The Village of Wyoming lies within the Town of Middlebury by the eastern town line. Wyoming is located on New Yor ...

, and attended

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

through his Sophomore year. In 1837 entered the Junior class at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

where he graduated in 1839. Putnam then studied law under the direction of his father, and was admitted to the

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in 1841. He commenced practice in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. Putnam was appointed Secretary and Treasurer of the

Attica & Buffalo Railroad Company Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Sea, ...

in 1844 and of the Buffalo & Rochester Railroad Company in 1846. He also served as their attorney until they merged into the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

in 1853. President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

appointed Putnam as

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Buffalo. In 1854–1855, Putnam was elected member of the 77th and 78th

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

to represent the 31st District. He was a Conservative Whig, but opposed slavery in the United States territories and was the author of the Church Property Bill of 1855. At the 1857 New York state election, he ran on the American party ticket for

Secretary of State of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York who leads the New York State Department of State, Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York ...

, but was defeated by Democrat Gideon J. Tucker. He was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...

in 1860, voting for

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and

Hannibal Hamlin Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 15th vice president of the United States from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. He was the first Republican ...

. In 1861, Putnam was appointed United States Consul at Havre, France by President

and held the position for the duration of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In 1865, Yale University gave Putnam a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree. In 1880, President

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...

appointed Putnam as U.S. Minister to Belgium and held this position until 1882. He was Chancellor of the

University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

from 1895 to 1902. Putnam was a member of the Buffalo Historical Society, University Club, and Saturn Club of Buffalo. On January 5, 1842, he married Harriet Foster Palmer (died 1853), and they had four children. On March 15, 1855, he married Kate Frances Wright (1835–1895), and they had three sons. He died April 24, 1903, in

, and was buried at the Forest Lawn Cemetery.

References

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pg. 137 and 144; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
''The New York Civil List''
(pg. 546; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1865)
''DEATH LIST OF A DAY; James O. Putnam''
in NYT on April 25, 1903

at Family Tree Maker

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Putnam, James O 1818 births 1903 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Belgium New York (state) state senators Politicians from Buffalo, New York New York (state) Whigs 19th-century American politicians New York (state) Know Nothings New York (state) Republicans Yale College alumni People from Attica, New York Leaders of the University at Buffalo Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo) 19th-century American diplomats Lawyers from Buffalo, New York 1860 United States presidential electors