Evaluator's Name(s): Kent and Polly Erickson

STAR VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY HISTORICAL BOOKS INVENTORY DETAILS 1. Overview Title: Seth Harris Putnam Biography Author; Subject: Personal History Publisher: Publishing Date: Number of Pages: 10 ID#: 468 Location: Website 2. Evaluation Evaluator's Name(s): Kent and Polly Erickson Date of Evaluation: December 2014 Key Words: Mormon Church, polygamy, Included Names: Israel Putnam, Ruth Walton, Roy Gilman Putnam 3. Synopsis He was born in Maine in 1830. He married Athalinda Isabella Philbrick in 1861. She was also born in Maine. He was a shoemaker and a skilled musician. After their conversion to the Mormon faith, he married a second wife Annie Maria Tucker. With his wife he had seven children and with his second, four. To avoid the law, he moved to Auburn, Wyoming. This selection also includes a history of Athalinda Isabella Philbrick 4. Other ^submitted by Kathy Walker *photos

History of Seth Harris Putnam Seth Harris Putnam Biography History ofseth Harris Putnam and Athalinda Isabella (Philbrick) Putnam (found in the papers ofb. D. & Aileen Lee Davis). Seth Harris Putnam was born in Rumsford, Maine to Israel Putnam and Ruth Walton Putnam on the 20th ofapril 1830. There is nothing I could find out about his childhood, but I imagine it was similar to the boys living in that day. He married Athalinda Isabella Philbrickthe 1st ofnovember 1861 and was thirty-one before he married, and his wife twenty-seven, but this was her second marriage. He built a beautiful house in Maine, and had it built so in the severe winter months they did not have to go out in the snow, with a built-in walk from the house to the barn. They could walk from place to place without worrying about wading in the snow. They could walk to the barn, get in the sleigh and drive to wherever they were going. He was a shoemaker, made and repaired shoes and was quite well to do. While living in Maine, Mormon Missionaries came and converted him and his wife to Mormonism. So he practically gave his home away, so that he could take his family to Utah. They had one child before they left Maine, a daughter they named Leoni Angi. Athalinda*s family disowned her because she joined the Mormon Church. He would call dances, dance with his wife and play the violin all at the same time. They would go to the dances about 8 o'clock and dance all night, then work all day. When he went to Utah, he and his wife left most oftheir things behind because they could only take a few oftheir things on the trip west. One of the few things he brought from Maine was a little organ. It was about forty

inches long, thirty-six inches high and about thirty inches wide. They could put it on a sleigh and two could handle it very easily. He played his old violin and called quadrilles which was the popular dance ofthat time. He played his violin all the way from Maine to Auburn, Wyoming and was always asked to entertain; he would sing and play his violin. They arrived in Utah on the first railroad west. He had a long white beard and said he shaved once but his features were so different that it scared him, so he never shaved again. He knew the Bible well and was always quoting scripture. He had a terrible temper but he did not believe in swearing so when he got mad he would throw his hat on the ground and say "Dam, dam and double dam." He said "dam" was not a swear word because there were dams to dam water. Once he bumped his head on a knot as he came out ofhe cellar and he said, "My God." So he dropped right on his knees and asked the Lord to forgive him. Roy Gilman Putnam said it was the first time he ever heard his dad profane and he'll never forget how he immediately asked the Lord's forgiveness. Seth was always up no later than 4 o'clock in the morning working as he was very ambitious and a hard-working man. He dug ditches or anything to keep himself busy. He brought the first bees to Salt Lake City, carrying the queen bee in his pocket most ofthe time. He never wore a hat or any other protection because the bees never did sting him. He could have secured ground right in the heart oflogan, but he went to Woodruff, way up the canyon, and built a sawmill. When Seth and Athalinda left Maine, polygamy was being practiced in Utah. He promised his wife he'd never take another wife and he'd put it in writing if she wanted. She told him if his word wasn't good, neither was anything in writing. When he got in Utah and everyone else was taking second wives, he sent to England for one. He took Annie Maria Tucker as his second wife when she arrived the United States. No record oftheir marriage has been found. Athalinda did not like it when he took a second wife but she made the best ofit. They all lived together for a short time in Woodruff, Utah. Seth had to hide from the Utah law officers because he practiced polygamy. The family watched and ifany law officers came he'd go out the back door and hide on the hill in the brush until they left. Then he'd walk

backwards so his tracks would appear to be leading towards the house instead ofaway from it. He got tired ofhiding from the law so he moved to Star Valley when his son Frank Nathaniel moved there with his family about 1903. Athalinda did not live with her husband but moved into a house by herself. They settled in the little town ofauburn, Wyoming. Most ofthe people in Auburn remember him by his one-horse sleigh. He had it fixed so the old gray horse would go in the track and had it built so that it had seats on each side and a cover over it as the snow in those days would more than cover the fences. Seth had a strong voice. They say on a clear, cold morning they could hear him in Grover, which was five miles away. Seth and his first wife, Athalinda, were blessed with seven children, but only three grew up to manhood and womanhood. They are as follows: Leoni Angie Putnam, born on the 19th ofnovember 1865. Harris Euvern Putnam, born on the 18th ofapril 1869, died at the age of ten on the 6th ofnovember 1879. Sarah Irene Ruth Putnam, born at Salt Lake City on the 2nd ofjanuary 1872?died at the age ofseven on the 27th ofoctober 1879, just ten days before her brother, Harris. Pearl Athalinda Putnam, born in Salt Lake City on the 2nd ofapril 1874, died at the age ofsixty-seven on the 25th ofoctober 1941 at Afton, Wyoming. Frank Nathaniel Israel Putnam, born in Woodruff, Utah on the 2nd of January 1876, died at the age ofseventy-five on the 4th of November 1951. Mavil Rose Putnam and her twin sister, Mabel Zina Putnam, born in Woodruff, Utah on the 14th ofjanuary 1878, Mavil died at the age of58 in August of1936 and never married. Her twin Mabel died on the 18th ofmay 1879 at the tender age ofone.

To Seth and his second wife, Annie Maria Tucker, were born four children as follows: Orson Charles Putnam, born on the 28th offebruary 1883 at Woodruff, Utah, died at Pocatello, Idaho. Roy Gilman Putnam, born on the 28th ofjuly 1886 at Woodruff, Utah, died January 1959 at Pocatello, Idaho in the Bannock Memorial Hospital. Mary Isabell Putnam, born the 4th ofseptember 1894 at Auburn, Wyoming, died on the 19th ofaugust 1937.. Clara Annie Putnam, born the 6th ofseptember 1894 at Auburn, Wyoming, died in March 1911. Seth loved the dandelion. Some people say he was the one who brought the first one to Star Valley. He played his violin and sang the Bumble Bee" at the old folk's party the day he died, the 26th ofmarch 1908. He got a pain in the pit ofhis stomach and they took him home from the party. Before midnight he was dead at the age of78. They diagnosed the cause of his death as a heart attack; he lived a long and faithful life. Ifhis posterity could follow his example they wouldn't go very far astray. [This history could have been written by Mona Ilene Putnam Leavitt] Story ofgrandmother Athalinda Isabella Philbrick As written by Mona Ilene Putnam Leavitt I, Mona Ilene Putnam Leavitt, will try to tell a briefhistory ofmy grandmother as I remember what she told me. Her name was Athalinda Isabella Philbrick, born on the 7th ofoctober 1833 at Roxbury, Maine. When she was a young girl, 13 years ofage, she worked in a cotton factory. They were not too well to do and she had to go to work quite young and she worked in the Vermont Mills. Later she went to Boston, Massachusetts and worked there. She made a dress out ofthe cloth she wove in one ofthe mills and was a very thrifty young lady. She married Edward Mason and had two children, a baby boy who did not live very long and a girl, Emma, who lived to be married and then divorced this man. Her son died while in Maine; Emma came to Utah and was married and had two girls, cousin Musetta and Lola, each from a different man.

Athalinda thought a lot ofher first husband, but her mother interfered so much that he left. She didn*t hear from him for so long that she decided he didn't care anything about her, so she got a divorce. It was not until many years later, after she had remarried that she found out her husband had written letters and sent her money, but while she was at work her mother destroyed the letters and spent the money herself. Her mother did not like Edwin, so she did everything within her power to separate them-and she succeeded. When Athalinda came to Salt Lake she went to a Medium who told her all about her life and that some day her husband would come back and whistle for her. When he was courting her he always came and whistled for her. When she arrived in Auburn, every time she heard a whistle, no matter what she was doing, she would go to the door and look to see who it was as she really believed that he would come one day and whistle for her. After her divorce she married my grandfather, Seth Harris Putnam. They built a beautiful home and they were doing real well as Grandfather made and fixed shoes. They met Mormon Missionaries and were converted to the church, so decided to come to Utah. They almost gave their home away. The day she left Maine, when passed by her brother's house, he was in the yard, but would not speak to her because he was angry that she had joined the Mormon Church. When they arrived in Utah, Peregine Sessions took them into his house and treated them as well as though they were his relatives. They then decided to move to Woodruff, Utah and they built a sawmill up the canyon above the town. She made butter and took it to Evanston, Wyoming in a buggy to trade for groceries and other necessities. One night she was quite late in getting home and a wolf followed her nearly home. All she had was my father who was about ten years old. She lost three children in six months while there with diptheria and whooping cough. About this time Grandfather took another wife and the officers were after him most ofthe time so he kept hidden a lot. So then they moved to Garden City, Utah. She lived there when I was born. My Grandfather, Mother, Aunt Mavil and Grandmother lived in the same house at the time. About this time. Grandfather, with his second wife, moved to Star Valley; later Grandmother moved there also, in a house alone. My father and mother had three children when Grandmother came. 1 wanted to live with her. I wouldn't go home so Grandmother, Aunt Mavil and I lived together for about twenty years.

One more thing I wish to write about my Grandmother. One day I was combing her hair and I noticed a bald spot on the side of her head about the size of a dollar, so I asked her how she got it. She told me she used to sit and cry and pull her hair out and grieve about the children she had lost. She had a beautiful head of hair. She was a marvelous cook and never let anything go to waste. She was an early riser and a hard worker and never let anything go to waste. She was a shining example for her posterity to follow. t Seth Harris and Athalinda Isabella (Philbrick) Putnam & family Front, 1-r: Mavil Rose (b, 1878), Seth Harris, Athalinda Isabella (Philbrick), Harris Euvern(?) (b. 1869), Frank Nathaniel Israel (b. 1876) Back, 1-r: Pearl Athalinda (Davis) (b. 1874), Leoni Angie (b. 1865), Sarah Irene Ruth (b. 1872). Inset, 1: Athalinda (younger)

Inset, r: Seth Harris (younger) About 1886 -"f - * -f J:. s-ai pv r Seth Harris and Athalinda Putnam <& Annie Maria (Tucker) Putnam & family Front, 1-r: Athalinda Isabella (Philbrick) Putnam, Seth Harris Putnam, Mary Isabelle, Annie Maria (Tucker Seth's 2nd wife), Clara Annie Putnam (Annie's girls). Back, l-r: Lucy (Hildt) (wife ofnate), Frank Nathaniel Israel (son ofseth), Orson, & Roy Putnam (Annie's boys) About 1893

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