Main Family of California:Information about John Putnam
John Putnam (b. 17 Jan 1579, d. 30 Dec 1662)
Notes for John Putnam:1. John, the progenitor of the Putnam family of Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, was the third son of Nicholas and Margaret (Goodspeed) Putnam. John inherited his father's lands, property which he kept until his migration to New England. The year of his migration is not known for sure. Nor is it known exactly which family members migrated over at what time. John's oldest son Thomas had settled in Lynn as early as 1634, and by the time John had bought 100 acres of land next to the Ipswich River in 1641, the entire family had settled in Salem.
2. John, his wife, and six surviving children were all of the Puritan faith. They had emigrated during the tumultuous 1630s, a decade of growing hostility between King Charles I and the English Parliament. This era was also a time of increasing discontent among the Puritan members of English society, many of whom were members of Parliament. Such factors were no doubt the origin behind the migration of John and his family to New England, as they were for many English Puritans of that time. One year after John's migration to Salem, in 1642, the rising discontent in English society broke out into full scale Civil War. John and his family had apparently escaped just in time.
3. In Salem, John and his three sons became among the most successful farmers in the settlement. In Salem town records, John was described as both a husbandman and a yeoman.
4. John, his wife, and the six children were admitted members of the church, and thus considered among the town's "elite." John was also among the town's notables picked in 1644 to inspect the homes of Salem every Sunday in order to find persons skipping church attendance and to report the names to the Magistrate. Individuals picked for such duty were among the most well-considered inhabitants in Salem.
5. Based on early records and the amount of land in his possession, John seems to have been one of the wealthiest inhabitants of the town. In 1653, John split up his property among his sons. Thomas and Nathaniel each received half of his land, while John, his youngest son, was granted his father's homestead.
More About John Putnam:
Ancestral File Name: 2P4L-43.
Burial: Unknown, Salem Village, Essex, Massachusetts, USA.
Christening: 17 Jan 1579, Wingrave, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom.
More About John Putnam and Priscilla Deacon:
Marriage: 1611, Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom.
Children of John Putnam and Priscilla Deacon are:
- +John Putnam, b. 27 May 1627, Aston Tirroid, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom, d. 07 Apr 1710, Salem Village, Essex, Massachusetts, USA.