2 N. 1893 From the Library of. Prof. A. P. PEABODY 82 BX 9869 •P95 M45 1878 cop. I The Riverside Press, Cambridge: Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. BY Knapp CHARLES K. DILLAWAY. GEORGE PUTNAM, son of Andrew and Jerusha Clap Putnam, was born in Sterling, Mass., August 16, 1807. His early training was in the academies of Leicester and Groton. He entered Harvard College in 1822. What he was there can be best told by extracts from letters I have received from two of his most distinguished classmates. Rev. Andrew P. Peabody, D. D., says, “He was plain, simple, and unpretending, one of the youngest in the class, and, though thoroughly manly, in no other respect old for his years, the soul of truth and honor, respected and liked by all his classmates, dearly loved by many. It is but little to say that in speech and life he was all that a young man should have been. I think that no one even then would have ventured on a coarse or profane utterance in conversation with him. "He held a high rank in his class, and undoubtedly might have had the first place if he had striven for it. But I doubt whether he cared for college rank. He did care to do thorough work, and less than that he could not do. But I do not think that after possessing himself of the contents of a lesson, he ever took any pains to prepare for recitation; and those were times, as you know, when recitations specially got up had a high market value. His college work was easily done with his clear mind and retentive memory. He took good care of his health. He generally, I think always, went to bed at nine o'clock, and though the early morning lesson was generally learned first, if by any chance he had not done it justice, the lesson was sacrificed to sleep." Rev. George W. Hosmer, D. D., says, "Though very quiet, he was always manly, thoughtful, and ready with his opinion. It very early was manifest that there was a good deal in him. He made no attempt to show off, but he never failed, and so, gradually rising into notice, he was counted among our able men; and when at one of our Senior exhibitions he had a dissertation, I think of Edmund Burke, we all were ·delighted with his power of writing and speaking. In college, as in after life, he used his powers easily, and seemed always to have large reserved forces." These are testimonials of his college life, and they |