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 (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Life

Putnam was born July 4, 1818, in

Attica, New York Attica is a town in Wyoming County, New York, United States. The population was 1,846 as of 2023. The Town of Attica is on the northern boundary of the county and contains part of a village also named Attica (the northern part of the village ...

. He was the son of Congressman Harvey Putnam (1793–1855) and Myra Osborne (1795–1863). He was the great-grandson of Col. Benjamin Simonds on his maternal side. He was educated at Middlebury Academy in Wyoming, New York, and attended

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

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 Bar in 1841. He commenced practice in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. Putnam was appointed Secretary and Treasurer of the Attica & Buffalo Railroad Company 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 region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

in 1853. President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...

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, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

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 who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Walter T. Mosley, a Democrat. Duties The secr ...

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

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

1860 Events January * January 2 – The astronomer Urbain Le Verrier announces the discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan (hypothetical planet), Vulcan at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 &ndas ...

, voting for

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

and

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

. 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 is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

. In 1865, Yale University gave Putnam a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) 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. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree. In 1880, President

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th president of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. Hayes served as Cincinnati's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861. He was a staunch Abolitionism in the Un ...

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 referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

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 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 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature