their kind, what glad greeting was that, indeed, which awaited the soul of the "grand old man of the North" when it went out across the dark waters on that sad, recent day in Littleton.

In politics Mr. Putnam was an ardent Democrat from youth, and he believed it to be his patriotic duty to advance the interests of his party by all honorable means as the most effective manner of serving his country.

He became, immediately after establishing himself in practice, a recognized leader among the Democrats of his town and section, and as the candidate of that party was elected to the legislature from Haverhill in 1868 and 1869, and from Warren in 1870, 1871, and 1872, serving as a member of the committee on division of towns in 1868, the judiciary in 1869 and 1870, national affairs in 1871, and railroads in 1872. During the memorable parliamentary contests which characterized the session of 1871, when the two parties were almost evenly balanced in strength, Mr. Putnam was one of the younger leaders upon whose sagacity, firmness, and courage great reliance was placed by his party associates, and he never failed them in any emergency. In 1872 he was the Democratic nominee for speaker of the house, and during his entire legislative service was ever alert in the promotion of his party's interests; but none the less zealons in the furtherance of all measures essential to the material welfare of the state which came before the legislature for consideration, and in opposition to every scheme or project which he regarded as inimical to the public good.

In 1874, he was appointed by Governor Weston solicitor for Grafton county, serving faithfully and efficiently for two years.

He was chairman of the Democratic state committee for the years 1873-'75 and 1877-'80, and the performance of his work in this capacity was characterized by the same zeal and fidelity and the same system and method which were noticeable in his professional labors. He was chairman of the New Hampshire delegation in the National Democratic convention at St. Louis, in 1876, which nominated Tilden and Hendricks, and was one of the strongest supporters and most ardent admirers of Mr. Tilden both before and after the convention.

His devotion to his profession and his interest in politics did not cause him to forget or neglect the general duties of citizenship. He was ever alive to all the interests of town and community, and never failed to respond to any legitimate call for service. In educational matters he was specially interested, and served. efficiently upon the school board both in Haverhill and Warren.

His removal to Kansas City in 1882 was deeply regretted, not only by his associates at the bar, but by his fellow-citizens generally throughout the county and state; but he felt that a broader field and greater opportunities in professional and business lines were there presented, and, yet in the early prime of manhood, at the age of forty years, he left the state of his birth (which, nevertheless, ever retained a strong hold upon his affections), and made his home in the growing young city on the Missouri border, familiarly known as

the "Gate of the Southwest," attracted thither undoubtedly by the fact that an older brother, Francis Putnam, also a lawyer, had been located there in successful practice, where he had died a few years previously.

He entered at once into active practice in Kansas City, and shortly acquired prominence as a lawyer, gaining no little reputation by the outcome in the trial of one of the first causes in which he was there engaged, it being the defence of a man charged with murder, whose acquittal he secured.

As he became familiar with the business life and activities of the ambitious metropolis wherein he had made his home, he came to realize the opportunities presented in the field of financial and general business operations, particularly along the line of real estate development, and he soon turned his attention largely in that direction. In 1886 he became president of the International Loan and Trust company, organized to handle city real estate, and devoted his labors, in the main, for some years, to the furtherance of its operations. Subsequently, when the marked decline in real estate, experienced throughout the country, but more particularly in the Western cities, and culminating in 1893, made it imperative that the American National bank of Kansas City reduce its capital and reorganize in order to avert failure, Mr. Putnam was selected to take charge of its affairs, and became its president, continuing in that position until some six months before his decease, when he resigned, proposing to devote his entire attention to his private investments, prom

inent among which was that in the Independent Telephone Co., an enterprise just then being organized.

Mr. Putnam took an active part in advancing all measures and projects. for developing the business prosperity and promoting the growth of his adopted city, was a leading spirit in its wide-awake Commercial club, and for a time its president. He was also strongly interested in church affairs, along the liberal line, in his later years, and was an active member and earnest worker in the "Church of this World," Unitarian, organized some two years before his death. He was prominent in Masonry, being a charter member of Ararat Temple, Mystic Shrine; past eminent commander of Oriental Commandery, No. 35, Knights Templar, and a member of Orient Chapter, No. 105, R. A. M.

On December 22, 1868, Mr. Putnam was united in marriage with Mary Rebecca Reding, daughter of the late Sylvester Reding of Haverhill, in whom he found a true and sympathetic helpmeet, and by whom he is survived, without children.

Death came to George F. Putnam in the very zenith of his physical and intellectual powers; and the "grim messenger" came, too, all unheralded. No wasting disease bore him down; no protracted bodily suffering sapped the springs of his life, but, in the full splendor of royal manhood, he was touched by the swift apoplectic stroke and the obedient spirit bade eternal farewell to the mortal form. His ashes rest in the soil of his native state, at Haverhill, amid the scenes of his early professional labors, near by the old home of her he loved, and where the happiest

AVERHILL, Mass., was first settled in 1640. It was the thirtieth town within the limits of the state of Massachusetts, thirty-second in the list of incorporated towns, and forty-ninth in the New England list. It was a frontier town for more than seventy years, and there are few of the New England towns that suffered so severely from the depredations of the Indians. Its early history is one long record of blood and misery.

The early colonies suffered from six wars: First, the Pequot war; second, King Philip's war; third, King William's war; fourth, Queen Anne's war; fifth, the Three Years' war or Lovewell's war; sixth, the second French war.

Hannah Eastman's capture occurred during Queen Anne's war, which commenced in 1703 and ended in 1713. The foes with whom the colonists contended were the Indians and the Canadian French.

It would be hard for the present generation to conceive of the suffering of the inhabitants of that time. Haverhill village in those days consisted of about thirty houses, and it was rare to find a family that had not lost some of its members at the hands of the Indians. The men went armed to their daily labors, and to church with a Bible in one hand and a loaded gun in the other.

They were safe from Indian attacks nowhere. Their fields, their dwellings, and their churches were alike subject to their stealthy and fiendish raids. It was really an "Age of Terror" for those hard and courageous men and women, and history can show none more heroic and none that exhibited a more fearless and undaunted spirit.

At this period Jonathan Eastman and his young wife, Hannah, made for themselves a home in Haverhill. Jonathan was born in Salisbury, Mass., Jan. 8, 1680, and was married April 8, 1701, to Hannah Green, born Dec. 20, 1677, on the historic "Dustin Hill," in Haverhill, Mass., daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Green. Jonathan's first child (Thomas) was born March 17, 1702; their second child (Abigail) was born Feb. 1,

1704.

But, as

The Indians seldom made their appearance before the opening of spring, and on this account less care was taken to guard against surprises. during the winter months. a means of defense, the selectmen had appointed six garrisons and four "houses of refuge." These were either built of brick or had a single layer of brick between the outer and inner walls. They had but one outside door, often so small that but a single person could enter at a time. The buildings were of two stories, with windows two and a half feet

long and eighteen inches wide, secured inside by iron bars. There were two rooms on the lower floor, and the entrance to the chambers above was by a ladder, that could be drawn up should the lower floor be taken by the enemy. The fireplaces were of enormous size, and wood of sled length was often burned in them.

Late in March, 1704, Jonathan removed with his wife to the fifth garrison, which was owned and commanded by Joseph Bradley. It was situated in the northerly part of the town, and has long since been torn down, but a trace of it remaining. In one of the upper chambers of this garrison their little daughter Abigail was born Feb. 1, 1704. Eight days later (Feb. 8th) Jonathan left the place to attend to some necessary duties at their old home, intending to return before nightfall. Before leaving he stopped for a moment at the bedside of his wife. He was not a demonstrative man, but he bent down and kissed her and turned away, carefully drawing the covers over the dimpled hand of his tiny daughter. Mrs. Bradley was in the lower room boiling soap. He stopped only to inform her when he expected to return, and passed outside.

It was a lovely day; the air was crisp and keen; the sun shone brightly; the snow was deep upon the ground and drifted in many places quite deeply. During the winter the settlers had grown secure and careless of danger; the sentries were absent from their stations, and even the gates were open. Little did Jonathan think as he rode forth that he was being watched by cruel eyes; far less did he think that he was never

again to see his infant child, or that many weary months would pass before he would again meet his beloved wife.

Why the Indians allowed Jonathan to escape will never be known. His powerful frame and frame and commanding presence may have deterred them. However, they let him pass on, and waited until between three and four o'clock in the afternoon before attacking the garrison. They then cautiously approached, and, finding the way clear, rushed through the open gates before they were discovered. Jonathan Johnson, a sentinel, who was standing inside the house, shot at and wounded one of them, but the savage, infuriated by the pain, made the air ring with terrific yells as he pushed forward into the house. With great presence of mind, Mrs. Bradley filled her ladle full of boiling soap and threw it over him, burning him so severely that he soon died. The rest of the party rushed forward and killed Johnson, and made Mrs. Bradley and some others prisoners. (Only three persons escaped of the entire garrison.) They then mounted the ladder and entered the room where Mrs. Eastman was alone with her child. Affrighted, she sat up in the bed, but the movement disturbed the child and it began to cry, when she took it in her arms, pressing it to her wildly-beating heart. With a fiendish yell the foremost savage snatched it from her clinging hands and brutally dashed it against the door-post, beating out its brains, when, with a satisfied grunt, he threw it into a corner and ordered Mrs. Eastman to arise and prepare to go with him. The poor woman was so stunned and