Thomas Putnam
| Thomas Putnam | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 22, 1652 [O.S. March 12, 1651][Note 1] Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony[1] |
| Died |
June 3 [O.S. May 24], 1699 (aged 47) Salem Village, Province of Massachusetts Bay[1] |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Accuser in the Salem witch trials |
| Religion | Puritan |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Putnam (née Carr) |
| Children | Ann Putnam, Jr. and 11 others |
| Parent(s) |
|
Thomas Putnam (March 22, 1652 [O.S. March 12, 1651] – June 3 [O.S. May 24], 1699)[3] was a member of the Putnam family and a resident of Salem Village (present-day Danvers, Massachusetts) and a significant accuser in the notorious 1692 Salem witch trials.
His father, Lt. Thomas Putnam, Sr. (1615–1686), was one of Salem's wealthiest residents. He was excluded from major inheritances by both his father and father-in-law. His half-brother, Joseph, who had benefited most from their father's estate, married into the rival Proctor family, fueling ill will between the clans. Putnam, his wife, and one of his daughters (Ann Putnam, Jr.) all levied accusations of witchcraft, many of them against extended members of the Porter family, and testified at the trials.[2] He and his wife had 12 children in total. Both Thomas Putnam and Ann Putnam, Sr. died in 1699, leaving 10 children orphans, two children having predeceased them.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Contemporary court records, which used the Julian calendar and the Annunciation Style of enumerating months and years, recorded his birth as 12:1m:1652, indicating the twelfth day of the first month (March) of Old Style 1651, New Style 1652. For further useful reading, see: Old Style and New Style dates; Dual dating
References
- 1 2 Carleton, Hiram (1903), Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation, Volume, Vermont: Lewis Publishing Company, p. 137, retrieved 24 March 2013
- 1 2 Boyer, Paul S. (1974), Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, Harvard University Press, pp. 133–140, retrieved 24 March 2013
- ↑ Putnam, Eben (1891), A History of the Putnam Family in England and America. Recording the Ancestry and Descendants of John Putnam of Danvers, Mass., Jan Poutman of Albany, N.Y., Thomas Putnam of Hartford, Conn, Volume 1, Salem, Massachusetts: Salem Press Publishing and Printing Company, p. 38, retrieved 24 March 2013
- ↑ Bower, Glenn. Just a Family History, books.google.com; accessed December 25, 2014.
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