Putnam

3883

Putrefaction

Mass. From 1874 to 1909 he was* curator of ;
the Peabody Museum (honorary curator,'
1909-13; honorary director, 1913); from 1804 '
to 1903 curator of anthropology. American ;
Museum of Natural History. For his service? i
in American archaeology he was awarded the i
cross of the Legion of Honor by the French !
government in 1896. !

Putnam, George Haven (1844-1950K i
American publisher and writer, was born in j
London. In 1866 he became a member of G. |
P. Putnam & Son, and in 1872 its head. He !
took an active interest in the subject of in- j
ternational copyright; was one of the reor- >.
ganizers (1887) of the American Copyright
League, and secretary of the league since its
foundation; and was largely instrumental in
the adoption of the International Copyright
Law of 1891. His writings include: Authors
and Publishers (1883) ; The Question of
Copyright (1891); Memories of a Publisher
(1915); Some Memories of the Civil War
(1924).

Putnam, George Palmer (1814-72),
American publisher, was born in Brunswick,
Me. In 1848 he established a publishing busi-
ness of his own. G. P. Putnam was the close
friend of his authors, counting among them
Poe, Irving, Cooper, Emerson, Carlyle, Bry-
ant, Lowell, Bayard Taylor, and George W.
Curtis; the last of whom assisted him in es-
tablishing Putnam's Magazine, He was a
founder and honorary secretary of the New
York Metropolitan Museum of Art. His pub-
lished works include: The World's Progress; a
Dictionary of Dates.

George P. Putnam.

Putnam, George Palmer (1887- ),
publisher, author, was born in Rye, N. Y. He
started work with G. P. Putnam's Sons, pub-
lishers, N. Y.. 1909, and was later engaged

in newspaper and publicity work in Oregon.
Ht.' was president of the Knickerbocker Press
and treasurer, G. P. Putnam"? Sons, N. Y.,
1010-23. Since ir;.j2 he ha? been chairman of
the editorial board of Paramount Productions.
Divorced in 19:$. he married Amelia Earhart,
IQ,U. Amcni: other works, he wrote, Andree
—The Rrcortf oj a Tragic Adventure (1930)
and JT/aV Mur^hi* (i-'^j).

Putnam, Herbert <iS6ii, American li-
brarian, wa? born in Ne\v York City. His re-
organization and managemc-nt of the Boston
Public Library led to his appointment by
President McKinley, in iSog, to be librarian
of Congress, a. position which he held until

1939-

Putnam, Israel (1718-90). American Rev-
olutionary soldier, \vas born on Jan. 7, 1718
(x. s.j, in what i? now Danvers, then a part
of Salem, Mass. When Washington assumed
command of the army (July, 1775), Putnam
was appointed to be one of the four major-
generals commissioned by the Continental
Congress; and after the evacuation of Boston
by the British, in March, 17/6, he was sent
to New York to put that city in a condition
for defence. He was in command at Brook-
lyn Heights (Aug. 27), and the Battle of Long
Island: and he conducted the American re-
treat through New York to the Hudson. In
1778, while in charge of the troops in West-
ern Connecticut, he made his famous escape
from Governor Tryon's dragoons by riding
down the stone steps at Horseneck.

Putnam, Mary Traill Spence (Lowell)
(1810-98), American linguist and writer, was
bora in Boston, the sister of James Russell
Lowell. Her publications include: Records of
an Observer (1861); The Tragedy of Errors,
and The Tragedy of Success.

Putnam, Rufus (1738-1824), American
Revolutionary soldier, was born in Button,
Mass. When the Revolutionary War broke
out he planned the defences at Roxbury and
New York, and was appointed chief engineer
of the American army, with the rank of
colonel. With his cousin Israel Putnam he as-
sisted in the construction of the fortifications
at West Point (1779), and in i7Ss*was made
a brigadier-general. He led the first body of
settlers to the Northwest Territory, and laid
out Marietta.

Putney, a suburb of London, England. It
is a well-known rowing place, and the start-
ing point of the Oxford and Cambridge boat
races; p. 28,246.

Putrefaction, the decomposition that pro-
tein substances of animal or vegetable origin