born April 9, 1738, Sutton, Mass.
died May 4, 1824, Marietta, Ohio, U.S.
American Revolutionary army officer.
A cousin of Israel Putnam , he fought in the French and Indian War . Entering the Continental Army in 1775, he organized fortifications in Boston and New York (177677) and at West Point (1778), and he fought at the Battle of Saratoga . In 1783 he was promoted to brigadier general. After the war he helped found the Ohio Company of Associates to obtain a land grant for settlement by war veterans; he led the group that founded Marietta, Ohio (1788). From 1796 to 1803 he was U.S. surveyor general.