Simeon PUTNAM (1785-1833)

1 Simeon PUTNAM1,2 (1785-1833) [9911]. Born 1785, Rutland, MA.2 Marr Abigail Brigham FAY 9 Dec 1816, Concord, MA.2,3,4 Died 11 May 1833.2,5,6 Buried Andover, MA.5

From the Simeon Putnam section of A History of the Putnam Family in England and America by Eben Putnam, 1891.

"SIMEON PUTNAM was graduated at Harvard in 1811, and later became an instructor at Andover Academy. In 1815 he copied the "Memoirs of the Putnam Family." by Gen. Rufus Putnam, at Marietta. He opened a school in the Bradstreet mansion, in Andover, and conducted it successfully."

From the Salem Gazette (Salem, MA)

May 24, 1816 - Franklin Academy. The public are informed, that the Spring Term of Franklin Academy in Andover, Ninth Parish, commenced on Thursday 25th ult. under the care of Mr. SIMEON PUTNAM and Miss ADELINE ABBOTT. The high recommendation of the former, by the President of Harvard College and his experience in teaching; and the distinguished accomplishments of the patter, encourage the friends of the institution to indulge the highest expectations from a union of their diligence and exertion.
The branches taught in the Seminary are - Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Grammer, Geography, Projecting Maps, Astronomy, Philosophy, Surveying, Navigation, History, Botany, Chemistry, Logic ,Rhetoric, Composition, the Dead Languages, Painting, Needlework, &c &c.
Parents and guardians may be assured that the strictest attention will be paid, not only to the mental and personal, but moral improvement of children and youth connected with this institution."

Excerpts from Historical Sketches of Andover by Sarah Loring Bailey, 1880.

"But in the school traditions one name has overshadowed all other names. The terrors of Master Simeon Putnam's discipline have been so faithfully handed down by the students who experienced them, that it has come to be a current belief in the neighborhood that his day dates back to the early period of the school. "Old Put," he is most often called, although he was only forty--seven years old when he died. The anachronisms and the legends on this subject are amusing, and illustrate the saying, "The evil that men do lives after then, the good is oft interred with their bones. . . .
Mr. Putnam was, there can be no question, often unjust, though probably not intentionally so, always harsh, and sometimes cruel to the idle and disobedient. He had many bad boys to manage; some of whom were no doubt, made worse by his severity. Many of them lived with him in his house, any by his perpetual misdoing and perserverness rasped his nerves and exasperated his temper. He was in ill health, a sufferer most of the time with acute neuralgia, and the constant strain broke him down in the prime of manhood. It has been common to hear little that was kindly about Master Putnam in the place of his residence. It was, however, with the conviction that he must have had some strong and good points of character, that this attempt to write a brief biography was undertaken, for no man without ability, an some proper discharge of a preceptor's duty could, for nearly fifteen years, have kept such a school as the Franklin Academy was under Mr. Putnam.; its ranks constantly filled by students from all parts of the country. . . .".

Sources

1"Fay Genealogy: John Fay of Marlborough and his Descendants by Orlin P. Fay, 1898".
2"History of the Putnam Family in England and America by Eben Putnam, 1891".
3"Massachusetts Marriages, 1633-1850".
4"Wedding announcement of Simeon Putnam to Abby B. Fay in the Columbian Centinel (Boston, MA), December 21, 1816".
5"Massachusetts Town Death Records".
6"Death notice of Simeon Putnam in the Haverhill Gazette (Haverhill, MA), May 18, 1833".