. PUTNAM MEMOIR OF CHARLES EDWIN PUTNAM. 7 



latter was elevatad to the bench. General Joseph B. Leake, who has 

 since become prominent in his profession in Chicago, was subsequently 

 associated with him for a year. From i860 to 1886 he was in part- 

 nership with Hon. John N. Rogers. The firm of Putnam and Rogers 

 stood in the very first rank of the profession in Iowa, and indeed in 

 the entire West. Their practice was extensive and varied, and in- 

 cluded the argument of numerous cases in the Supreme Court of the 

 State and in the United States Courts, and of very many in the Supreme 

 Court of the United States. In all of these courts their arguments 

 were received with the greatest attention, and it was a rare exception 

 when a decision was rendered against one of their clients. Mr. 

 Putnam in his later years gave special attention to corporation and 

 consultation practice, and to the management of large estates and im- 

 portant business interests. For the last year of his life he was in 

 partnership with his son, the writer of this memoir, who had been 

 associated with him in his practice for the preceding seven years. 



Although deeply engrossed with the practice of his profession up to 

 the day of his death, Mr. Putnam found time to be interested in many 

 enterprises and institutions for the advancement of the community in 

 which he lived. He assisted in the organization and establishment in 

 Davenport of numerous business corporations, and gave much of his 

 time to their development, even when not pecuniarily interested. He 

 served during many years as President of the Davenport Plow Com- 

 pany, the Mutual Plate Glass Insurance Company, the Oakdale Cem- 

 etery Company, and various others. He was connected with the 

 Davenport Gas Light Company for over thirty years, and served as its 

 President during the last twelve years of his life. During his later 

 years especially he gave much of his time and thought to the company 

 last named, constantly introducing new processes in the manufacture 

 of gas, and improving and extending the works. At his suggestion, 

 and under his direction, this was one of the first gas companies in the 

 United States to adopt the system of lighting by electricity in addition 

 to gas illumination. He became profoundly interested in the subject 

 of electricity, and, as was his practice in all matters which he investi- 

 gated, mastered every essential detail of the science, its literature, and 

 its practical application to light and power. 



Mr. Putnam was early impressed with the beneficent influences of 

 savings banks, and in 1870 organized the Davenport Savings Bank, 

 and served as its President for the ensuing fourteen years, giving during 

 all of this period constant and daily personal attention to its manage- 



