PUTNAM MEMOIR OF CHARLES EDWIN PUTNAM. II 



atively limited though it was, and undertaken late in life, can at least 

 be regarded as an index of what he was capable of doing, and of what 

 he would undoubtedly have accomplished had his life been spared to 

 carry out his projected undertakings. He had planned and prepared 

 material for extensive work in the fields of archaeology and ethnology, 

 the "science of man," and his life on earth, being the subjects to 

 which he gave much of his thought and labor during his last years. 



In 1895, eight years after Mr. Putnam's decease, his widow estab- 

 lished, largely through the assistance of a bequest from his sister, Mrs. 

 Mary Putnam Bull, of Tarrytown, New York, a permanent fund of 

 Ten Thousand (| 10,000.60) Dollars, to be known as the Putnam 

 Memorial Fund, in memory of Mr. Putnam and of his son, Joseph 

 Duncan Putnam, the income of this fund to be used toward carrying 

 on the publications of the Academy. In view of the long and inti- 

 mate association of father and son with this institution, no more appro- 

 priate memorial could have been founded, as it ensures the continuance 

 of the important work which both had so much at heart. 



But probably the most charming side of Mr. Putnam's life was that 

 presented during the hours spent in his own home. Here, with a wife 

 of kindred tastes and sympathies, with a family of ten sons and one 

 daughter, to the happiness, education, and advancement of all of whom 

 he was absolutely devoted, and surrounded by the books which served 

 as his lifelong and intimate companions, he really lived the best part 

 of his life, the part which he most highly prized and would least have 

 done without. In May, 1863, he purchased and removed to an estate 

 of eighteen acres in the outskirts of the city, commanding an extensive 

 view of the Mississippi valley. To the embellishment of this beautiful 

 suburban home, with its wooded avenue and its sloping lawns and 

 vineyards, which he appropriately named " Woodlawn," in memory of 

 the well-known estate at Saratoga adjoining his father's home, he de- 

 voted many of his leisure hours for nearly a quarter of a century. He 

 took an active interest in the practical cultivation of trees and fruits, 

 and his fertile and active mind was continually suggesting improvements 

 to the estate. Here he passed the remainder of his life, always glad to 

 return to its peaceful repose when the business of the day was over. 

 It was a truly ideal home which he founded. Nothing that could make 

 the home life attractive and cultivating to his children was omitted. 

 He encouraged them while young boys in undertakings of theirs for 

 the writing, printing, and publication of a magazine bearing the title of 

 the " Star of Woodlawn," and of other papers; in the conducting of 



