PUTNAM — MEMOIR OK CHARLES EDWIN PUTNAM. I 3 



and three days later his remains were borne amid a large concourse of 

 friends to the beautiful Oakdale Cemetery, which during his life had 

 been a cherished object of his care. 



In his death there passed from earth one of nature's true noblemen. 

 Speaking from a long and intimate association with him, in the home 

 and in the office, the writer can truthfully say that he was thoroughly 

 and unfailingly honest and just in all of his dealings with his fellow- 

 men ; throughout life he treated everyone with the utmost courtesy 

 and the fairest consideration, being instinctively a gentleman in all that 

 the term implies; he was the most generous and kind-hearted of men, 

 and it was well-nigh impossible for him to refuse assistance even against 

 his better judgment; he was untiringly industrious, and never neg- 

 lected his duty in doing to the best of his ability any work which lay 

 before him ; he accepted the decrees of fortune, good or evil, with 

 calm equanimity, and always courageously looked upon the hopeful 

 side of life; he cared nothing for money except to use it for the good 

 of others, and, instead of accumulating a fortune, spent one as he made 

 it in ministering to the happiness of his family and friends, in the dif- 

 fusion of knowledge, and in helping the poor and the distressed. With 

 all his great talents, and notwithstanding the position he had gained 

 in so many fields of human endeavor, he was thoroughly modest, 

 thinking always of others rather than himself. 



His predominating characteristics, however, were his unselfishness 

 and his industry. Though his natural tastes were all those of a stu- 

 dent, and his inclinations were towards a quiet life of repose, where 

 his literary and scientific powers could have enjoyed full play, he reso- 

 lutely laid everything aside in order to mingle with his fellow men, 

 perform the duties which he felt belonged to hnii in the economy of 

 life, and thus make the most he could, for the benefit of others, of the 

 powers which had been given him. And he exemplified by his indus- 

 try how much may be accomplished, in many different directions and 

 spheres of activity, by a well-ordered life, not allowing the cares of 

 business, of money-getting, or of ambition, to prevent him from doing 

 his whole duty to his family, to his friends, to his fellow citizens, and, 

 so far as lay within his powers, to the enlightenment and uplifting 

 of the human race. 



