Description: Reverse reads, in part: "State Picture Book. Ident. 28. Dummy page 23 full page. Credit -- Ohio Writers' Project. Caption -- Campus Martius erected by Israel Putnam." This is a view of the entrance of the Rufus Putnam Residence in Marietta, Ohio. It was one of the dwellings in Campus Martius, the fortification erected by the Ohio Company, ca. 1790-1799. The plaque next to the door reads: "This house was one of the dwellings in Campus Martius, the fortification erected by the Ohio Company when the first settlement in the Northwest Territory was made at Marietta in 1788. It stood next to the southeast blockhouse and was built by General Rufas Putnam, who made it his home until his death in 1824. It then became the property of Judge Arius NYL from whose daughter Minerva Tupper NYL it was purchased in 1919 by the State of Ohio. Erected by the Ohio Daughters of the American Revolution in 1927." Born April 9, 1738, in Sutton, Massachusetts, Putnam fought for the British in the French and Indian War, later lobbying for land grants to veterans west of the Appalachian Mountains. Putnam served in the Continental Army during the Revolution, fighting in the battle of Saratoga and rising to the rank of brigadier general. Throughout the conflict, Putnam served as an advocate for junior officers and enlisted men. America's first government, created by the Articles of Confederation, had limited powers and faced tremendous difficulty meeting its expenses. This included paying the men in its army. The Confederation Congress promised to give these men land grants in the Ohio Country, but the Congress was slow to act. In 1783, Putnam helped draft the Newburgh Petition. In this document, many of the officers in the Continental Army demanded payment immediately in land grants or they would even contemplate replacing their government. General George Washington was able to prevent an uprising. Putnam established the first Ohio Company settlement on the banks of the Ohio River. Known originally as Adelphia, the community soon became known as Marietta. To protect the settlement from Native American attacks, the settlers built a fortification known as the Campus Martius. After the Treaty of Greeneville was signed in 1795, the threat to Marietta was limited; settlers founded Ohio University there in 1808. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F18_003_1
Subjects: Marietta (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works; Architecture, Domestic--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Putnam, Rufus, 1738-1824; Campus Martius (Marietta, Ohio); Forts & fortifications--1770-1800
Places: Marietta (Ohio) ; Washington County (Ohio)