Autographs
Rare 1786 “Rufus Putnam” Signed MA Land Lottery Form
GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM (1738-1824). Colonial military officer during the French and Indian War, Continental Army General during the American Revolutionary War, and Organizer of the “Ohio Company,” in the initial settling of the Northwest Territory in present-day Ohio following the War. In 1796, Putnam was appointed by the President Washington as the First Surveyor General of the United States.
November 9, 1786 Act. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Land Lottery Partially-Printed Document Certificate Form. Choice Crisp Extremely Fine. An official “Land Lottery” Certificate for one Lot that is not completed on the printed reverse, thus likely not a winning ticket. Boldly Signed, “Rufus Putnam” and “Leo. Jarvis” as Managers in rich deep brown. Printed upon very fresh, clean, fine quality laid period paper. This rare form has two sided printed text. A Lottery Ticket and registration form combination that is wonderfully original with its proper indented border at left. This is a very rare Certificate. We offered one in our EAHA Auction of April 17, 2004, Lot 867(not fully completed), which sold for $1,092 and the latest example being in our August 2015 auction, which sold for $1,080. The current specimen being a wonderful example, perfect for display.

Rufus Putnam enlisted the same day after the Battle of Lexington, on April 19, 1775, into one of Massachusetts first Revolutionary War Army regiments. Putnam later was commissioned in the Continental Army as a Lieutenant Colonel, under the command of David Brewer and first engaged with the British Army in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Putnam constructed the fortifications necessary to obtain victory and others provided an advantage to the Continental Army, which secured victories at Sewall's Point, Providence, New Port, Dorchester Heights, Long Island, and West Point. General George Washington appointed Putnam to be the Chief of Engineers of the Works of New York promoted to Colonel. He served in the Northern Army and served under Major General Horatio Gates. Putnam commanded two regiments in the battle of Saratoga. He continued to work on critical fortifications, including Fort Putnam at West Point in 1778. In 1779 Putnam served under Major General Anthony Wayne in the Corps of Light Infantry following the capture of Stony Point, commanding the 4th Regiment. In January 1783 he was commissioned as Brigadier General.
Rufus Putnam in 1788 led a group of Revolutionary War Continental Army veterans to settle the land in what became Ohio. These pioneers arrived at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers on April 7, 1788, where they established Marietta, Ohio as the first permanent United States settlement in the Northwest Territory. Putnam was appointed to serve as one of three judges of the Northwest Territory after Samuel Holden Parsons died.

The Territory had been historically occupied by Native American tribes, and more were driven west by colonial encroachment before the Revolution. As they had not ceded any land, they came into conflict with the arriving pioneers. They organized a coalition of tribes to try to expel the Americans from their territory.

From 1792 to 1793, Putnam served as a Brigadier General in Anthony Wayne's Ohio campaign against these Native American tribes, including Shawnee, Lenape and Seneca, who were ultimately defeated.

In 1796, Putnam was appointed by the President as the first Surveyor General of the United States, a position he held until 1803. As Ohio residents organized to write a constitution and be admitted as a state, in 1802 Putnam was elected a Washington county delegate to the Ohio Constitutional Convention.

He was appointed as a Trustee of Ohio University, where he served for two decades, from 1804 to 1824. It was constructed on public lands, under the terms of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Long participating in the Masons, a fraternal organization that expanded in the early nineteenth century, in 1808 Putnam was elected the First Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Ohio.

Rufus Putnam is depicted on a commemorative stamp issued on July 13, 1937 by the U.S. Post Office which commemorated the 150th anniversary of the North West Ordinance of 1787. The engraving on the stamp depicts a map of the United States at the time with the North West Territory between the figures of Putnam (right) and Manasseh Cutler.

Putnam's home in Marietta has been designated a National Historic Landmark in his honor. The town of Putnam, Ohio (now a part of Zanesville, Ohio) was named for him. One of his grandsons, Catharinus Putnam Buckingham, served as a Brigadier General in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Putnam died on May 4, 1824. He was buried at Mound Cemetery in Marietta, Ohio.

(From Wikipedia)