Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 305 - 306  

WILLIAM F. PUTNAM, the leading tonsorial artist of Valley Center, was born in Madison County, Ohio, March 14, 1854. He is the eldest of the three children of Solomon H. and Zeruah (Ford) Putnam, natives respectively of New Hampshire and Vermont, whence they removed to Ohio before their marriage. There the father engaged in farming and merchandising, and was also the proprietor of a notion wagon which, after the fashion of those days, was sent out through the country and usually well patronized by the people living remote from the towns.  

     The paternal grandparents of our subject, John and Ann (Hurd) Putnam, also natives of the Old Granite State, emigrated to Ohio and settled in Madison County about l850, being among the pioneers of that region. On the mother's side the Hurd family were also natives of New Hampshire, and Grandfather Hurd served as a soldier in the War of 1812. Both families it is supposed were of English ancestry, and built up for themselves a creditable record as citizens and business men. 

     Solomon H. Putnam, the father of our subject, left Ohio in 1857, and moving to Illinois located in Farm Ridge Township, LaSalle County, where he purchased a quarter-section of land and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Three years later, however, his mercantile and business instincts led him to abandon farming, and moving into Odell, Livingston County, he took up his old pursuit of merchandising, and also conducted a hotel for a period of eight years. In the meantime he was appointed Postmaster, which office he occupied ten years at Odell. Subsequently he sold his farm, and coming to this State in March, 1875, invested a portion of his capital in a stock of hardware and carried on a trade in this commodity for three years. Not long after he was seized with the illness which terminated his life in Peabody, on the 5th of March, 1880. The mother of our subject, after the death of her first husband was married, on the 2d of April, 1881, to George A. Warner, and is now a resident of Pomona, Cal. 

     Mr. Putnam, of our sketch, completed his education in the graded schools of Odell, Ill., and was there married, on the 25th of December, 1872, to Miss Ida M. Kenyon. Mrs. Putnam was born in Wayne County, N. Y., in 1853, and is the third child of Daniel A. and Antoinette (Bartell) Kenyon, whose family included five children. Her parents and grandparents were also natives of the Empire State, the latter on the father's side being Daniel and Araminta (Armstrong) Kenyon, who passed away many years ago not far from the place of their birth. Her maternal grandparents were James and Louisa B. (McNeil) Bartell, who were also born and reared in New York State, and there spent their entire lives. 

     Mr. and Mrs. Putnam after their marriage continued in Odell, Ill., three years and then, with the parents of our subject, came in 1875 to this county. Mr. Putnam engaged in mercantile business in Peabody two years, then resolved to try farming pursuits. He accordingly purchased 160 acres of improved land, upon which he followed agriculture four years, but like his father before him found that trade and similar business was more in harmony with his tastes and capacities. He accordingly returned to his merchandising in Peabody, and continued until 1882, when he removed to Towanda, Butler County, and engaged in the harness trade two years. Then selling out again, he came in 1885 to Valley Center, and putting up the sign of his new undertaking, commenced business as a barber, in which he has been very successful. 

     Mr. Putnam has never taken any active part in politics, but in performing the duties of an American citizen at the polls votes the straight Republican ticket. In religious matters he is a Methodist. His family consists of his wife and five children living, one child having been taken from the household circle by death at an early age. The eldest child living, Roy K., was born Sept. 5, 1875; Ella May, March 20, 1878; Emmett O., March 12, 1880; Ernest, Feb. 22, 1883, and William Ray, April 2, 1885. The three first mentioned are attending school at Valley Center.

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