Thomas Putnam

English accuser in the Salem witch trials

Thomas Putnam Sr. (1615–1686)^[2]
Ann Putnam (née Holyoke)

Thomas Putnam (March 22, 1652 [O.S. March 12, 1651] – June 3 [O.S. May 24], 1699)^[3] was a member of the Putnam family, a resident of Salem Village (present-day Danvers, Massachusetts, United States) and a significant accuser in the notorious 1692 Salem witch trials.

Biography

Thomas Putnam was born on March 22, 1652 (new style March 12, 1651) in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony, a son of Lieutenant Thomas Putnam Sr. (1615–1686) and his first wife, Ann Holyoke. He was baptized on February 16, 1652, at the First Church of Salem. He married Ann Carr on September 25, 1675, at Salem Village. Ann was born at Salem Village on June 15, 1661, the youngest daughter of George and Elizabeth Carr. They had twelve children: Ann Jr., Thomas, Elizabeth, Ebenzer, Ebenezer, Deliverance, Timothy, Experience, Abigail, Susanna and Seth; two who died young. Thomas served in the military and held the rank of Sergeant, fighting in King Philip's War. He also served as parish clerk.^[3]^[1]

Despite being the son of one of Salem's wealthiest residents, Putnam was excluded from major inheritances by both his father and father-in-law. His half-brother, Joseph, who had benefited most from their father's estate, married into the rival Porter family in Salem Town, fueling ill will between the clans. Putnam, his wife Ann, and their daughter Ann Jr. all levied accusations of witchcraft, many of them against extended members of the Porter family, and testified at the trials.^[2] Putnam was responsible for the accusations of 43 people, and his daughter was responsible for 62.^[4]

Both Putnam and his wife died in 1699, leaving their ten children orphans, two children having predeceased them.^[5]

Arthur Miller's The Crucible

In Arthur Miller's 1953 play, The Crucible, Thomas Putnam is married to Ann Putnam, and together have a daughter, Ruth Putnam, who is afflicted with a grave illness, similar to that of Betty Parris. They both have lost seven children in childbirth and point to witchcraft as the cause of it. Putnam appears in Act 1 and is apparent during Act 3. He manipulates Reverend Parris into taking his side, urging him to see that it is witchcraft that is making Salem go mad. He uses the witch trials to get the other villagers' land, such as Giles Corey's. Giles later takes Putnam to court regarding the issue.

In Popular Culture

In Burned: A Daughters of Salem Novel, a 2023 young adult novel by Kellie O'Neill, a minor character named "Blaire Putnam" is a descendant of Thomas Putnam.

Notes

^ Contemporary court records, which used the Julian calendar and the Annunciation Style of enumerating months and years, recorded his birth as 12:1m:1652, indicating the twelfth day of the first month (March) of Old Style 1651, New Style 1652. For further useful reading, see: Old Style and New Style dates; Dual dating

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Carleton, Hiram (1903), Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation, Volume, Vermont: Lewis Publishing Company, p. 137, retrieved 24 March 2013
^ ^a ^b Boyer, Paul S. (1974), Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, Harvard University Press, pp. 133–140, ISBN 9780674785267, retrieved 24 March 2013
^ ^a ^b Putnam, Eben (1891), A History of the Putnam Family in England and America. Recording the Ancestry and Descendants of John Putnam of Danvers, Mass., Jan Poutman of Albany, N.Y., Thomas Putnam of Hartford, Conn, Volume 1, Salem, Massachusetts: Salem Press Publishing and Printing Company, p. 38, ISBN 9780598998705, retrieved 24 March 2013
^ "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of the Salem Witch Hunt?". History of Massachusetts. 2013-11-19. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
^ Bower, Glenn. Just a Family History, books.google.com; accessed December 25, 2014.