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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Garland County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Dr. J. H. Putnam, ear and eye surgeon, Hot Springs, Ark. Among the various important professions none requires more sagacity and skill than that of the specialist. Dr. Putnam, a native of Montpelier, Vt., was born September 13, 1838, being a son of John G. and Thankful B. Putnam, who were also natives of the Green Mountain State, but were of English descent and early settlers of Massachusetts. John G. Putnam followed the occupation of a farmer during his life, and died in his native State at the age of seventy-eight years. The mother died in Iowa at the age of seventy-five years. Their family consisted of five children. Two died in infancy, one was killed in the battle of the Wilderness, one is a farmer in Southern Iowa, and the youngest now living is Dr. J. H. Putnam. He passed his boyhood days on his father’s farm and received his education in Morrisville Academy at Morrisville, Vt. When twenty years of age he began the study of medicine, and took his first course of lectures at Castleton, Vt. In 1860 he went to New York, attended the Twenty-third Street College, and in November of the same year entered the United States army for five years. In January, 1861, he was on the vessel Star of the West when she was fired upon from Morris Island. About 200 passengers were on board, and the Doctor has never met one of her passengers from that day to this. In April, 1861, he went to Fort Pickins, being transferred to the United States Engineer Corps, and served until 1865, when he entered Bellevue College. From there he went to Long Island College, where he graduated in June, 1867, and afterward began practicing at Ludlow, Vt., remaining there until 1877. He then moved to Rutland, of the same State, remained there until 1885, when he came to Hot Springs, where he has since been actively engaged in his profession, making a specialty of eye and ear diseases. He is a member of the Connecticut River Valley Medical Association, Rutland County Medical Society, Rutland Local Society, and he is now with Dr. Leroy Dibble erecting an eye and ear infirmary at an estimated cost of about $20,000, located on Cottage Street, east of Park. This will be able to accommodate about fifty people. The Doctor was married, in March, 1866, to Miss Lettice A. Spear, a native of Vermont, and one child, John W., is the result of this union. The Doctor is a member of the Masonic fraternity, K. T. and the K. of P. His paternal grandfather, John Putnam, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and a direct descendant of old Israel Putnam of Revolutionary fame.

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This family biography is one of 55 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Garland County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Garland County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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