Thomas Putnam

Thomas Putnam was born on December 3, 1855 in Seneca Falls, New York.  In 1864, his family moved to Iowa.  After working for two lumber companies and strongly desiring his own business, he moved to Carrington in 1886 and bought a small lumber yard.  Mr. Putnam eventually acquired 29 farms and two sections of land near Calgary, Alberta.  He served in the State House of Representatives (1910 and 1912) and the State Senate (1914 and 1930).  He was also president of the North Dakota Lumberman's Association in 1913.

The collection consists of personal and business correspondence and records relating to Putnam's family and his life and work, including lumber and coal business, agriculture, banks and banking, insurance, land holdings, legal affairs, Red Cross, the Depression, World War I and taxes.  Includes material from his years in Brainerd, Minnesota, and lumber business and land dealings in Carrington and Canada.  There is also material on Carrington and Foster County history.  Correspondents include Lyman R. Casey, Nathan Graves, Louis B. Hanna, Edward P. Kelly, William Frank Moore, and James Morris.
 

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