Husband David Putney 1 2 3
Born: 18 Oct 1794 - Connecticut 1 2 3
Christened:
Died: 31 Aug 1879 1 2 4
Buried:
Marriage: 29 Sep 1818 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 1 2 4
Wife Lavinia Stevenson 1 4
AKA: Lavina Stevenson 2
Born: 7 Jan 1796 1 2 4
Christened:
Died: 20 Apr 1872 or 1873 1 2 4
Buried:
Children
1 M James Thompson Putney 4 5
Born: 8 Jul 1819 4
Christened:
Died: 24 Dec 1858 4
Buried:
Spouse: Margaret Smullin ( - ) 6
2 M George Stevenson Putney 1 2 4
Born: 29 May 1821 - Freeport, Armstrong Co, PA 4
Christened:
Died: 1 Feb 1886 4
Buried:
Spouse: Margaret Andrews (1826- ) 1
Marr: 10 Oct 1844 1 7
3 M David Taylor Putney 2 4
Born: 20 Aug 1823 4
Christened:
Died: 2 May 1855 - St. Louis, MO 4
Cause of Death: Cholera
Buried:
4 F Mary Eleanor Putney 2 4
AKA: Mary Ellen Putney 6
Born: 26 Sep 1825 4
Christened:
Died: 1885 6
Buried:
Spouse: Absalom Smullin ( - ) 5 8
5 M William Nelson Putney 2 4
Born: 13 Apr 1829 4
Christened:
Died: Bef 1883
Buried:
6 M Samuel Boyd Putney 2 4
Born: 24 May 1831 4
Christened:
Died: Bef 1883
Buried:
7 M Nelson Osborne Putney 2 4
Born: 7 Sep 1833 4
Christened:
Died: Bef 1883
Buried:
8 M Ezra Judson Putney 2 4
Born: 31 Jul 1837 4
Christened:
Died: Bef 1883
Buried:
General Notes: Husband - David Putney
The Putney family was founded in an early day in Connecticut, and the progenitor in Pennsylvania was David Putney. He was born in Connecticut, and was reared and educated in the place of his birth. As a youth he became impressed with the opportunities offered in the then "far west." Before reaching his twenty-first birthday he emigrated to Pittsburgh, where he resided for several years and where his marriage took place. Shortly after this the family home was established at Freeport, Pennsylvania. Some fifteen years later, about 1833, Mr. Putney purchased from the Holland Land Company, at one dollar and a half per acre, a tract of one thousand acres of land, surrounding and including the site that became the village of Putneyville, in Armstrong County, the city being named in his honor.
Accompanied by his sons, James Thompson and George Stevenson Putney, he came to the spot where Putneyville would stand, and with their help erected a small cabin on the bank of the creek where a grist mill was later built. George S. Putney acted as head cook in this rather crude establishment, and served up the meals on clean chips that were later burned for kindling. Four months later a second cabin was erected and the same was stocked with a store of staple goods brought from Pittsburgh and Freeport. No other buildings were erected on the site for about one year, and during that period Mr. Putney was busy building a headrace and dam as preliminary measures for the grist and saw mills that were soon to appear in the wilderness. He employed fifteen men to cut down timber and prepare the same for construction work. When the saw mill was finally completed and lumber manufactured, a substantial frame house of one and a half stories was built for the purpose of housing the entire family. When it was finished the father and brothers were joined by Mrs. Putney and the younger children, who had remained behind in Freeport. George S. Putney, finally relieved of his duties as head cook, was installed as "boss sawyer" in the saw mill.
By the year 1840 a considerable tract of land had been cleared and made ready for cultivation and a few houses for tenants had also been erected. It was about this time that David Putney contracted to furnish a large amount of timber for the completion of Dam No. 1 on the Monongahela river, at Pittsburgh, and in order to fill the contract purchased some rafts on the Mahoning and Red Bank creeks. At this time he also purchased a tract of timber land on the Clarion river, and with his son, James Thompson Putney, did considerable lumbering in that vicinity. At the end of thirty days James T. Putney returned to Putneyville, and George S. came to assist his father. After getting out considerable timber for shipment George S. Putney was left in the Clarion river district to await a rise that would carry the timber to its destination. While waiting he cut frame timber for the Methodist Episcopal church at Freeport. At this point, however, the Putneys met with misfortune, there being no rise of the river strong enough to carry down the timber cut, and in the ensuing winter it was frozen up and eventually lost. This unlooked for circumstance involved David Putney in financial difficulties, and in 1842 he was obliged to sell a large part of his holdings in order to meet his indebtedness.
Matters were so involved that James Thompson and George S. Putney, by request of their creditors, purchased the grist and saw mills with a tract of one hundred and ninety acres surrounding them, agreeing to pay for the same the sum of four thousand dollars. Their next purchase was that of a tract of pine land in Henderson township, Jefferson County, which was not of much value then, but which later, with a railroad running through it, reached the value of eighty thousand dollars.
In 1845 the Mahoning Furnace was put in operation by John A. Colwell & Company, and immediately an outlet was demanded for the metal they manufactured. This the Putney brothers supplied, putting up a boat scaffold and building boats upon which, under contract, they carried the company's pig-iron down the creek and Allegheny river to Pittsburgh. This enterprise was accompanied with so much success that the brothers thought it wise to erect another saw mill and engage in the general lumber business. In 1848 they opened up a large merchandising establishment and admitted to partnership a third brother, David T. Putney. By 1852, through industry and well-applied energy, they had succeeded in paying on their indebtedness, and had formed the foundation for several important business enterprises that were destined to grow and that remained in the family for many years.
During this decade and during all the ensuing years until death called him, David Putney was general overseer and adviser in connection with his sons' numerous interests. He lived to see the country, in which he had settled as a pioneer, develop into a finely improved community that was named Putneyville in honor of its original founder. He always took an active part in public affairs, and in his political convictions was an uncompromising Democrat. In 1854 he was elected to membership in the state legislature and served as such for one term.