Edward Putnam, whom we shall meet again, was baptized July 4, 1654.  After serving as deacon of the church from its organization, a period of forty years, he resigned on account of advancing age; and in 1733, as he was entering on his eightieth year, gave this account of his family:  “From the three brothers proceeded twelve males; from these twelve males, forty males; and from these forty males, eighty-two males:  there were none of the name of Putnam in New England but those from this family.”  With respect to their situation in life, he remarks:  “I can say with the Psalmist, I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor their seed begging bread except of God, who provides for all.  For God hath given to the generation of my fathers a generous portion, neither poverty nor riches.”  When the infirmities of age prevented his longer partaking in the worship of the Lord’s Day, this good old man relinquished his residence near the church, and removed to his original homestead, in the neighborhood of his children, which had then been included in the new town of Middleton.  His will is dated March 11, 1731.  It was offered in Probate, April 11, 1748.  After making every reasonable deduction, in view of his share of responsibility for the earlier proceedings in the witchcraft prosecutions, we may participate in the affection and veneration with which this amiable and gentle-hearted man was regarded by his contemporaries.

The provisions of his will contain items which so strikingly illustrate his character, and give us such an insight of the domestic life of the times, that a few of them will be presented.  According to the prevalent custom, he had given good farms to his several children when they became heads of families.  In his will, he distributes the residue of his real estate among them with carefulness and an equal hand, describing the metes and bounds of the various tracts with great minuteness, so as to prevent all questions of controversy among them.  He gives legacies in money to his daughters, ten pounds each; and, to his grand-daughters, five pounds each.  To one of his five sons, he gives his “cross-cut saw.”  This was used to saw large logs crosswise, having two handles worked by two persons, and distinguished from the “pit saw,” which was used to saw logs lengthwise.  All his other tools were to be divided among his sons, to one of whom he also gives his cane; to another, his “Great Bible;” to another, “Mr. Jeremiah Burroughs’s Works;” to another, “Mr. Flavel’s Works;” and, to the other, his “girdle and sword.”  To one of them he gives his desk, and “that box wherein are so many writings;” to another, his “share in the iron-works;” and to another, his share “in the great timber chain.”  This, with other evidence, shows that there was a boom, and arrangements on a large scale for the lumbering business, at that time, on Ipswich River.  The provisions for his wife were very considerate, exact, and minute, so as to prevent