George Putnam, Sr.

George Putnam (August 16, 1807 – April 11, 1878) was an American minister and a founding member of the Transcendental Club of writers and intellectuals. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School, Putnam worked as pastor of the Unitarian First Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, for nearly 50 years. He also served in the Massachusetts Legislature for two years and was a Fellow of Harvard Corporation.

Early life and education Putnam was born in Sterling, Massachusetts, on August 16, 1807, to Andrew and Jerusha (Clapp) Putnam. His father, a well-to-do farmer, died in 1809, leaving a widow and six children, of whom George was the youngest. He attended Leicester Academy and Groton Academy and graduated from Harvard College in 1826.

Soon after graduating, Putnam became headmaster at Duxbury Academy. While he was working in Duxbury, local minister Benjamin Kent and Hollis Professor of Divinity Henry Ware encouraged him to enter the ministry. Putnam enrolled at Harvard Divinity School in 1827 and received his Doctor of Divinity degree in 1830, becoming a Unitarian, in a departure from his family's Congregationalist denomination. Dr. Putnam assumed his pastorship, leading one of the oldest congregations in Massachusetts. He preached his first sermon at Roxbury on April 11, 1830, and remained until his death 48 years later. He attended four of the ensuing meetings of the Club, the last on September 1, 1837, at Emerson's house. In 1847, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

On January 7, 1846, Putnam delivered the Massachusetts election sermon, a public address delivered by a prominent clergyman to the governor and legislature to mark the opening of the legislative session. Among other remarks, Putnam urged his listeners to invest in the commonwealth's public education and condemned slavery as "that most fearful stain that rests upon our national fame." In this address, he indicated that he opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories but favored tolerating it where it already existed.

In 1837, he delivered a lecture entitled "The Circuit of Waters" for the Boston Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.

Personal life In 1831, Putnam married Elizabeth Ann Ware, daughter of his mentor Henry Ware. Elizabeth died on March 24, 1866.

Following a long illness, Putnam died at home in Roxbury on April 11, 1878. He was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. Putnam was succeeded in his Roxbury ministry by John Graham Brooks, who had served as his associate pastor since 1875.

Printed sermons