Auction Date:2009 Jun 24 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Location:6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
Brooklyn, Conn., April-June 1794. 1 vol., 61p.
In 1794, David Putnam (grandson of the Revolutionary hero Israel Putnam) was a 25-year-old man looking for a path in life, but not having the easiest time. This diary tells that story. Being duly prepared with purse & scrip, I set off from home on horseback with a view and some expectation of finding employment in a store or counting house in N.Y. or Philad. Putnam describes the packet boat from Norwich to New York, where he provides a lively account of the social life of the city, visiting friends and seeing attractions. A typical passage: I found my friend Saltonstall No. 26 Maiden Lane. How are you my grizzy? Ah! How goes it -- I thought in India before this. Oh no the tide & wind were against me -- Where's Parker? Said I -- He lives a few doors off. Let's walk & see him -- with all my heart. Ah! Old Pest, how do ye? Walk in, walk in. -- What's the word? Nothing. What have you done since I saw you? Nothing.... I have an annual ticket, said Parker, for one dollar to be admitted to see the Museum & wax work any day I wish. Have you a curiosity to see it?...
Finding no work in New York, Putnam pressed on by stage to Philadelphia. His letters of introduction failed to produce immediate results, but his unemployment gave him abundant time to look around. After seeing Hamlet one night, shedding a tear (he notes) for poor Ophelia, he went to watch the deliberations in Congress: Some members of this body certainly possess some very rare members -- alias faculties -- What think you, sir, of a centinel that watches & sleeps at the same time? Or what do you think of a man that can read a newspaper, read or write a letter, while he takes part in the deliberations of state affairs? Is not that man's service worth six dollars per day, or which 24 hours he spend five sixths in amusements and one sixth in writing familiar letters to his acquaintances? He must be an invaluable member of the supreme legislature.... Do you believe that a member of Congress, when present in the House & in his seat, would ask another what was the question just taken which had for some time been debated?...
Putnam also viewed a carriage drawn by a mechanical eagle, a balloon ascension, but noting that It is easier to spend money than earn it, he soon elected to return to New York, where his lack of fortune continued. Traipsing about the city and dockyards, looking for a clerk's position in any store that would take him.
Perhaps the most interesting passage in the diary concerns his encounter with refugees from the violent revolution in Haiti. The poor refugees from the Cape excite our compassions. They've lost all their negroes & property & obliged to fly to the land of liberty for an asylum from English oppression and the assassination of their rebellious slaves whom they cannot now knock down with a billet of wood, a stone, or crow bar & leave dead at their feet -- without being called inhuman -- a wrong action or a fault. Truly had fate to be thus in a few months divested of the sweet of life -- the inflicting pain on poor inoffensive negroes. -- What shall any one presume to take the part of rebellious negroes against polite Frenchmen? It shall not be suffered. We, in the Cape, give these slaves bread -- if they pay twice the value of it in sweat -- but if not, they may subsist on air. Poor Frenchwomen! We will make them an offer of our purses the things in our houses -- even the houses themselves. We can be as humane as Uncle Toby was to poor Lefevre, to offer them anything or everything we have...
Putnam moved in with a struggling merchant in June 1794, doing little business and eating only bread and milk. In October, when the diary ends, he surrendered, taking a position as a steward aboard a ship bound for Europe.
A wonderful, forlorn account of a young man vainly seeking employment in the early Republic. Witty and engaging, the sad truth of the diary pours off every page.
Descended Directly in the Putnam-Hildreth Families of Marietta, Ohio
Condition: Good condition.
Auction Location:
6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
Previewing Details:
Tuesday, June 23, 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday, June 24 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Taxes:
| Tax | Rate | Desc. |
| Ohio |
5.5% |
Ohio State Tax |
Buyer's Premiums:
| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
Infinite |
17.5% |
Additional Fees:
Shipping Details:
Cowan's is happy to provide a shipping estimate in advance of the auction. We have partnered with an outside shipper - Wrap-It Postal. Their services to our respected customers are based inside the Cowans facility.Please contact Wrap-It Postal by email at shipping@cowans.com, or call 513.871.1670 (ext.19). You can also submit a request for an online quote . All shipping and packing costs will be charged separately by Wrap-It Postal to your credit card on file.
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Cowan's is happy to provide a shipping estimate in advance of the auction. We have partnered with an outside shipper - Wrap-It Postal. Their services to our respected customers are based inside the Cowans facility.Please contact Wrap-It Postal by email at shipping@cowans.com, or call 513.871.1670 (ext.19). You can also submit a request for an online quote . All shipping and packing costs will be charged separately by Wrap-It Postal to your credit card on file.
Cowan's is in no way responsible for the acts or omissions of independent handlers, packers or shippers of purchased items or for any loss, damage or delay from the packing or shipping of any property.
ADVICE TO INTERNATIONAL BUYERS: Cowan's will not ship any package containing a firearm to any location other than within the United States. Buyers outside the United States must make their own shipping arrangements taking full risk for the transportation of any firearm.
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Buyers are required to pay for all packing, shipping and insurance charges. Overseas duty charges are the responsibility of the successful bidder. Be aware that for larger and/or valuable items, shipping charges can be substantial.
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