Joseph Gordon Putman
Back to Main
Joseph Gordon Putman Nov. 15, 1817 - Dec 24 1898
(Photo courtesy of Betty Robertson Riley)
Joseph Gordon Putman (Nov. 15, 1817 - Dec 24 1898)
On Dec 3 1863, Joseph Gordon Putman married Lusina (Sinia) Heard (Jan 24 1815 - Feb 8 1878) . After the death of his first wife, he later married Kate Tillford (May 2 1844 - Mar 31 1917). Joseph, Lusina, Kate, Caleb and Mary are buried in the Rutherford County Putman cemetery in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. was married on Dec 3, 1856 to Caleb Anthony Robertson (Feb 29 1831-Nov 14 1906)
History of Joseph Gordon PutmanBy Betty Robertson Betty Robertson Riley of Knoxville, Tenn. Betty is the gr-gr-great granddaughter of Joseph Putman- Jahu's oldest son -the only child of Jahu that did not move to NW Ark. The following are a history of Joseph and pictures from Betty: During the Civil War, Joseph Gordon Putman served as a scout for the Confederate Army in many detailed assignments in the middle Tennessee area. He was such valuable aid to the Confederate ranks that the Federal forces offered a great price for his delivery into their hands. Despite numerous difficult situations, his mental acumen and expert horsemanship provided means of escape. One escape he loved to recall centered on the love expressed in action by a young Negro girl. The girl was in the yard, and seeing Joseph pursued by the enemy, she ran to the gate, opened it, and quickly closed it after he passed through. The seconds involved detained the Federal officer long enough for Joseph to clear the area. Each time he was pursued, he was clever enough and possessed too fine and fast a horse for the enemy to overtake him. His grandson, Cogar, said he was a "blue-blooded Southerner." Joseph was a Royal Arch Mason and belonged to the Pythagoras Chapter #23.Joseph's son, John W. Putman, acted as a litter bearer after the Battle of Murfreesboro. Both he and his Negro servant, Hance, who accompanied him during the war, had superb physical strength. Theirs was a needed service in this line of duty. Lusina Heard (Joe's wife) served her community as a nurse. Their daughter, Mary (Robertson-Betty's grandmother) was by nature and experience a nurse and fortunate the sick who could procure her services which were always gratis-rich and poor, kindred and strangers alike shared her attentions. Mary was strong in body and rarely thwarted in her plans to outwit Federal soldiers who came to plunder during the Civil War. On one occasion she was forced to release her fine riding mare kept in the yard near the house. She considered this a trivial matter as she was able to successfully conceal $4,000 in gold, sewed in a belt which she wore around her waist during the entire period of the war. When asked about this service to her family she spoke humbly of the load and her gratitude for the aid the money gave after the war. In this way she saved the money from the ravaging Yankee soldiers. Family tradition says when my grandfather Nathan Cogar Robertson (Mary's son) was 18, his father Caleb gave him a horse and saddle and said, 'Come and visit us sometime.' He went to live with his grandfather Joseph Gordon and his second wife Kate (called "Aunt Kate"). (These stories were told to Kathleen Robertson by her father, Nathan Cogar Robertson, adding her opinion that, "Grandpa Putman was a smart old man.") |
