Excerpt from A Sketch of General Israel Putnam

In 1739, Israel, and his brother-ia-law, John Pope, bought of Gov. Jonathan Belcher, a tract of land of about five hundred acres, of which he became sole owner in 1741. It was part of alarge district known as the Mortlake Manor, which, while it had special privileges of its own, was included in the territory that in 1786 was detached from Pomfret and erected into a separate and distinct township under the name of Brooklyn. Certain foundation stones, and a well and pear tree, have long marked the place where our brave pioneer built for himself his first house in Connecticut. Here was the family home, until larger aecom modations were required, when he builtthe plain, but more commodious and comfortable house to which the domestic scene was transferred and in which many years afterward the old hero died. This, with its narrow chamber in which he breathed his last, is still standing and is an object of great interest with patriot-pilgrims who year after year visit it from afar. From the outset, his fondness for agriculture and horticultural pursuits was. Conspicuously shown in the vigorous way in which he sub dued and cultivated his land, and introduced into Pomfret and its neigh borhood all its best varieties of fruit trees, while it is chiefly due to his taste, sagacity, and enterprising spirit that were planted the long lines of ornamental trees which have graced the streets and added so much to the beauty of Brooklyn. Although at first the exemptions which the owner of Mortlake Manor enjoyed created a jealousy among the inhabi tants of Pomfret and rather. Estranged him from participation in their affairs, yet his sterling worth was early recognized and his public spirit became more and more manifest. He was among the foremost in es tablishing good schools in the town and did not fail to ensure to his sons and daughters a higher education than he had received himself. Before he entered upon his military career, he joined other leading settlers in a library association which had a marked effect in developing a love of reading among the people and in elevating their general char acter/ He was not only a thrifty and highly prosperous farmer, but, from first to last, he was also an earnest and helpful friend of all the best interests of the little, but growing colony.

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