Major General Israel Putnam - Father of Colonel Israel Putnam of Belpre, Ohio (listed above). General Putnam was born 7 Jan 1718 in Salem, MA, died on 29 May 1790 in Brooklyn, CT and is buried at Brooklyn Cemetery, Windham Co, CT. He’s most famous for his actions at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Although some historians dispute it (some say it was General William Prescott or others) he is credited with the command, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.” He was a cousin of General Rufus Putnam (also listed above).

Quartermaster William Dawes, Jr. - Born on 5 Apr 1745 in Boston, MA, died on 25 Feb 1799 in Marlborough, MA and is buried either in King’s Chapel Burial Ground in Boston or Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, MA… Dawes was the first rider sent by Dr. Joseph Warren to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of their possible arrest by British forces. Dawes rode the southern overland route via the “Boston Neck” out of Boston to Lexington, while another rider, Paul Revere, took the northern water route. After Dawes and Revere met at the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington, Dawes and Revere were joined by Dr. Samuel Prescott on their journey to warn the town of Concord of possible British attack. Stopped by a British patrol outside of Concord, the three men split up. Revere was captured, while Dawes and Prescott escaped. With 2 soldiers in hot pursuit, Dawes supposedly rode into the front yard of a nearby empty house yelling, “Ive got two of them.” Fearing an ambush or trap, his British riders retreated. Falling from his horse during the encounter, Dawes walked back to Lexington. Wikipedia.com states that during the Revolutionary War, Dawes also acted as a Quartermaster in Central Massachusetts, but further research on that statement is needed. William Dawes was the great-grandfather of Union Civil War General Rufus R. Dawes of Marietta, Ohio. Rufus commanded the 6th Wisconsin Infantry and became one of Iron Brigade’s most famous commanders. One of Rufus’ sons, Charles Gates Dawes, among many other notable achievements, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925 and became Vice President of the US under Calvin Coolidge. Another of Rufus’ sons, Beman Gates Dawes, founded the Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio. A good source on William Dawes’ actions during “The Ride” can be found at http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2006/Apr/03-261934.html . A picture and an interesting poem about Dawes’s ride was written by Helen F. Moore and serves as a parody to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous “Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” and can be found at http://www.americanrevolution.com/ppl_william_dawes.html .