Putnam Catlin letter to Steuben Butler

00-2023-38-0

Item

Identifier: 00-2023-38-0

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Putnam Catlin letter to Steuben Butler

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Content Description

Letter from Putnam Catlin to his friend Steuben Butler explaining his family's financial situation and the difficulties he faces providing his children with education due to both tuition costs and to the loss of labor on his farm if he doesn't have them there to help. He notes that he may be able to sell land to pay for his son, George Catlin, to attend the Litchfield Law School for a year. He writes, "If he shall persist in the choice of law he will have to glean for himself an Education in some law office, perhaps, I may indulge him a year at Litchfield."

Dates

Creation: 1815-05-03

Creator

Catlin, Putnam, 1764-1842 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection are in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

Putnam Catlin was born in Litchfield in 1764. He was admitted to the bar in 1786 and migrated to Pennsylvania shortly after where he farmed. He married Polly Sutton Catlin in 1789 in Wilkes-Barre, PA with whom he had fourteen children. The family moved around Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier of New York state. The fifth of their children was artist George Catlin. He attended the Litchfield Law School in 1817, was admitted to the bar and practiced law for two years in Pennsylvania before giving it up to train as an artist.

Extent

1 items

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Letter from Putnam Catlin to his Steuben Butler explaining his family's financial situation and the difficulties he faces providing his children with education due to both tuition costs and to the loss of labor on his farm if he doesn't have them there to help. He notes that he may be able to sell land to pay for his son George Catlin to attend the Litchfield Law School for a year. He writes, "If he shall persist in the choice of law he will have to glean for himself an Education in some law office, perhaps, I may indulge him a year at Litchfield."