Margaret Bell Merrill, '94.
It is a great pleasure for me to add my word of appreciation with respect to the splendid influence that Mr. Putney exerted at St. Johnsbury Academy. He was always fair, always friendly, and his sense of humor was a delight. A thorough scholar himself, he was not satisfied with superficial work. He was able to sympathize with the pupil's view of life and yet he knew how to enlarge that view. The branches of Latin and Greek which he taught did not afford him full scope for expressing the originality that was a remarkable part of his character; but I remember a course of reading in English literature which our class took under him as an extra, and there he was able to disclose the poetic part of his nature, and we were able to know him as a thinker and a seer. I look back with gratitude to the days at "St. Jack."
George R. Montgomery, '88.
I first saw Mr. Putney in August, 1881, when I came alone and somewhat homesick to seek admission to the Academy. He was standing on the steps of South Hall ready to greet new students with his quiet friendly manner and sincere expression of interest. He made us feel at once that we had in him a friend, one who understood us and expected the best from us. I like to recall this picture of him for it gave me an impression of the man that I have never had occasion to change.
Mr. Putney was a great teacher. Thorough in detail and wise in daily drill that he knew was necessary for our success, he showed a love for the literature that he taught and an enthusiasm that was contagious. Fortunate the boy or girl who learned Virgil under his wise guidance. Always sympathetic and encouraging, he could detect the bluffer and discourage one who tried to get through his lessons without adequate preparation. He corrected our mistakes, but encouraged our attempts to succeed, even though we often failed. He appealed to our ambition, to our sense of obligation, and to our pride; and thus he led rather than drove us to our work. And work we did; we did not dare to disappoint him, we did not wish to disappoint him. Later in college we had occasion more than once to be thankful for the wise and sound training we had had under his leadership.
It is, however, the personality of the man that lives with us, whether we remember him best in the classroom or in the chapel exercises, in the dormitory or in some other phase of his active life. He was quiet, even-tempered, but forceful. His voice was not often raised, but it carried conviction. His directions were accepted without protest or question; or if, as I remember well, on one occasion we did protest, he had a firm, convincing manner that made us accept his word as final. And yet there was no rancor left, we felt that Mr. Putney was right. As a rule he was serious, but he had a merry twinkle in his eye that told of a sense of humor and an ability to join with his students in their good times. In a very real sense he entered into the lives of all of us and made upon us that impression that makes us rise and say with one voice, "He was a Christian gentleman."
Gilbert S. Blakely, '84.