Ervin was born in Oakfield, ME on July 9th, 1893 to Amos Putnam(P2) and Cora Margaret Carpenter Putnam (P3)  According to his birth record, the family was living in Oakfield at the time.  His father is listed as a farmer and mother as a teacher.  The physician was Dr. Henry Putnam.  I haven’t taken the time to see how they were related, but I am sure they were.  I've noticed that some of the documents, such as his draft cards list his place of birth as Houlton, ME.  

In the 1900 U.S. Census we find Ervin, listed as being 5 years old, living with his parents and siblings in Houlton, ME.  The siblings were:

• Brother: Frank H. age 8

• Sister: Margaret L. age 3

• Sister: Harriet C. age 2

• Sister: Ruth L. age 5 Months

Now things start to get interesting.  His World War I draft card, dated June 5th 1917, has him living in Bridgewater, ME and working as a clerk in a store for Franklin Bradstreet.  He is described as being of medium height, medium build, with grey eyes and light brown hair.  Since I am covering his World War I experiences in other posts, I won’t go into any detail here.  I believe he left the army medical services as a corporal with x-Ray machine experience. Read his World War I Diary here.

Based on the 1920 U.S. Census, he seems to have come back to live and work in Bridgewater, ME.  He is listed as being 25 years old, and working as a salesman in a retail grocery store.  He is living as a boarder in a house on Main Street with Asa H. Bradstreet (age 56), Minerva B. Bradstreet (age 52) and James H. Bradstreet (age 15).  

Again, we have a lot of documentation for this period.  Ervin starts to show up in the City Directories in Massachusetts.  In 1924 he is listed as living in Boston, MA and working as a Assistant Roentgenologist.  I had to look this up, but it is another word for a Radiologist, which ties back to his army training.  The record has a “do” under residential address.  I think this means he was living the U.S. Veterans Hospital there. 

Ervin was know to take many trips back up into the backwoods of Maine.  You can see photos from some of the trips here.

In 1926 he married Mary Gertrude Connelly (C1) in Leeds or Northampton, MA.  Ervin Earl Putnam worked at the US Veterans Hospital No. 44 in West Roxbury as a lab technician and met Mary Connelly there.  When the new veterans’ hospital opened in Northampton, MA, both Mary and Ervin were transferred there from West Roxbury. Mary continued as secretary to the hospital President and Ervin became both the X-Ray Technician and the Lab Technician. They honeymooned at Togue Pond in Maine.   

On October 18th, 1927 my father, Robert Ervin Putnam (P0), was born in Northampton, MA.  In 1928, my uncle was born.  We find Mary and Ervin living at 179 North Maple St, Florence, MA.  They continued living here until 1930.  He is listed as working as a x-Ray Technician at the U.S. Veterans Hospital Number 95.  He worked in this profession at the hospital until at least 1956.   

In 1930, the family moved a block over to 22 Howes St.  They lived there until 1938.  The 1930 U.S. Census lists Ervin as being 36 years old.  They own the house and it is valued at $6500.  That translates to a real value of $192,000 today.  Zillow estimates the property is worth $298, 234 today.  Ervin is still listed as having not attended school but being able to read and write. They have noted that he was a World War I veteran.  Additional, the family appears to have owned a radio.

Ervin continues to work at the Veterans Hospital throughout the depression.  I consider him lucky to have had a government job!  In 1937 and 1938, they are listed as having a phone in the house.  In 1939, the family moved to 24 Center St, Leeds, MA.   

Ervin, Mary and family would have experienced the flood that took place in the Connecticut River Valley in the spring of 1936.   Here are some pictures of that flood.

The 1940 U.S. Census lists Ervin as being 46 years old.  He is still at 24 Center St.  The census says he was living in this house in 1935 which conflicts with the City Directory data.  The value of this house is $5000.  This would have a real value of $166,000 today.  According to Zillow, the property is now worth $289,866.  It still says he did not attend school or college, but says he had a 2 year college degree.  I suspect this is referring to his time in the Army.

Interestingly, he put in 42 hours of work the week before the census was taken.  He worked 52 weeks in 1939 and made $2600.  Assuming a 40 hour work week,he was making $1.25 an hour.  How does this translate to today?  It would represent an hourly rate of $56.50 and a yearly income of $118,000 today.

The city directories show that they continued to live at the 24 Center St house until 1946.  I am missing the info for 1947.  In the 1948 directory the have moved to a few block over to 24 Upland Road.  They lived here to at least 1957.

In 1942, Ervin registered for the draft again.  There really isn't that much new information here other then we find out his phone number was 3517V.

The only thing of note in the city directories is that he stops listing his employment in 1957.  I am thinking that was because he retired, but if someone can fill in any of these blanks let me know!

At some point after that he and Mary moved up to Houlton, ME.    Mary and Ervin took a trip to Europe in 1961 and Mary kept a journal of it which I have transcribed. They lived there until Mary's death in 1972 and grandfather continued to live there until the 1980's.  At some point in the 80's he would spend his summer at the family camp on Meduxnekeag Lake in Maine and his children's houses in Ohio.  I remember many a summer visiting the camp with him starting the wood stove in the morning.

Eventually, he had to move into a nursing home and died on March 10th, 1988 in Newark, OH at age 94.  He was buried at the family plot in Evergreen Cemetery, Houlton, ME.