Christiana Jane Wormwood was born on March 25th, 1804 in Alfred ME to Samuel Wormwood and Sally Sarah Patterson. Some records show the birth date as November 24th, 1804, but the March date corresponds to the death certificate. She was the oldest of four children.

Her father left home in 1811 when she was seven years old to find work as a carpenter and ended up in Houlton, ME. In 1813, he sent for the family and they started the journey north on September 1st, 1813. They first went to Saco, ME and then up to Portland, ME and stayed the night at the Elm House. They left Portland on September 7th, 1813 and traveled to Winthrop, ME where the rested for a day. Next they went to Albion, ME crossing the Kennebec River. The road from Albion, ME to Oldtown, ME was rough. They then went by canoe to what is now Danforth, ME.

From there, the carried the canoes to Grand Lake, then canoed up to North Lake, NB. From there, they carried then to Eel River Lake, NB and then canoed down the river to the confluence of the St John River, 12 miles south of Woodstock, NB. After they had gone up the St John six miles, they were met by her father with horses. From there they went overland to Houlton, ME and arrived on October 10th, 1813.

At first the family lived with Aaron Putnam. Samuel Wormwood had bought thirty acres off of Aaron Putnam at Washburn place and built the second frame house in the settlement for the family. Christiana's mother died in April of 1817 in Woodstock, NB when Christiana was 12 years old.

At age 13, She married Amos Putnam on November 1st, 1818 in Houlton, ME. She and Amos had the following children together before his death.

• Levi Houlton Putnam born in 1820 in Houlton, ME

• Lydia Trask Putnam born on June 16th, 1822 in Houlton, ME

• Alonzo Granzelo Putnam born on March 15th, 1824 in Houlton, ME

• Julia Caroline Putnam born on October 11th, 1825 in Houlton, ME

• Sally Pearce Putnam born on January 5th, 1828 in Houlton, ME

• Alvarez Gonzalvo Putnam born on October 23rd, 1829 in Houlton, ME

• Augustus Amos Putnam born on November 2nd, 1831 in Houlton, ME

• Lymon Orlando Putnam born on April 20th, 1834 in Houlton, ME

• Twins, Abraham and Polly Cook Putnam born on February 29th, 1836 in Houlton, ME. Abraham died soon after birth.

• Isa Angeline Putnam born on March 3rd, 1838 in Houlton, ME

• Varney Wheeler Putnam born on October 10th, 1839 in Houlton, ME

• Henry Harrison Putnam born on February 10th, 1842 in Houlton, ME

• Charles Championette Putnam born on November 24th, 1843 in Houlton, ME

• Maria Burleigh Putnam born on September 8th, 1845 in Houlton, ME

• Samuel Wormwood Putnam born on July 12th, 1847 in Houlton, ME

Amos died on December 29th, 1849. The 1850 U.S. Census shows Christiana living with 12 of her children. Lydia and Alonzo seem to have moved out. Her last child, Frank Lewis Putnam was born on September 18th, 1850. That is about 8 1/2 month's after Amos's death.

The 1860 U.S. Census has Christiana , age 56, living with Polly, Isa, Varney, Henry, Charles, Maria, Samuel and Frank. The property is worth $2000 and she has a personal estate of $500. There is also a four year old boy named John Stuart living with the family. I have no idea how he is connected.

The 1870 U.S. Census has Christiana, age 66, living with her sons Samuel and Frank. The property is worth $2000 and her personal estate is $200. The family owns 80 acres of land. 30 of that is improved, 40 is woodland, and 10 is something else. The farm equipment is worth $100. There are 2 milk cows worth $50 and they are growing 50 bushels of oats and 100 bushels of buckwheat.

The 1880 U.S. Census shows Christiana living with her son Frank as a farmer. In 1979, the farm had 20 acres mown and 30 not mown. The farm had 8 milk cows, 3 swine, 15 chickens and 2 other animals. It produced 20 tons of hay, 200 lbs of butter and 50 dozen eggs. The 1880 Census also shows that there were 60 acres tilled, 20 acres of forest and 50 acres of other land such as meadows and orchards. The land was worth $1500, equipment $70, livestock $225, and products $300.

Christiana died on September 14th, 1894 of Heart Failure in Houlton, ME. She was listed as being 90 years, 5 months, and 6 days old. She is buried in Evergreen Cemetery. The Bangor Daily Whip and Courier ran her obituary on September 21st, 1894.

Mrs. Christiana J. Putnam, of Houlton, died recently at her home, aged 90 years. She was one of the early settlers of the town. At the time of her demise she was the oldest member of the Unitarian society, and the only one remaining of it's original members.

Branch

• Generation 4(3rd Great Grandparents): Amos Putnam and Christiana Jane Wormwood

  • Generation 3(2nd Great Grandparents): Levi Houlton Putnam and Sara Bradbury

    • Generation 2(Great Grandparents): Amos Putnam and Cora Margaret Carpenter

      • Generation 1(Grandparents): Ervin Earl Putnam and Mary Gertrude Connelly

        • Generation 0: Robert Ervin Putnam and (Florence) Caroline Wright