William Rufus Putnam Jr. was born on June 13, 1812, in Ohio to William Rufus Putnam. His father was a farmer who owned $10,000 of real estate by 1850. He married Phebe Wood, and the couple apparently had no children. They lived in Marietta, Ohio, and he earned a living as a farmer. By 1850, he owned $3,000 of real estate. A decade later, he owned $25,000 of real estate and $1,200 of personal property.
During the Civil War, he served as a militia leader and as chairman of the Military Committee of Washington County. In 1863, he directed the militia’s response to Confederate general John Hunt Morgan’s raid.
He moved to Muskingum, Ohio, in the 1860s, and by 1870, he owned $29,000 of real estate and $22,000 of personal property. His wife died on June 6, 1877, and he passed away in Washington County, Ohio, on May 1, 1881.