George Haven Putnam George Haven Putnam A . M . , Litt . D . ( April 2 , 1844 – February 27 , 1930 ) was an American soldier , publisher , and author . He married classical scholar Emily James Smith Putnam . He was the father of medieval historian Bertha Haven Putnam , and wind power pioneer Palmer Cosslett Putnam . Biography . The eldest son of publisher George Palmer Putnam and Victorine Haven Putnam , he was born in London , UK where his father had been living since 1841 while establishing a branch office for his New York City publishing company , Wiley & Putnam . In 1848 the family returned to the United States , settling at Stapleton , New York , on Staten Island . Haven ' s early instruction was at home by his mother and nurse . He was prepared for college , first , by the Rev . Dr . Stephen H . Tyng , who had a class of boys at St . George ' s Church , of which Dr . Tyng was rector and his son , Stephen H . Tyng , Jr . , instructor of a company of cadets . Haven next entered Starr ' s Military Academy , Yonkers , New York . In 1857 he attended Prof . John MacMullen ' s school in upper New York and the Columbia Grammar School conducted by Dr . Anthon after 1859 . He matriculated at Columbia College in 1861 , but the condition of his eyes led his father to send him abroad to consult oculists in Paris and Berlin . In Berlin , Putnam placed himself under the care of Baron von Graefe , then the leading oculist of Europe . As his sight improved , he attended courses of lectures at the Sorbonne , Paris , devoted to French literature and the literature and history of Rome . At the advice of Baron von Graefe , he discontinued lectures after reaching Berlin and sought open - air environments as necessary to complete his treatment . He visited Bayard Taylor at Gotha and en route visited the galleries at Dresden , tramped through Saxony , Switzerland , studied Bohemian life at Prague , passed through the Black Forest region , saw the toymakers of Nuremberg , continued the tramp through the pleasant region of the Thüringerwald and finally reached Göttingen , where he took up his studies at the University of Göttingen . However , with the outbreak of the American Civil War he left the university without graduating to return home to serve in the Union Army . Captured after the Battle of Cedar Creek near Middletown , Virginia , George H . Putnam was held for a short time at the notorious Libby Prison in Richmond , Virginia before being transferred to Danville where he was held until March 1865 when he was returned to the Union forces as part of a prisoner exchange . He attained the rank of major of volunteers . At the war ' s end , Major Putnam joined his father ' s publishing business , " G . Putnam Broadway . " He was also appointed deputy collector of internal revenue . Years later , following the 1911 marking of the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the war , in 1912 George H . Putnam published an account of his experiences titled " " A Prisoner of War in Virginia - An Experience in Virginia Prisons During the Last Winter of the War " . " On his father ' s death in 1872 , George H . Putnam and his brothers John Bishop Putnam and Irving took over the business , renaming it G . P . Putnam ' s Sons . George H . Putnam would be made president of the firm , a position he held for the next fifty - two years . In 1884 , Putnam hired the then twenty - six - year old Theodore Roosevelt as a special partner who in the ensuing years would write several works published by Putnam . Like his father , George H . Putnam was active in numerous civic , social , and business causes . He served on the executive committees of the Civil - service reform association , the Free - trade league and the Reform club . He also aggressively continued with his father ' s work on copyright protection for authors . In 1887 , he helped organize the American Publishers ' Copyright League that led a successful campaign resulting in the 1891 passage of an international copyright protection law . In 1899 , he married Emily James Smith . George H . Putnam retired in 1924 , formally handing over the presidency of G . P . Putnam ' s Sons to Palmer C . Putnam . He died in 1930 , aged 85 . Writings . Among Putnam ' s writings are scholarly and historical publications , but he also wrote children ' s books such as " The Artificial Mother " ( 1894 ) and " The Little Gingerbread Man " ( 1910 ) . Other published works :