The names of Richard Devens, Nathaniel Gorham, and Josiah Bartlett would add lustre to the history of any municipality. All three were actively engaged in town affairs during the trying days of the Revolution and in the important years which followed, when state and national constitutions were being established, and each gained for himself in his special line of service more than a local reputation. Wyman's invaluable work gives an account of these gentlemen. Hon. Richard Devens, commissary-general in the Revolutionary army, was the first president of the school trustees. His portrait, painted by Henry Sargent, 1798, and bequeathed to his native town by Charlotte Harris, hangs in the Boston Branch Library at Charlestown, City square. A later generation has made the name of Devens still more illustrious. Our interest in Hon. Josiah Bartlett, M. D., Ll.D., (1759-1820) centres chiefly in his sketch of 1813, which may be called the first history of Charlestown. Hon. Nathaniel Gorham, regarded by Wyman as one of the most eminent men that ever lived in Charlestown, died while serving on the board of trustees, and was succeeded by his son and namesake the following May, 1797.
Two others elected to the original body of trustees should have more than a passing mention,—Aaron Putnam, Esq., and Joseph Hurd. The former was the first treasurer of the organization, an important office when we consider that it was for a better management of the school funds that a charter was granted by legislative act. Dr. Putnam's name deserves to be mentioned in connection with Charlestown affairs, for it was he who in 1801, sold to the United States four acres of his own, and as agent secured sixty-five acres, exclusive of flats, for a navy yard. Joseph Hurd, if we mistake not, served as the first secretary of the trustees. He was the son of Benjamin Hurd,
