the author site and blog of Joseph Charles Putnam
I remember the first time I visited the reconstruction of George Rogers Clark’s cabin on Clark’s Point, on a bluff overlooking the Ohio River and the skyline of Louisville. It was a cool day in early 2016 and I was quite excited to find the site. The cabin site is part of the Falls of … Continue reading History up in Flames: George Rogers Clark’s cabin at the Falls of the Ohio
This July I walked through the book aisle at my local Walmart, the only one in my rural county. I saw one book about the 1619 Project, four detailing Juneteenth, and two teaching little Black children to love their blackness. How many books in that aisle were biographies of America's early White leaders, lauding Southern … Continue reading Churches, Kinism, and the Great Replacement Theory
It was back in July, at an Amish sawmill a few miles from me. I was there to order some rough cut (aka not planed smooth) green lumber for a project on my homestead. Local cut poplar boards to redo an old building I have. There were sheaves of wheat stacked in a field visible … Continue reading The Cord
Well my readers, I have done it. I have indie published a sequel to my earlier work TTOOP on the two year anniversary of its release. Into The Twilight is a small book consisting of seven essays and is 58 pages in length. It will only be available in paperback. Into The Twilight is in … Continue reading Book Release: *Into The Twilight* now available!
The hysterical reaction to the overturn of Roe has surprised me somewhat, as I live in a majority White rural area that still has a (very thin) veneer of Christian morality to it. The protests have not resulted in rioting and violence like the BLM protests did two summers ago, likely because the most vile … Continue reading The Fallout from Roe
Well my readers, June was Pride month and LGBTQ activism was everywhere in our face. And it was the second annual celebration of Juneteenth also. Then the hysterical leftist protests started after the supreme Court struck down Roe on the 24th, with one company (Netflix) pledging up to 10K per trip to send their pregnant … Continue reading Christianity, Pagans, and Boycotts
On the 3rd of last month a Louisville native released a book titled My Old Kentucky Home: The Astonishing Life and Reckoning of an Iconic American Song. The author is one Emily Bingham, a PH.D and heir of the famed journalism family that long owned the Courier-Journal newspaper. She has previously written three books, a … Continue reading Analyzing Foster’s song *My Old Kentucky Home*
I stood in the circa 1800 church, my hand resting on a 220 year old hand hewn log beam. This church, the Old Mud Meeting House in Mercer county, was established by Dutch Reformed settlers which included my Banta kin. I wondered if some of my distant relatives had held the broad axes that shaped … Continue reading Old Times Not Forgotten
I support religious liberty. People have the right to seek peace with their creator. The 1st Amendment recognizes complete religious liberty to all faiths. The state has no right to restrict religion, except when its services or rituals entail criminal acts, such as human sacrifice or sexual abuse of children. (A Jewish story from NYC … Continue reading Religious Liberty (and the Shakers)
Oh, southern star, how I wish you would shineAnd show me the way to get home. ---Southern Star by Alabama, 1988 Most 21st century Americans are lost. Let me tell you why, and how I found my way home. Let us talk of regional culture and reconnecting to one's roots. America is a bit different. … Continue reading Family, Place, and the Way Home
God, Kin, and Soil 