Elizabeth Noble Whitney Putnam was born on March 30, 1822, in Northampton, Massachusetts. Her brother, Josiah Whitney, was chief engineer of the California Geological Survey from 1860-1874 and Mt. Whitney was named in his honor. Elizabeth taught at the Abbot Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, from 1839 to 1840 and married Samuel Osgood Putnam (1820-1906) in 1848. Soon thereafter Samuel went to California in search of gold, and Elizabeth and her daughter Katharine Putnam Hooker (1849-1935) joined him in 1853, traveling by way of the Isthmus of Panama and experiencing the wreck of the Tennessee. Elizabeth died in San Francisco on June 3, 1863.
From the description of Letter to J.D. Whitney, Sr., 1853, March 11. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 669985802
