Hope Library will host a Living History program by Hank Lunn on Lydia Trask Putnam, a leading force in the settling of Houlton, Maine, on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. Hope Library is at 443 Camden Road, Hope, in the town office building. 

This event is free to the public. Light refreshments will be served.  Presenter Hank Lunn takes us back to his northern Maine roots with this presentation about Lydia Trask Putnam, a mother, who with with her husband Joseph Houlton, young Amos Putnam and her daughter Sarah, arrived in Woodstock, New Brunswick from New Salem, Mass., in 1804, seeking to build a new home in the District of Maine. Their new home would be called Houlton, Maine. 

When her husband asked Lydia why she had decided to follow him to the land grant in Maine, she replied: “I helped build a home in the wilderness of Massachusetts and I can do it again. I’m staying.”
 
Lydia Trask Putnam, Hank Lunn’s ancestor, became a leading force in settling Houlton, Maine in 1804-one of the Pioneer Women of Maine.
 
Lydia Trask Putnam (1733-1820) was the mother-in-law of Joseph Houlton. Putnam supported the Academy of New Salem, Massachusetts, where she was from. The land which is now Houlton (Maine was still part of Massachusetts until 1820) was deeded to the Academy, and although 13 men bought the land to support the academy, only three came to settle in Houlton.
 

Hank Lunn is a resident of Camden and a student of Maine history since his birth on a potato farm in Northern Maine.

He graduate of the University of Maine, with a major in history and government and Master degrees in School Counseling and School Administration. He retired from public education with over 40 years of experience as a teacher, counselor and educational consultant in the schools of Maine.

As a history enthusiast, he has been delivering Living History presentations to schools, historical societies, libraries, and community organizations for the past several years. Lunn’s previous presentation at Hope Library, on Lydia’s son Amos, brought a full house to Hope Library. 

Lunn and his wife have four children, seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren.