In 1869, Joseph P. Allyn, a judge from the state capital of Hartford, Connecticut, died.[1] In his will he allocated US$5,000 to his father and two other men for the purposes of erecting a monument in honor of Putnam in Hartford's Bushnell Park.[1] His father added an additional $5,000 of his own money and, in either 1872 or 1873,[3] the trustees chose to commission sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward to design a statue of Putnam.[1] The statue would be the first of six Revolutionary War sculptures Ward would create during his lifetime.[2] R. M. Hunt of New York City designed an accompanying pedestal for the statue, which cost about $2,000 and was paid for by the city government of Hartford.[1] Ultimately, the monument cost a total of at least $14,000.[note 1] Ward completed the sculpture in 1873 while he was also working on some sculptures for the Connecticut State Capitol, located near Bushnell Park.[5] Casting was performed by the Robert Wood & Company foundry in Philadelphia.[3]