Maine is huge, as far as New England goes. It represents about half of the total acreage of all New England. It juts out into the North Atlantic, and Vikings made small settlements over 1000 years ago. The first European explorers were the Cabot brothers in 1498. By 1625, several settlements were made in the general area of York and on up to the Portland area on the southern coast. Maine was privately owned under a land grant until it was purchased by Massachusetts in 1677. In 1685, Massachusetts lost its claim to the area, and it was simply called the Province of Maine as a part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony up until 1779. Maine somehow survived pressures by the Indians under French control, and by the British during the Revolution and the War of 1812. Maine was finally included as a portion of the Missouri Compromise, and finally became a state, the 23rd, in 1820.
The 1790, 1800 and 1810 census reports were technically part of Massachusetts.
In the late 1830s, there were major border wars along the northern border with Canada, and the upper and eastern borders were not resolved until 1842.
The early settlers were farmers, but after the Civil War, ship building and factories increased the potential for making a living. Even today, the bulk of the population lies within a few miles of the coast. Western and Northern Maine is mostly lumber and paper making. Northeastern Maine still produces potatoes in Aroostook County.
The first Putnams to venture into Maine were, of course, part of the New England line. Of the first three families in the 1790 census, Stephen came from southern New Hampshire, John and Caleb from northeastern Massachusetts.