The first folks out here were French fur trappers in the late 1600s. Eastern Minnesota was given to the British in 1763 and the area became part of the United States in 1783, In 1787 it became part of the Northwest Territory. The lands west of the Mississippi became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The St. Paul area became a large settlement in the 1820s. In 1836, Minnesota became a part of the Wisconsin Territory, and in 1849 Minnesota became a Territory in itself. In 1858 Minnesota became the 23rd State.
The initial settlers came from the northern European Countries. Probably because they were the only souls able to handle the winters here. Timber and farming, and I suppose drinking, were the majors factors in settling the area.
Once again, absolutely none of our Southern English branch of the family ventured into these climes, and for darn good reason. The first Putnams to arrive were all originally from the Massachusetts branch, coming from Massachusetts, New York, and Maine. By the mid 1850s, folks came from Vermont and New Hampshire. By the mid 1860s, some of the Dutch Putmans came west out of central New York State. Only a very very few folks came to Minnesota from the South, such as Illinois. Most simply came straight out of the East, most of them out of New York.
In the following Census returns, I will try to give the lineages of these folks so you can track them back in time. There were State Censuses taken in 1857, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895 and 1905. I have added them in chronologically with the Federal Censuses as that makes the most sense. As in all these censuses I will be trying to get in as much personal information and lineage ties to help you track them back. Good Luck, Enjoy and if you can add or correct anything let me know.
Census Years
1850-1895
1900-1920
1930-1940
1950