In 1788, the Ohio Company was formed by New Englanders and General Rufus Putnam became Superintendent of the Colony. He, Colonel Israel Putnam and several other Putnams settled in the Marietta area in the 1790s. Hence the first of our folks were Putnams from New England. The first arrivals settled in Washington County.
By 1800 many tracts of land were opened for settlement and the rush westward took off rapidly. Ohio became a state in 1803 and the influx began. The earliest of the Southern Putman Family to head into Ohio was Zachariah and Winnie Putman. Their lives were covered in the section on KENTUCKY PUTMANS and most of their children will be covered in the section on ILLINOIS PUTMANS as they spent most of their time in Brown County. There was one other son of Zachariah's that remained in St. Paris, Champaign County, Ohio. He was Henry Putman and his life is covered in this section.
Then there was the family of Phillip Putman in Ross County, Ohio. Philip came from the Putmans of Hampshire County, Virginia. Philip and his family are covered in the OHIO section, his folks were covered back in the West Virginia Section. They are a German family from Maryland and before then from the Frankfort area of Germany. The other German Putmans from Maryland and then Somerset County Pennsylvania, we find in Sandusky, Rush, Stark, Wayne and Van Wert Counties.
Then there were a few of the Dutch Putmans (Poutman) from New York led by Ernestus Putman from Schenectady, New York who came to Darke County long before 1820. Isaac Putman, a cousin of Ernestus headed into Clarke County.
The first Federal Census for Ohio was taken in 1820, however there was an 1810 County census for Washington County only. Prior to that, there were some tax lists that are available.