The Dutch Putman Family

Johannes Putman of New York

There are three major groups of families in America with the name of PUTMAN and PUTNAM. One English, one German and one Dutch in origins. This is a brief early history of the Dutch Putman family that descended from Johannes Putman or Poutman who was born in the Netherlands and came to America in about 1660.

Most of the information contained here comes from several works. The History of the Putman family in the Netherlands written in 1736 by Adolph Hendrick Putman and translated by DeWitt C. Putman and found in of Eben Putnam’s Putnam Leaflets, volume 7, May of 1899; Genealogy of David Putman and his Descendants written in 1916 by George W. Putman; The Putmans of the Mohawk Valley, found in the works of Eben Putman, A History of the Putnam Family in England and America, volume II, 1908; and from a compilation of information by Warren T. Putman written in 1989, The Putman Family New York and Beyond. Most recent information comes from the research of Warren Putman of Rio Linda, California and from Mark Putnam of Caro, Michigan. I am especially in debt to good old Warren.

A fair amount is known about Johannes or Jan Putman, but nothing is positive about his parents or his ancestors. From piecing together bits of letters and information gleaned by DeWitt Putman in the late 1800s, it appears that the earliest known forebearer of Jan Putman was one Rutger Putman, Jan’s great grandfather.