As the westward migration of both American and our family progressed, it was only natural for some of our kin to move into Missouri after the Louisiana Purchase brought what was Spanish Territory into our growing United States.
The first Putman in Missouri was a John Putman in the St. Ferdinand district of St. Louis County. He appears in 1830 and 1840. I believe that he was the elusive John Putman who was in Kanawha County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1810. There was no census taken in Missouri in 1820 as it did not become a state until 1821.
In the late 1830s Benjamin Putman, the eldest son of Wilson Putman and Rebecca Morris of North Carolina, came from Rhea County in Tennessee to Rives County and was there for the 1840 census. Rives had a name change to Henry County in 1841 and Benjamin and Mary (Buchanan) Putman and their family were still there in 1850 and 1860.
In 1842, John Putman and his wife Mary (Polly) Garrett came from Marshall County in Tennessee to Greene County, Missouri. John was a son of Daniel and Sarah Putman of Abbeville and Laurens Counties in South Carolina. He died in Greene County in 1867, but many of the family remained there.
Also in the 1840s, two sons of James Putman came from Indiana to Linn County in Missouri. They were William and Sarah (Head) Putman and Benjamin and Melvina (Baker) Putman.
The stories of these four families will be told in this section.
Of course, there were other Putmans and Putnams after 1850. I will try and list what I know in the Missouri Census section at the end of this part of our family history.
BENJAMIN PUTMAN of Henry County
JOHN PUTMAN of Greene County
WILLIAM PUTMAN of Linn County
BENJAMIN PUTMAN of Linn County
The PUTNAMS of Callaway County
The PUTNAMS of Vernon County
The PUTMANS of Oregon County
The PUTMANS of Newton County
EARLY MISSOURI MARRIAGES