Putnam County, Missouri Genealogy

Guide to Putnam County, Missouri ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
Clerk Circuit Court has birth records 1878-1903, marriage records from 1854, divorce and court records from 1855, land records from 1848; Probate Judge has probate records from 1848.

See the following:


 * Putnam County Courthouse (GenWeb)

History


The area that eventually became Putnam County, Missouri was a part of Chariton County when Missouri was admitted to the Union in 1821. Later, this area was a part of Sullivan County. Putnam County was formed from Sullivan County 28 Feb 1845, according to Walter Williams' 1913 history titled A History of Northeast Missouri, but from parts of both Adair and Sullivan Counties according to Wikipedia.

Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri (1874) also notes that "the Indians left in the summer of 1845." Then, from about 1845 to 1855, "a large number of families, many of them from Kentucky, located in the rich prairie lands and many fine farms were made."

Earlier settlers, prior to the formation of the county in 1845, are also noted by Campbell in his 1874 gazetteer: "Among the early settlers were James Cochran and Isaac and Clifford L. Summers, who located near the present site of Omaha; Isaac and Jesse Gilstrap, John F., W. G. and Miles Crabtree, and Joseph, Joshua, John and Henry Guffey, who settled on Goshen Ridge, which extends from north-west of Hartford to south-east of Martinstown; James M. Brasfield, who lived near Pleasant Home, besides the families of McCollom, Marshall, Mullinix and Martin." Campbell states that all of these individuals and families arrived prior to 1844.

The original county seat of Putnam County was Putnamville, located in the northeastern part of the county. The county seat moved to Winchester 6 Jan 1849. Sometime around 1853 this was again moved, this time to Harmony. The name of Harmony was changed "a few years later," according to Campbell's 1874 Missouri gazetteer, to Unionville.

Originally, the county was divided into the following townships: Cochran, Elm, Grogan, Locust, and Richland.

The first county court was held 28 Apr 1845 in the home of James Cochran.

The county is named after Revolutionary War Major General Israel Putnam (1718-1790).

For additional information regarding the history of Putnam County, see the following:


 * "Putnam County" chapter in Walter Williams, ed., A History of Northeast Missouri, Vol. 1, 1913 (online text in Google Books)
 * "Putnam County" section, Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874 (online text in Google Books)

Parent County
Putnam County was formed in 1845 from Sullivan County. County seat: Unionville

Boundary Changes
According to Campbell's 1874 Missouri gazetteer, the size of Putnam County was "greatly reduced" as a result of "the difficulty between Iowa and Missouri" (see "The Honey War" in Wikipedia). The same source notes that Putnam County was enlarged to include the former Dodge County in the spring of 1853.

For animated maps illustrating Missouri county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Missouri County Boundary Maps" (1804-1889) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog




 * The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all 114 Missouri Counties.

Populated Places

 * Lemons: Wikipedia
 * Livonia: Wikipedia
 * Lucerne: Wikipedia
 * Martinstown
 * Powersville: Wikipedia
 * Unionville: CityData.com | HomeTown Locator | Wikipedia
 * Worthington: Wikipedia

Additional places listed in historical sources:

 * Ayresville (20 miles west-northwest of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Central City (12 miles west of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Hartford (10 miles east of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Holbrook (10 miles north of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Howland (AKA Mendota; 6 miles north of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Mendota - see Howland
 * Newtown (25 miles southwest of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Omaha (12 miles east-northeast) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Pleasant Home (20 miles east-southeast of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Prairie (4 miles south of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Putnamville (already "fallen to decay" by 1874) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * St. John (15 miles northwest of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Shoneytown (14 miles northeast of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Terre Haute (15 miles southwest of Unionville) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)
 * Winchester (already "fallen to decay" by 1874) (Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874)

For additional information on Putnam County populated places and townships, see:

 * "Putnam County" section, Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874 (online text in Google Books)
 * Township Formation History (GenWeb)

Neighboring Counties
Adair •  Appanoose County, Iowa  •  Mercer  •  Schuyler  •  Sullivan  •  Wayne County, Iowa

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Access Genealogy

Church

 * Putnam County Churches (GenWeb)

Catholic
Unionville


 * 1870 - 1873 Unionville Catholic Church Baptism Index 1870-1873. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Genealogies and Biographies

 * Putnam County Early Photos (photos of individuals) (GenWeb)
 * Putnam County Family Group Sheets (GenWeb)
 * Putnam County, Missouri Registered Surnames (GenWeb)

Land

 * Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records (land patent data for Putnam County, including document scans, can be searched online; searching for Putnam County without entering a personal name yields 205 pages of hits)

Local Histories

 * History of Adair, Sullivan, Putnam and Schuyler counties, Missouri : from the earliest time to the present. Chicago, Illinois : Goodspeed Pub. Co., 1888.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)

History Timeline
Emphasis for this timeline is on events that affected migration, records, or record-keeping. Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Missouri Digital Heritage,


 * 1836 March - The first white settler came to what is now Putnam County.
 * 1843 - The area that included what would later become Putnam County was surveyed and old boundary lines were readjusted.
 * 1845 February 28 - Putnam County is organized.
 * 1877 June 26 - A Temperance and Reform Society was organized.

Maps



 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Putnam County townships (Histopolis)
 * Plat Book, Putnam County, undated (estimate late 1920s-early 1930s; click on "other views" for additional pages) (University of MO Digital Library)
 * Putnam County Township Map (GenWeb)

Military

 * 1900 - 1941 at FamilySearch — images
 * Putnam County Veterans (GenWeb)

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861 - 1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * at FamilySearch — images

Regiments

Service men in Putnam County, Missouri served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Putnam County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1941 - 1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Miscellaneous

 * Old Postcard Pictures - Unionville (GenWeb)

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

Current:

 * Unionville Republican (est. 1865), Unionville

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1750 - 1988 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1766 - 1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Births

 * 1827 - 1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $

Marriages

 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1805 - 2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1849 - 1853 Putnam County Marriage Index 1849-1853. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1853 - 1881 Putnam County Marriage Index 1853-1881. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1881 - 1885 Putnam County Marriage Index 1881-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

Deaths

 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

 * List of Missouri Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies
 * Putnam County Historical Society 201 South Sixteenth Street Unionville, MO 63565 Phone: 660-947-2955
 * Putnam County Historical Society (GenWeb page)
 * Putnam County Public Library
 * Putnam County Public Library (GenWeb page)