Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy

United States Indiana  Putnam County

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

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed 31 December 1821 from Vigo and Owen Counties and unorganized territory.
 * County Seat:  Greencastle

Neighboring Counties
Parke •  Motngomery  •  Hendricks  •  Morgan  •  Owen  •  Clay

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

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Indiana County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Indiana County Boundary Maps" (1790-1873) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
For a list of record loss in Indiana Counties see: Indiana Counties with Burned Courthouses

Cemeteries

 * A surname index (43,478 listings)of many cemeteries in Putnam County is available at the Putnam Public Library site.


 * Cemeteries-InGen Web


 * see Cemeteries - Linkpendium


 * Putnam County pioneer cemeteries

Census Records

 * Index to Mortality Schedule for Putnam County (1860, 1870, 1880) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)
 * Index to Defective, Dependent &amp; Delinquent Census for Putnam County (1880) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)

Church Records

 * Putnam County Churches - INGenWeb

Directories

 * Directory of Businesses in Putnam County, Indiana (1858) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)

Local Histories

 * Ellsworth, Spencer. Records of the Olden Time, or, Fifty Years on the Prairies Embracing ... the Organization of the Counties of Putnam and Marshall, Incidents and Reminiscences Connected Therewith, Biographies of Citizens, Portraits and Illustrations. (La Crosse, Wis: Brookhaven Press (a division of NMT Corp.), 2003.)other librariesINTERNET ARCHIVE


 * History of Putnam County - Linkpendium

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Indiana
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * Maps and Gazetteers - Linkpendium

Military Records

 * Military War data - INGen Web


 * see Military Records and History - Linkpendium
 * Veterans in Putnam County, Indiana (1913) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)

War of 1812

Mexican War


 * Residents of Putnam County Who Served in the Mexican War (1846-1848) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)

Civil War

Civil War service men from Putnam County 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.


 * 1st Regiment, Indiana Heavy Artillery, Company E
 * 6th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company C
 * 10th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company H
 * 11th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Companies F, H, and K
 * 13th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
 * 13th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company F, and H
 * 14th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company D
 * 15th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company F
 * 16th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
 * 20th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
 * 27th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, and I
 * 43rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, and H
 * 59th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company G
 * 78th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (60 days, 1862), Companies A, and B
 * 97th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company D
 * 99th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company I
 * 115th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (6 months, 1863-4), Companies C, H, and I
 * 123rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies E, and G
 * 133rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864),
 * 149th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies C, H, and I
 * 156th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company D, and E
 * 28th US Colored Troops, Addition Recruits for Colored Troops

World War I

World War II

Newspapers

 * Wabash Valley obituary index contains most of Vigo County, but much of other counties, including Putnam. These are indexes to obituaries published in Terre Haute newspapers from 1900-2007.


 * An obituary index from The Banner Graphic, newspaper of Greencastle, covers 1975 to the present and is updated every two weeks at the Putnam Public Library site.


 * see Newspaper Records - Linkpendium

Probate Records
Online Records
 * 1798 – 1999 Indiana Wills and Probate Records 1798-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

School Records

 * Directory of Teachers for Putnam County (1936) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)

County Courthouse
Putnam County Courthouse 1 Courthouse Square Street PO Box 546 Greencastle, IN 46135-0546 Phone: 765.653.2648 County Health Department has birth and death records. County Clerk has marriage records from 1822, Divorce and Probate Records from 1825 and Court Records from 1828. County Recorder has land records.

Family History Centers

 * Crawfordsville Indiana Family History Center

For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the Family History Center directory.

Libraries
The Putnam County Library has a Local History and Genealogy Department. You can search all their indexed books and databases from this Web site.If you find something of interest, the librarians will do a short look up for you for free.

Vital Records

 * Birth Records; Death Reports; Marriage - INGenWeb
 * Indiana State Digital Archives

Birth Records

 * 1882-1888 - Putnam County Birth Index 1882-1888 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Marriage Records

 * 1802-1892 Indiana Marriages, 1802-1892 - Ancestry.com $


 * 1780-1992 - FamilySearch


 * 1811-2007 - FamilySearch


 * see Vital Records - Linkpendium

Death Records

 * 1882-1909, 1942-1955 - Greencastle Death Index 1882-1909 and 1942-1955 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1891-1922 - Putnam County Death Index 1891-1922 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Putnam County, Indiana Web Sites

 * Putnam County, IN History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Indiana Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Indiana Genealogy Network Group on Facebook

Places

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * The Indiana State Library has an Internet page of records for Putnam County. They are adding new databases, so check back often.
 * Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Putnam County Public Library'sLocal History and Genealogy Department
 * Putnam County Public Library'sLocal History and Genealogy Department