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.

Putnam County, Indiana
Map
Location of Indiana in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	December 31, 1821
County Seat	Greencastle
Courthouse
Address	Putnam County Courthouse 1 Courthouse Square Street PO Box 546 Greencastle, IN 46135-0546 Phone: 765.653.2648 County Website
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Historical Facts

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1882	1822	1882	1828	1824	1825	1807
Statewide registration for births in 1907 and deaths in Oct 1899. General compliance by 1917.

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

Description

The county was named for Israel Putnam. The County Seat is Greencastle and was founded December 31, 1822. It is located in the West Central area of the state.

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

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

Resources

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
INGenWeb	WorldCat	Billion Graves
USGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Project
Billion Graves
See Indiana Cemeteries for more information.

• see Cemeteries - Linkpendium

• Putnam County pioneer cemeteries

Census Records

For tips on accessing Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy census records online, see: Indiana Census.

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

Church Records

Most church records are held by individual churches. For contact information, check a phone directory, such as SearchBug or Dex Knows. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository.

• Putnam County Churches - INGenWeb

For more information about these major repositories, see Indiana Church Records.

Finding More Church Records

Additional church records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy Church Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

Directories

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

Histories

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 Libraries, Internet Archive
  

• History of Putnam County - Linkpendium

Land and Property

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

After land was transferred from the government to private ownership, subsequent transactions were recorded at the courthouse, where records are currently housed.

See Indiana Land and Property for additional information about early Indiana land grants and patents.

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Indiana
• Family Maps of Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
• Maps and Gazetteers - Linkpendium
  

Military Records

• Military War data (all wars):
  • INGenWeb
    
  • USGenWeb

• 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

• 1919 - Indiana, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1919 at FamilySearch — index

World War II

Newspapers

• see Newspaper Records - Linkpendium

Obituaries

• Wabash Valley Obituary Index - contains most of Vigo County, but includes Putnam and other counties. These are indexes to obituaries published in Terre Haute newspapers from 1900-2007.
  

• Putnam Public Library - obituary index from The Banner Graphic, newspaper of Greencastle, covers 1972 to the present and is updated every two weeks.
  

Probate Records

In most counties in Indiana, probate records have been kept by the county clerk of the circuit court. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. The records are available at the county courthouse.

Online Records

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

Finding More Probate Records

Additional probate records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy Probate Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).
• South Bend Area Genealogical Society: Wills Index 1830-1971 for St. Joseph County

Public Records

School Records

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

Taxation

Indiana tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses or to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties.

For more information see the wiki page Indiana Taxation.

Finding More Tax Records

Additional tax records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy Tax Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

Repositories

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. C ounty 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

Family history centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes. See family history center for more information. Search the online FHC directory for a nearby family history center.

• Crawfordsville Indiana Family History Center

For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the family history center directory.

Libraries

Putnam County Library
103 E. Poplar Street
Greencastle, IN 46135
Phone: 765-653-2755
Local History and Genealogy Website

Societies

Putnam County Historical Society
PO Box 116
103 East Poplar St.
Greencastle, IN 46135

Putnam County Museum
1105 N. Jackson St.
Greencastle, IN 46135
Telephone Number: 765-653-8419
Website

Wabash Valley Genealogy Society
PO Box 9347
Terre Haute, IN 47808-9347
Website

Putnam County Genealogical Club
RR 1, Box 28
Bainbridge, IN 46105

Vital Records

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Indiana law in 1882 required registration of births and deaths in counties. The Indiana Department of Health has birth records filed after October 1907 and death records filed after January 1900 for deaths. Copies may be obtained from the county health department or the Indiana State Division of Vital Records. See also How to order Indiana Vital Records or order electronically online.

Marriage licenses were required by counties beginning in 1800. Original marriage records are held at the office of the Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy County Clerk with divorce records located with the Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy Clerk of Courts.

• INGenWeb - Birth Records; Death Reports; Marriages
• Indiana State Digital Archives

Marriage Records

• 1800s-2007 - Indiana, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $

• 1780-1992 Indiana Marriages, 1780-1992 - FamilySearch
  

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

• 1811-2007 Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007 at FamilySearch — index and images

• see Vital Records - Linkpendium

Death Records

• 1882-1920 Indiana, Death Index, 1882-1920 at FamilySearch Historical Records - Index only
• 1899-2011 Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 at Ancestry - ($), index and images
  
• Indiana State Digital Archives
  

Finding Vital Records at Other Repositories

Additional vital records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy Vital Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

Websites

• Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy, History and Facts
• INGenWeb, Putnam County
• USGenWeb, Putnam County
• FamilySearch Catalog, Putnam County
• Indiana State Library, Putnam County records.
• Putnam County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
• Indiana Genealogy Network Community on Google+
• Indiana Genealogy Network Group on Facebook