My findings were very few, due to the fact that I’m totally inexperienced in land document research. I found several entries in the Grant and Grantee Books which had relevance to the Putnam families living in that county. I went into this further examination of Oswego records knowing that the 1830 Census showed two Putnam families living in separate sections of the county. Back home with my notes, I still was not able to tell who was whom. The following items were found in the Grantor Index:

1. Samuel Putnam conveyed land to William Putnam. (year not written down????)

2. 1847 - Book 45 p. 534 Samuel C., Dyer, Lucy and Clarenda (assumed to be Putnams) conveyed land to an Uzziah Conger.

3. 1847, Book 7, p. 109 Asa and Polly Putnam conveyed 3 pieces of land to Clark D. Snell; 15 acres in Mexico Twp., 50 acres in Town of Mexico, some or all in the Scriba Patent. There seemed to be no prior entry showing how/when/why the Putnams (Asa & Polly), acquired this land, which upon sale, amounted to $1,400 worth.

4. April 6, 1859, Book 83, p. 230, Asa and Polly Putnam conveyed land to Rebecca Barow (?) - Town of Mexico, Scriba Patent. The text speaks to land deeded in 1833 by Geo. Parish to Elisha Kenyon and 30 acres on 8 May 1837 by James Miller & Hannah to Silas Kenyon. Statement at end says deed is subject to a mortgage of $125 given to Parley Putnam by Asa Putnam 6 years ago last June.

In the Grantee Index, the first entry concerns a Caleb Putnam. This first entry is dated 1799 and originated in Oneida County, which, at that time was part of Oneida County:

1. 1799 Deed - 12 August between John Barnard of the Town of Rome in the County of Oneida and Caleb Putnam.......indebted to Geo. Huntington & Co. in the sum of 1900 lbs. now due and payable to Reuben Huntington in the sum of 54 lbs. (?) to John Meyer & Co. in the sum of 200 to divers other persons in the County of Oneida in the sum of $1,000 thereabouts and to several persons in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts including all the creditors of the said party of the first part in the said Commonwealth. Oneida - p. 108, Second Book. There is reference to the Map of Lynchville.

2. G 404 Elijah Allen from Gilbert Parkhurst - Town of Scriba -- Hastings. (Unfortunately, I didn’t jot down the date - the date may be very important in this case)

3. 1828 - Book M - 214 This indenture made the 27th day of October in the year 1828 between Geo. Parish in the Village of Ogdensburg in the County of St. Lawrence and Samuel C. Putnam and the heirs of John Putnam, deceased ,of the Town of Volney in the County of Oswego....land in Volney, 100 acres.

4. M-214 John Putnam & Samuel C. Putnam from Geo. Parish

5. T-149 A. Dyer & Samuel C. Putnam.

6. Book Y-99 John D. Putnam from Benjamin Burton. Indenture 26 Jan. 1837 between Benjamin Britt and D -?- Britt, his wife and John D. Putnam, $100 quitclaimed, Village of W. Oswego.

7. 1843 Book 38 p. 453 Eli Putnam from Gardner Maynard & Wife

8. 1845 Book 41 p. 523 Asa Putnam from John Hatch & wife.

1845 Book 41 p. 524 Asa Putnam from Jarvis Hatch & wife.

1845 Book 41 p. 525 Asa Putnam from Barzillai (sic) Hatch

9. 1856 Book 73 p. 226. Asa Putnam from Clark Snell & wife

Caleb Putnam was undoubtedly from Oneida County and may have been the father of one of the two John Putnams (probably the one from W. Oswego).

A John Putnam, probably the one from theVolney family died sometime before 1828 -- see Book M p. 214.

That Samuel, Dyer, Lucy and Clarenda Putnam are part of the Volney twp. family.

I suspect that John Putnam b. ca. 1765 was among the “other person” from Rome involved in the Huntington deal (1799) which brought settlers from the east into Oswego County. Further, I believe that the “divers others” from Massachusetts may have somehow involved our Putnams if only in the form of heirs (estates). Could my Putnams have been living on Massachusetts lands when the Huntington deal was being drawn up. (VT became a state in 1781, though).

Were the names involved in the 1859 entries somehow related to the wife of Asa Putnam (Polly) -- was this a sign off of estate land inheritance? Remember, we do not know Polly’s maiden name -- although it is now known that her given name was Elizabeth. Her death certificate has not been examined.

It is apparent that none of the transactions above concerned John Putnam (b. ca 1765).

The Elijah Allen cited in No. 2 may have been related to the Elijah Allen who lived near the Putnams in Town of Clayton in Jefferson County and whose family married into the Putnam family of that locale. There was a son, Elijah, and his date of birth was 1801, I believe. We do know, however, that John Putnam (b. ca. 1765) had a daughter, Polly, who married Seth Allen; conjecture has it that their son Orville, b. 1824, was born in Oswego County. Parley Putnam, 1797, was married to Prudence Allen, the daughter of Elijah Allen (b. 1762 VT) and brother of Elijah Allen, b. 1801. Bear in mind in regard to the missing date for transaction No. 2 (above) that the elder Elijah Allen died in 1826.

Seth Allen, b. ca. 1800, was older than his sister, Prudence Allen, who married Parley Putnam in 1818. It has been my theory that the Allens and Putnams came to Herkimer County from Windham County, VT, around the same time. One could theorize that Seth Allen, the son of Elijah (b. 1762) married John Putnams’s daughter, Polly, over in Herkimer County and Seth took up lands in Oswego County and that is how John Putnam, the father, got himself into Oswego County for the “to and fro” (Oswego to Jefferson and back) that would last several years until he died there in 1849.

Bear in mind that Oswego County was formed from Oneida and Onondaga Counties on March 1, 1816, although I saw something on the Internet just last week that brought that in dispute.

Prepared by: Shirley Farone

October 11, 1994

Retyped and modified: May 31, 2002

Write me at  [email protected]   if you have information pertaining to these families. (by sitehost, Shirley Farone)

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