Putnam County, New York Guide

Putnam County is located approximately 50 miles north of Manhattan and lies directly above Westchester CountyThe west side of the county lies on the shores of the Hudson River and the east side borders Connecticut. Dutchess County is located to the north. ​

County Formed: 1812

Parent County: Dutchess

Daughter Counties: None

Major Land Transactions: Highland Philipse Patent 1697 and subsequent division in 1754 Oblong (tract) 1731

 

Putnam County Map
Map of Putnam County

Table of Contents

 

 

 

History

The first settlers of Putnam County were members of the Algonquian speaking Wappinger people. Europeans first settled the area upon the signing of the 1697 Highland Philipse Patent and the subsequent division in 1754 Oblong (tract) 1731. Putnam County separated from its parent county Dutchess County in 1812 and became an independent county. The County seat of Putnam County is the Town of Carmel. Historically, the primary economic focus in Putnam County has been agricultural production. However, with the development of industrial and transportation technologies, Putnam County economy began producing and selling manufactured goods. Putnam County’s most famous industry, the West Point Foundry, founded after the War of 1812, became an important producer of artillery for the nation throughout the 19th century.

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County

Putnam County Clerk

Website: Putnam County Clerk

Address: Putnam County Office Building, 40 Gleneida Avenue, Room 100, Carmel, NY 10512

Phone: (845) 808-1142

 

Putnam County - Town and Village Clerks

Website: Putnam County – Town and Village Clerks

Birth, marriage, and death records are maintained by the clerk of the municipality in which the event occurred. See municipal websites for details and contact information.

 

Putnam County Surrogate's Court

Website: Putnam County Surrogate’s Court

Address: 44 Gleneida Avenue, Carmel, NY 10512

Phone: (845) 208-7860

 

Putnam County Archives and Putnam County Historian

Website: Putnam County Archives and Putnam County Historian

Address: 68 Marvin Avenue, Brewster, NY 10509-1515

Phone: (845) 808-1420

Email: historian@putnamcountyny.gov

 

Putnam County - All Municipal Historians

Website: Putnam County – All Municipal Historians

While not authorized to answer genealogical inquiries, town and village historians can provide valuable historical information and research advice; some maintain collections and webpages which may include transcribed records, local histories, and other genealogical material. 

 

Putnam County History Museum

Website: Putnam County History Museum

Address: 63 Chestnut Street, Cold Spring, NY 10516

Phone: (845) 265-4010

Email: office@PutnamHistoryMuseum.org

The Museum (formerly the Putnam County Historical Society) operates a museum in the foundry school. Collections include business records, photographs, and papers of the Ludington and Kemble families, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, periodicals, and genealogy files on local families.

 

Putnam County Public Libraries

Website: Putnam County Public Libraries ​

Putnam is part of the Mid-Hudson Library System, Many hold genealogy and local history collections such as local newspapers; some are online and accessed from their websites. For example, Brewster Public Library has digitized the Brewster Standard, 1870–1982 and Mahopac Public Library has digitized the Putnam County Courier, 1849–1930. 

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Regional

Bard College Archives and Special Collections

​​Website: Bard College Archives and Special Collections

Address: Stevenson Library Archives and Special Collections, One Library Road, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504

Phone: (845) 758-7396

Email: archives@bard.edu

Categories include Hudson Valley Archives (local history materials), Tivoli Photograph Collection, historical journals, and Bard College history. Complete list of holdings available on website.

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Website: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Address: 4097 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY 12538

Phone: 1 (800) FDR-VISIT or (845) 486-1142

Email: Roosevelt.Library@nara.gov. 

Holdings include papers of the Hall, Delano, Livingston, and Roosevelt families; 17th–20th century papers on the Quackenbush, Van Gaasbeek, Van Wyck, Depew, DePeyster, and other families; the Coxsackie Town Record of Freeborn Slaves and some town records of New Paltz. 

 

Historic Hudson Valley (HHV)

Website: Historic Hudson Valley (HHV)

Address: 639 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills, NY 10591

Phone: 914-631-8200

Holds papers related to the Delafield Family and their Montgomery Place estate.

 

Hudson River Valley Institute 

Website: Hudson River Valley Institute

Address: Marist College, 3399 North Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601-1387

Phone: (845) 575-3052

Email: hrvi@marist.edu

Publishes the semi-annual journal, Hudson River Valley Review, and manages a digital library of regional resources. Coverage area includes Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Fulton, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Sullivan, Ulster, Washington, and Westchester counties, as well as New York City. A menu of article, books, bibliographies, and historic documents is accessible on the website.

 

Princeton University: Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Firestone Library

Website: Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

Address: 1 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544-2098

Phone: (609) 258-4820

Email: rbsc@princeton.edu

The Edward Livingston Papers collection contains extensive material pertaining to the Livingston, Beekman, Montgomery, Davezac, Barton, Hunt, and Delafield families, as well as John Cox, Jr. and Benjamin French, and their land holdings in Dutchess County. The Dyckman and Martine Family Papers also include material relevant to Dutchess County.

 

Vassar College Libraries: Archives & Special Collections

Website: Archives & Special Collections

Address: 124 Raymond Avenue, PO Box 20, Poughkeepsie, NY, 12604-0020

Phone: (845) 437-5799

Email: spcoll@vassar.edu

Manuscript holdings include Dutchess County Loyalists Papers, 1776–1922; Federal Writers Project Records for Dutchess County; and various family papers, business records, correspondence, land records, and maps. 

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local

Alphabetized by location

Landmark Preservation Society of Southeast

Website: Landmark Preservation Society of Southeast

Address: PO Box 308, Brewster, NY 10509

Email:  Postmaster@Landmarksse.org

 

Southeast Museum

Website: Southeast Museum

Address: 67 Main Street, Brewster, NY 10509

Phone: (845) 279-7500

Email: info@southeastmuseum.org

 

Alice Curtis Desmond & Hamilton Fish Library: Livingston-Svirsky Archives

Website: Alice Curtis Desmond & Hamilton Fish Library: Livingston-Svirsky Archives

Address: Desmond-Fish Library, 472 Route 403, PO Box 265, Garrison, NY 10524

Phone: (845) 424-3020

Email: director@desmondfishlibrary.org or staff@desmondfishlibrary.org

 

Kent Historical Society

Website: Kent Historical Society

Address: PO Box 123, Kent, NY 10512

Phone: (845) 225-9459

Email: kenthistoricalsociety@gmail.com

 

Town of Carmel Historical Society and Museum

Website: Town of Carmel Historical Society and Museum

Address: 40 McAlpin Avenue, PO Box 456, Mahopac, NY 10541-2301

Phone: (845) 628-0500

 Email: carmelhistory@aol.com

 

Patterson Historical Society

Website: Patterson Historical Society

Street Address: Patterson Court House, 1167 Route 311, Patterson, NY 12563-0416 

Mailing Address: Patterson Historical Society, PO Box 534, Patterson, NY 12563

Email: rtaylor@pattersonhistoricalsociety.org

 

Putnam Valley Historical Society and Schoolhouse Museum

Website: Putnam Valley Historical Society and Schoolhouse Museum

Address: 301 Peekskill Hollow Road, PO Box 297, Putnam Valley, NY 10579

Phone: (845) 528-1024

Email: putnamvalleyhistory@gmail.com

 

 

 

Civil, Public, and Vital Records

Civil Records are those created, recorded and/or maintained by a governmental body and include births, marriages, deaths, censuses, property, and probate. NB: The New York State government began collecting vital record data in 1880. Birth, marriage, and death records from New York State (excluding the five boroughs of New York City) after 1880 on can be obtained from the New York State Department of Health. For vital records previous to 1880, consult the municipality in which the event took place. Learn more about New York's vital records in our online guide.

 

 

 

Federal Census Records

Population schedules: 1790-1940 (except 1890).

Online at Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and Findmypast.com (free to NYG&B members).

Access on Findmypast:

1790

1800

1810

1820

1830

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

 

 

 

State Census Records

  • The state census for Putnam County is lost for all years 1825–1905, except 1825 Town of Patterson, county originals at Southeast Museum, Brewster; 1845 towns of Kent and Philipstown, county originals at the New-York Historical Society. 
  • See Glendon Wheeler’s abstract for Kent.
  • State originals at the NYSA: 1915, 1925
  • Microfilm at the FHL, NYPL, and NYSL
  • Many years are online at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com.

 

 

 

Online Resources

General Resources

Ancestry.com

There are vast numbers of records on Ancestry.com that pertain to people who have lived in New York State. A search of the online card catalog by county may reveal lesser known resources that pertain to a locality, such as town records, abstracts, transcriptions, city directories, and local histories

FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch has extensive collections of New York records, including religious records, which are searchable by name and location, but not by county. The following collections include record images (browsable, but not searchable) that are organized by county.

Hudson River Valley Heritage (HRVH)

The HRVH website provides free access to digital collections of historical material from more than 40 organizations in Columbia, Greene, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, and Westchester counties.

NYGenWeb Project: Putnam County

Part of the national, USGenWeb volunteer initiative, the website provides information and resources for county research.

Preserve Putnam County

Online articles and images that trace Putnam County’s development and give background on historical places.

 

Deaths and Burials

 

Maps

 

Military Records

 

Newspapers

New York Heritage Digital Collections: New York State Newspaper Project

The website provides links to digital newspapers collections in 26 counties (currently) made accessible through New York Heritage, New York State Historic Newspapers, HRVH Historical Newspapers, and other providers.

 

Other Records

 

Religious Records

 

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Bailey, Carol, and Catherine Wargas, comps. Putnam County Men in the Civil War. Brewster, NY: Putnam County Historian, 2008. Book includes names and service records.
  • Buck, Clifford M. Dutchess County, NY, Tax Lists, 1718-1787.  Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1991.
  • Buys, Barbara Smith. Old Gravestones of Putnam County, New York, Together with Information from Ten Adjacent Dutchess County Burying Grounds: Eleven Thousand Eight Hundred Inscriptions of Persons Born up to and Including 1850. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1975. Index available from Berkshire Family History Association.
  • Calkins, H., Jr. “The Records of Philippi [Congregational Church], now Southeast, Putnam Co., N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 32 (1901) no. 2: 100–104, no. 3: 169–172. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Daughters of the American Revolution, comps. New York DAR Genealogical Records Committee Report. Since 1913 DAR volunteers have transcribed many thousands of unpublished cemetery, church, and town records throughout New York. The reports are at the DAR Library; copies are at the NYSL and the NYPL. The DAR has a searchable name index to all the GRC reports at http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search/?Tab_ID=6. See Jean Worden’s index below for a listing by county of the New York record sets that were transcribed by the DAR before 1998.
  • Daughters of the American Revolution. Enoch Crosby Chapter, Helen G. Daniels, Florence D. Hopkins, and Harriet Akin Ferris. “Historical Records of Enoch Crosby Chapter; Putnam, Dutchess and Westchester Counties, New York.” 3 vols. Typescript, 1944–1959. DAR Library,  Washington, DC. Includes indexes. [Microfilm at FHL]
  • Daughters of the American Revolution, Enoch Crosby Chapter, Libby Baker, Carol Bailey, and Jeanne Marie Perry. Gravestones of Revolutionary War Patriots in Putnam County, NY. Carmel, NY: NSDAR, 2011.
  • Dutchess County Historical Society. “Town of Southeast, Tax List, 1779.” The Dutchess, vol. 15, no. 3 (1988): 97–99.
  • Dykeman, W.  Jerome. “Tombstone Inscriptions in the Old Cemetery at Tilly Foster, Putnam Co., New York.” NYG&B Record, vol. 45, no. 2 (1914): 116. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Dykeman, W.  Jerome. “Tombstone Inscriptions from the Old Fowler Family Ceme-tery, Tilly Foster, Putnam Co., New York.” NYG&B Record, vol. 45, no. 4 (1914): 307. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Eaderley, William Applebie. “Putnam County, New York, Cemeteries, 1794–1914.” Typescript, 1917. NYPL, New York.
  • Fisher, Floyd. They All Rest Together: Burial Sites of Early Settlers—Southern Dutchess and Putnam Counties. Holmes, NY: The Author, 1972.
  • Foster, Emma J., and Julia R. Livingston. “Inscriptions from the Old Baptist Burying Ground, Carmel, N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 35, no. 1 (1904): 56–60. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Foster, Emma J., and Julia R. Livingston. “Inscriptions in Milltown Cemetery, Southeast, N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 38 (1907) no. 4: 273–277; vol. 39 (1908) no. 1: 42–46. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Frost, Josephine C. “Cemetery Inscriptions, Haviland Hollow and Quaker Hill, NY.” Typescript, 1936. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]   
  • Frost, Josephine C. “Inscriptions from Ten Cemeteries in Putnam County, New York.” Typescript, 1911. NYPL, New York.
  • Frost, Josephine C. “Inscriptions from 13 Old Cemeteries in Putnam County, New York.” Typescript, 1912. Library of Congress, Washington, DC. [Archive.org]
  • — — —. “Putnam County Cemetery Inscriptions, New York.” Typescript, 1910. NYPL, New York.
  • Haacker, Frederick C. “Early Settlers of Putnam County, New York.” Typescript, 1946. Library of Congress, Washington, DC. [Archive.org]
  • Haacker, Frederick C.  “Records of Early Settlers of Putnam County and Cortlandt Manor.” Typescript, 1954. NYPL, New York. On microfilm at various libraries.
  • Horton, William P.  “Gravestone Inscriptions from the Churchyard, St. Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Garrisons, N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 55 (1924) no. 1: 78–84, no. 2: 168–170. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Horton, William P. “Graveyard Inscriptions, Methodist Churchyard, South Highlands, Putnam Co., N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 55, no. 2 (1924): 185–190. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Horton, William P. “Graveyard Inscriptions, North Highlands, Putnam Co., N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 55 (1924) no. 2: 190–192, no. 3: 236–240. Cemetery “on the State Road back of Cold Springs.” [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Horton, William P. “Graveyard Inscriptions, Putnam County, N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 49 (1918) no. 1: 76–82, no. 2: 177–181, no. 3: 288–294, no. 4: 308–317. Includes Peekskill Hollow, Adams Corners, and Lafayette Avenue cemeteries, and others. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Horton, William P. “Graveyard Inscriptions, Putnam County, N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 56 (1925) no. 1: 68–73, no. 3: 288–294, no. 4: 308–317. Includes Lake Mahopac Methodist Churchyard, Farmers Mills Baptist Church, Barrett Cemetery, Halstead Cemetery, and others. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Horton, William P. “Putnam and Westchester Counties Cemetery Inscriptions and Marriage Dates.” Typescript, 1928. NYPL, New York. [FHL microfilm]
  • MacCormick, Elizabeth J. “Abstracts of Wills of Putnam County, N.Y.” Typescript, 1942. NYPL, New York. Covers Libers A–D.
  • Nicholson, William A. “Inscriptions from Clift or Drew Cemetery, about Two Miles South of Brewsters in the Town of South East, Putnam County, N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 49, no. 4 (1918): 326–329. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Old Southeast Cemetery: A History and Handbook. Brewster, NY: Landmarks Preservation Committee, 1976.
  • Southeast Museum. 1898 and 1902 Enumeration of the Inhabitants, Brewster, Putnam County, New York. Brewster, NY. Handwritten lists in the Southeast Museum.
  • Ruddock, William T. Confiscated Properties of Philipse Highland Patent Putnam County New York 1780–1785. Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2012.
  • “Town of Southeast, Tax List, 1779” in The Dutchess, Vol. 15, No. 3 (1988), published by the Dutchess County Historical Society, Poughkeepsie, NY.
  • Wheeler, Glendon E. Burials and Gravestones: Families Associated with Putnam County, New York. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1998. Separate index by the author.
  • Wheeler, Glendon E, comp.  Index of Gravestones for the People of Putnam County, New York. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1997.
  • Wheeler, Glendon E, comp.  Master Death Index: Putnam County, New York.  Dayton, NV: The Author, 2014. 2 vols.
  • Wheeler, Glendon E. Town Records: Frederickstown to Kent, 1788–1841, Dutchess/Putnam Counties, New York. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
  • Wheeler, Glendon E., and Betty M. L. Behr. State Census, Town of Kent, Putnam County, N.Y., 1845. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2005.
  • Worden, Jean D. “Book 1, Subject Index.” In Revised Master Index to the New York State Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogical Records Volumes. Zephyrhills, FL: J. D. Worden, 1998. The Subject Index includes a listing by county of the cemeteries, churches, towns, and other sources of records transcribed by the DAR.

Other Resources

  • Blake, William J. The History of Putnam County, New York; with an Enumeration of Its Towns, Villages, Rivers, Creeks, Lakes, Ponds, Mountains, Hills, and Geological Features; Local Traditions; and Short Biographical Sketches of Early Settlers, etc. Middletown, NY: T. Emmett Henderson, 1849.
  • Boyer, Donna, ed. An Introduction to the Availability of the Historical and Genealogical Primary Sources in Eastern Putnam County. Carmel, NY: Kent Library, 1986.
  • Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Dutchess and Putnam, New York: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Early Settled Families. Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1897.
  • Conklin, Henry S. “Maps of Lots Sold by the New York Commissioners of Forfeitures, 1779–1786.” Drafted by Henry Conklin, 1885, held by the Putnam County Historian, Brewster, NY.
  • Historical and Genealogical Record, Dutchess and Putnam Counties, New York. Poughkeepsie, NY: Oxford Publishing, 1912.
  • Historical Records: Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties of New York State. Carmel, NY: DAR, Enoch Crosby Chapter.
  • Lustenberger, Anita. “When Connecticut Became New York: Researching in the Oblong before 1800.” Connecticut Ancestry, vol. 47, no. 2 (2004): 169–178.
  • New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Putnam County Church Surveys. Digitally published by New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 2012. Identifies records held by St. Philips in the Highlands, St. James' Chapel, and Gilead Presbyterian Church, ca. 1900. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Putnam County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1989. [books.FamilySearch.org]
  • Pelletreau, William Smith. History of Putnam County, New York: With Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men. Philadelphia: W. W. Preston, 1886.
  • Putnam County Historian. A Handbook for Putnam County History and Genealogy. Brewster, NY: Office of the County Historian, 2012.
  • Town of Patterson, Christina Mucciolo. Patterson (N.Y.) Town Clerk Records, 1795–1863. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2007.
  • Town of Putnam Valley, Christina Mucciolo, and Christine O'Connor. Town of Putnam Valley Town Records, 1839–1916. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2008.
  • U.S. Census Office. Special Schedules of the 11th Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War New York, Bundle 109 (Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam, and Westchester Counties). Washington: National Archives, 1948.
  • Zimm, Louise Hasbrouck. Southeastern New York: History of the Counties of Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, and Putnam. 3 vols. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1946. Index available from Berkshire Family History Association.

 

The materials above are a compilation of resources available, with an emphasis on online resources, which might be useful to someone doing research within this county.  The inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement of its content or accuracy.  Please send any additions or corrections to webmaster@nygbs.org.