The area was explored by Captain John Smith in 1608. In 1632 King Charles gave Lord Baltimore a charter to settle the area, and his son the second Lord Baltimore brought a couple of hundred folks over in 1634. Maryland became the seventh State in 1788.

The early years basicaly cover the German family of Philip Jacob Putman of Washington and Frederick Counties, Maryland. This family will be covered as best I can in the section on the various German families. While there were a few late comers, the bulk of the Putmans in the state were German.

The first Federal Census was taken in 1790 and that data is available. However, earlier tax records exist and are helpful in determining who was where when. This section begins with the earliest information through the 1930 Census Report.