I have had some reports of non-assistance from the Putnam County courthouse offices. The elected officials' first responsibility is to those people who elected them. We, the genealogists, generally have no impact on them. Unfortunate, but true. Each elected office-holder has the authority to decide how much time and effort they can allot for genealogists (and others). There has also been a change in the state laws which give them this authority. Putnam is a small farming county and generally the staff in each office is busy. One of the problems encountered by genealogists is that there seems to be no one at the present time who is doing genealogy research for hire. I am writing to each of the officials in the various offices in Putnam County to determine what their official policies are and will post that information here, as well as the mailing list, as soon as I receive it. Record Availability It is important to understand what resources are available particularly when you are talking about vital records. Marriages: Records began in 1822. All can be located at the Putnam County Clerk of Courts Office. PLEASE UNDERSTAND - The early marriages (prior to 1905) DO NOT contain family information. In 1905 marriage applications which give information on the bride and groom's parents, any previous marriages, etc. came into effect. Births: Birth records begin in 1882. Please take into consideration that children were generally born at home, sometimes without an attending midwife or physician. These births were sometimes not recorded until the parents got into town. Many times there is no given name recorded. In other cases, when an individual needed to establish their birth for social security purposes their given name will be pencilled in on the birth records. Deaths: Death records were not recorded until 1882 also. The amount of information that was recorded depended upon the type of record books the officials in the Board of Health office had purchased for that purpose. Cemeteries: Many of the cemeteries have been "read" and copies of that information may be found in the local library or at the Roy O. West library at DePauw University. There are approximately 160 cemeteries in Putnam County and I cannot guarantee that those which are on family farms have been "read." I am transcribing the information as I receive it and posting it to the cemeteries listing here on the website. I do plan a trip to Indiana in May and will be gathering as much information as I can. Censuses: Census records for Indiana began in 1820. However, Putnam County was not formed until 1822. Census records are available for 1830, 1840 (no information other than name of head of household and number of individuals by gender in age groups), 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920. The 1930 census will be available in 2002-72 years after it was taken due to law. Starting with 1850 all residents in a household are listed. There is no 1890 census as these records were destroyed.