Genealogical and Family History STATE OF MAINE Compiled under
the editorial supervision of George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt.
D. LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY [Please see Index page
for full citation.] [Transcribed by Coralynn Brown] [Many
families included in these genealogical records had their
beginnings in Massachusetts.] The lineage of a very large part
of Putnams of New England is traced to John Putnam, the
immigrant, and ancestor of several prominent citizens of the
early days of Massachusetts. The name comes from Puttenham, a
place in England, and this perhaps from the Flemish word putte,
"a well," plural putten and ham, signifying a "home," and the
whole indicating a settlement by a well. Some four or five years
after the settlement of Salem, Mass., it became necessary to
extend the area of the town in order to accomondate a large
number of immigrants who were desirous of locating within its
jurisdiction, and as a consequence farming communities were
established at various points, some of them