Rhode Island Land and Property

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Rhode Island

Land and Property

Prescott Farm in Middletown, Rhode Island

Online Resources

• 1636-1936 Rhode Island Boundaries: 1636-1936(*) by John Hutchins Cady at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
• 1638-1644 Records of Rhode Island, 1638-1644 (Includes Records of Land)(*) Microfilm of Manuscripts in the Rhode Island State Archives at FamilySearch Catalog - images
• 1646-1851 Proceedings of the General Assembly, 1646-1851 (Includes Land Transfers, & Grants)(*) Rhode Island. General Assembly, & Rhode Island. Court of Trials at FamilySearch Catalog - index & images
• 1648-1696 Index to Rhode Island Land Evidences, 1648-1696(*) compiled by Genevieve N. Dougine at FamilySearch Catalog - index & images
• 1648-1696 Rhode Island land evidences vol. I 1648-1696: Abstracts(*) by Dorothy Worthington at FamilySearch Catalog - index & images
• 1648-1795 Land and Public Notary Records of Rhode Island, 1648-1795(*) Microfilm of Manuscripts from the Rhode Island State Archives at FamilySearch Catalog - index & images
• 1659-1887 Fones Record, ca. 1659-1887(*) by John Fones - Original Records in the Rhode Island State Archives at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
• 1686-1826 Peirce Manuscripts of Rhode Island Land Evidences 1686-1826(*) by Louise Prosser Bates - Microfilm of Manuscripts in the Rhode Island Historical Society at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
• 1700s Native Soil Manuscripts Index (Includes Rhode Island) at Ancestry - index only($)
• 1731-1773 Accounts of the Agents of the Colony of Rhode Island, 1731-1773(*) by Richard Partridge, Joseph Sherwood, & Rhode Island. House of Commons at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
• 1747-1750 Miscellaneous Certificates and Rough Drafts: 1747-1750(*) Microfilm of Manuscripts from the Rhode Island State Archives at FamilySearch Catalog - images
• 1786-1803 Account Book, A-B, 1786-1803(*) Rhode Island. Grand Committee Office at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
• 1886-1930 U.S., Department of the Interior Decisions on Pensions and Bounty-Land Claims, 1886-1930 (Includes Rhode Island) at Ancestry - index & images ($)
• Full-Text Search - Land Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Rhode Island Land Records

Colony Records

The earliest land grants were made by the colony. The records of these grants are known as "land evidences." The original documents are at the Rhode Island State Archives.

Land evidences can also be found in:

• Records of Rhode Island, 1638-1644, (Microfilm of manuscripts in the Rhode Island State Archives in Providence, Rhode Island. Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974.) FS Library film 954960 Item 3

• Dorothy Worthington, Rhode Island Land Evidences, 1921, Reprint (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970; At various libraries (WorldCat); FamilySearch Library 1921 ed. on FS Library Collection FS Library film 564389; index on FS Library Collection film 022254). Volume 1, 1648-1696 is also on Google Books and FS Library film 564389

• Louise Prosser Bates, Peirce Manuscripts of Rhode Island Land Evidences 1686-1826, (Microfilm of manuscripts in the Rhode Island Historical Society. Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1950.) FS Library films 22291 and 22292
  

Proprietors' Records

In the colonial period, the general assembly granted land to groups of colonists who became the proprietors of towns. These proprietors divided the land into portions owned by individuals and portions owned in common. The proprietors, in turn, sold land to other individuals. The proprietors' records begin as early as 1659 for the Narragansett area (southern Rhode Island). Transcripts of some of the records, 1659 to 1686, are in James N. Arnold, The Records of the Proprietors of the Narragansett (Providence, Rhode Island): Narragansett Historical Publishing, 1894. At various libraries (WorldCat); (FS Library Collection film 1033805 item 2).

Colony and State Records

Some land transfers and grants are recorded in the Proceedings of the General Assembly, 1646 to 1851. These are at the Rhode Island State Archives and at the FamilySearch Library on 18 microfilms FS Library films starting with film 954959

Town Records

After proprietors sold their land or a town was incorporated, the town recorded deeds and mortgages. The FamilySearch Library has copies of the town records to about 1880. From the Recorder of Deeds, for example, the library has 218 microfilms of deeds and mortgages for the years 1677 to 1901. Documents from the town of Providence and other early settlements have been published in many volumes.

The FamilySearch Catalog has more than 250 matching titles for a keyword search of "Rhode Island land records".Go to the FamilySearch Catalog Online

Deeds and other land records for most Rhode Island towns are on film and can be found in the FamilySearch Catalog by doing a Place Search under:

Rhode Island - LAND AND PROPERTY

Rhode Island, [COUNTY]- LAND AND PROPERTY

Rhode Island, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- LAND AND PROPERTY

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