Rhode Island Land and Property

Online Resources

 * 1636-1936 (*) by John Hutchins Cady at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
 * 1638-1644 (*) Microfilm of Manuscripts in the Rhode Island State Archives at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1646-1851 (*) Rhode Island. General Assembly, & Rhode Island. Court of Trials at FamilySearch Catalog - index & images
 * 1648-1696 (*) compiled by Genevieve N. Dougine at FamilySearch Catalog - index & images
 * 1648-1696 (*) by Dorothy Worthington at FamilySearch Catalog - index & images
 * 1648-1795 (*) Microfilm of Manuscripts from the Rhode Island State Archives at FamilySearch Catalog - index & images
 * 1659-1887 (*) by John Fones - Original Records in the Rhode Island State Archives at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
 * 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, ($)
 * 1731-1773 (*) by Richard Partridge, Joseph Sherwood, & Rhode Island. House of Commons at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
 * 1747-1750 (*) Microfilm of Manuscripts from the Rhode Island State Archives at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1786-1803 (*) Rhode Island. Grand Committee Office at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
 * 1886-1930 U.S., Department of the Interior Decisions on Pensions and Bounty-Land Claims, 1886-1930 (Includes Rhode Island) at Ancestry - index & images, ($)

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.)


 * Dorothy Worthington, Rhode Island Land Evidences, 1921, Reprint (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970; ; Family History Library 1921 ed. on FS Library film 564389; index on  film 022254). Volume 1, 1648-1696 is also on Google Books and


 * 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.)

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. ; ( 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 Family History Library on 18 microfilms

Town Records
After proprietors sold their land or a town was incorporated, the town recorded deeds and mortgages. The Family History 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