Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island Genealogy

Quick Facts
Warren was the site of the Indian village of Sowams on the peninsula called Pokanoket (the near parts now called Mount Hope Neck), and was first explored by Europeans in 1621, by Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins. By the next year, Plymouth Colony had established a trading post at Sowams. In 1623, Winslow and John Hampden saved the life of Wampanoag Sachem Massasoit with medicine, gaining an important native ally.

In 1636,, banished from Salem, fled to Sowams where he was sheltered by Massasoit until he settled at Providence.

Permanent English settlement east of the Indian village began. In 1653, Massasoit and his oldest son sold to certain Plymouth Colony settlers what is now Warren and parts of Barrington, Rhode Island; Swansea, Massachusetts; and Rehoboth, Massachusetts. After the death of Massasoit, relations between the Indians and the settlers became strained, leading to King Philip's War in 1675. The English settlement at Sowams was destroyed during the war, but rebuilt.

In 1668, the township was officially incorporated with the name Sowams; in 1691, the Plymouth Colony merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Warren was ceded to Rhode Island from Massachusetts in 1747. The town was named "Warren" after a British naval hero,, after a victory at Louisburg in 1745. At the time of cession in 1747, Barrington, Rhode Island was unified with Warren, until it was separated again in 1770.

Warren was the original home of Brown University, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The school registered its first students in 1765. Brown was the Baptist answer to Congregationalist Yale and Harvard, Presbyterian Princeton, and Episcopalian Penn and Columbia. At the time, it was the only one of these schools that welcomed students of all religious persuasions (following the example of Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island in 1636 on the same principle).


 * Town of Warren History

Archives and Libraries

 * George Hail Free Library [[Image:Gotoarrow-kelly.png]] Genealogy Resources 530 Main Street Warren, RI 02885

Biography

 * La Paroisse Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Warren, état du Rhode Island, 1877-1952 First half of text in French; second half is English translation. Includes biographies of parish priests, professional people, nuns, outstanding parisioners, lists of parochial school students, members of the parish enlisted in the military, Franco-Americans in public office, censuses completed in 1888 and 1895, and memorials to their deceased parisioners.

Cemeteries

 * Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission, required reading for anything concerning Rhode Island's cemeteries.

Barton Family
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #7, Long Lane and Barton Avenue

FindaGrave

Benjamin Barton Family
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #5, Barton Avenue


 * FindaGrave

Brown Family
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #16, Long Lane


 * FindaGrave

Butterworth
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #4, Long Lane


 * FindaGrave

Captain Edward Mason Family
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #15, Market Street


 * FindaGrave

Cole
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #12, Colonial Drive


 * FindaGrave

Haile Family
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #2, Market Street


 * FindaGrave

James Mason Family
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #6, Maple Road


 * FindaGrave

Kickemuit
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #3, Serpentine Road


 * FindaGrave

Later Handy Family
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #13, Adam Lane


 * FindaGrave

North Burial Ground
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #1, North Main Street


 * FindaGrave

Obadiah Bowen Family
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #14, School House Road and Market Street


 * FindaGrave

Saint Alexander
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #8, Greenlawn Street, Off Vernon Avenue


 * FindaGrave

Saint John the Baptist
(Saint Jean Baptiste) Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #9, Vernon Street


 * FindaGrave

Saint Mary of the Bay
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #10, Vernon Street


 * FindaGrave

South Burial Ground
Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #11, Sowamset Avenue


 * FindaGrave

1850

 * Census of 1850 Microfilm of documents filmed at town hall, Tisbury, Mass.

1888
Biography

1895
Biography

Centennial Celebrations, etc

 * 200th anniversary of Warren, Rhode Island: historical sketch, 1747-1947

Baptist

 * A discourse delivered at the dedication of the new church edifice of the Baptist Church and Society in Warren, R.I.: May 8, 1845
 * The centennial discourse on the one hundredth anniversary of the First Baptist Church, Warren, R.I.: November 15, 1864

Episcopal

 * Historical discourse delivered in St. Mark's Church, Warren, R.I.: Sunday evening, November 10, 1878, being the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the parish The church closed the doors after last mass, 2 May 2010

Methodist

 * First United Methodist Church of Warren
 * The origin and progress of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Warren, R.I.: including notices of many clergymen and others who have contributed to its planting and growth

Roman Catholic

 * La Paroisse Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Warren, état du Rhode Island, 1877-1952

Court Records
Probate Records, Town Records and Vital Records

Directories

 * Warren and Barrington Directory, 1897: comprising a complete general and business directory of the towns of Warren and Barrington, also, a record of the town governments, institutions, societies, etc.
 * Bristol, Warren and Barrington (Rhode Island) city directories

History
Biography


 * Dedication of the Massasoit Memorial: at Warren, Rhode Island, October nineteenth, nineteen hundred and seven
 * The history of Warren, R.I. from the earliest times: with particular notices of Massasoit and his family

Land and Property

 * Mortgages 1752, 1755, 1786
 * Warren (R.I.) deed records (1744-1916) and indexes (1747-1982) --, 1744-1982 Grantor and grantee index 1747-1895 Deeds 1744-1902 Warranties 1883-1916 Deed Grantor index 1747-1982 Deed Grantee index 1747-1982 Deed records 1898-1910

Military History and Records

 * Militia rolls 1843-1878

Revolutionary War

 * The history of Warren, Rhode Island, in the War of the Revolution, 1776-1783

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * Warren (R.I.) naturalization papers, 1898-1940

Probate Records

 * Probate records, 1746-1920 Before 1799 the town council handled all probate matters. Probate proceedings 1808-1879 Wills and inventories 1746-1851 Inventories 1831-1918 Executors, administrators and guardianship bonds 1872-1893 Bonds and letters of testamentary 1811-1836 Administration and testamentary letters 1810-1871 Accounts 1832-1947 Commissoners reports of claims 1843-1913 Letters of guardianship 1840-1900 Letters and bonds to return inventory 1823-1839 Probate index 1746-1859 Probate records 1879-1920 Wills 1880-1918 Bonds, numbered and un-numbered 1872-1917 Administration and letters testamentary index 1840-1849

Town Records

Taxation

 * Valuation List 1778 Genealogy Trails

Town Records

 * Town meeting records 1746-1881
 * Financial records 1858-1908

Probate Records

Vital Records

 * Births, marriages, deaths 1730-1856
 * Births, marriages, deaths, 1850-1915 Births 1850-1915 Marriages 1850-1915 Deaths 1850-1915
 * Warren, Bristol, Rhode Island computer printout; births or christenings, 1851-1876
 * Warren, Bristol, Rhode Island computer printout; marriages, 1636-1885

Societies, Libraries and Museums

 * Warren Hall of Fame
 * The Massasoit Historical Association of Warren, Rhode Island