Searching for a “lost” record and can’t find it? You might not
be looking in the right place. Handwritten documents (letters, diaries and
personal papers) traveled with Rhode Islanders in their trips across the
country. If your Rhode Island relative left the area for California and settled
in several different towns along the way, they could’ve left their manuscripts
behind in any one of those communities. Finding those items is a bit like
looking for a needle in a haystack. There is help available.
What’s a manuscript?
First let’s start with a definition. According to Tim Salls,
Archivist of the R. Stanton Avery Special Collections Department, “manuscripts
are handwritten documents as well as typewritten unpublished material.” This
includes photographs and items typically considered one of a kind. Archivists
usually create finding aids for collections that contain a note about the scope
of the material, information on previous owners and an inventory of items.
Search strategies
- Online
As more
libraries and archives post finding aids it’s easier to find material online.
Start with a person’s name, or a place followed by a descriptor. A sample search
on Google.com for papers
relating to Rhode Island’s public health pioneer, Charles V. Chapin using
“Charles V. Chapin” manuscript turned up collections at Brown
University and the Rhode Island Historical Society as well as references to some
of his published works. A search for information about one of the state’s small
villages “Quonset Rhode Island” manuscript located an oral
history about the area, a photograph and a scholarly article. Try a variety of
terms moving from specific individuals and places to the more general.
- National Databases
Many research facilities submit their cataloging records to the
National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUMUC). You can access a full
description of NUMUC on the Library of Congress website www.loc.gov/index.html.
To search all of NUMUC will require using both their online resources and the
earlier printed volumes. The books span the period 1959-1993 and are available
at major libraries including the NEHGS library. Read the searching instructions
before beginning. I like using the advanced search screens to narrow down hits.
- Look Locally
Just about every town has a collection of manuscripts and related
material. Contact local historical societies and archives in areas where your
ancestors lived to see if they own any items related to your research. The
American Association of State and Local History Directory of Historical
Organizations in the United States and Canada (Altamira, 2001) is a good
source for contact data. For specific Rhode Island institutions browse the list
of members in the Rhode Island Consortium of Genealogical and Historical
Societies http://users.ids.net/~ricon/index.html. Since many public
libraries also collect local history material, use the American Library
Association’s two volume, American Library DirectoryTM 2005-2006 (ALA, available
in most public libraries) Significant collections of Rhode Island manuscripts
are kept by the Rhode Island Historical Society http://www.rihs.org/, and The John Hay Library at Brown
University http://www.brown.edu/. The Rhode Island State Archives
collects state related material. You can write them at 337 Westminster St.,
Providence, RI 02903.
Outside of Rhode Island, start with the R. Stanton
Avery Collection at NEHGS. Salls compiled a list of Rhode Island material at 101
Newbury St. This collection is open to members.
Mss 937 George A. Moriarty Papers
Research on RI
Loyalists, Newport documents
Mss 911 Effective return of Capt
Topham’s Company in Col. Church’s Regiment Rhode Island
Forces
Handwritten list with the names of 59 soldiers in 3rd R.I.
Regiment. List has the following columns: men’s names, age, size (feet, inches),
enlisted (when, where, by whom), where born (county, town), trade or calling,
color (hair, eye), gun who provides who owns, and scars &
moles.
** Mss 910 Privateer commission issued to Mark Anthony De
Wolf, 1757 **
Handwritten commission to privateer against French
ships granted to Marc Anthony DeWolf (1726-1793), Commander of the Sloop Rhoda.
Signed by Step[hen] Hopkins Esq. as "Governour and Commander in Chief over His
Majesty's Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation" and Tho[mas] Ward,
Secretary.
Mss 805 Vital records of Newport, RI by Waldo
Sprague
Handwritten copy of original town record books volumes one
and two, ca. 1670-1775. Also includes First Baptist Church, Newport, records,
1676-1834 (bulk: 1772-1834).
Mss 687 Dean family papers,
1758-1905 (bulk: 1840-1905)
Genealogical notes and charts,
correspondence, documents, obituaries, and photographs relating to the Benjamin
and Alice (Lofthouse) Dean family of Clitheroe, England; Lowell, MA; and
Providence, R.I. … Among the obituaries is a handwritten copy of a bible record
for the John B. and Mary (Tillinghast) Mumford family of Newport,
RI.
Mss 563 Power of attorney by John Ellery,
1708
Handwritten document by which John Ellery (1681-1742) of
Newport, RI assigns power of attorney to Benjamin Ellery. Includes the seal of
John Ellery. Witnessed by John Ward and William Coddington and recorded by
William Wanton Jr.
Mss 486 Patrick Kiernan family register,
1845-1852
Lithograph by Kelloggs & Comstock handcolored and
completed in manuscript for the Patrick and Sarah Keirnan family of Rhode
Island.
Mss 195 Lawton M. Patten Papers,
1783-1985
Includes accounts and sermons of Rev. William Patten
(1763-1839), clergyman of Second Congregational Church, Newport,
R.I.
Mss 80 Thomas Fayerweather Papers,
1737-1818
Includes documents relating to Rhode Island merchants in
business with Fayerweather.
Mss 78 John Leverett
Papers
Papers concerning the administration of Leverett's estate,
three Natick (Massachuset) Indian apprenticeships issued by Leverett as judge of
Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature, documents concerning argument with
the Crown over the Massachusetts Colony charter, lease of land in Kingston,
R.I., reports reflecting his activities as administrator of Indian lands in
Rhode Island, and other papers; together with papers of family
members.
Mss 68 Ivory Hovey Papers,
1732-1798
Includes records and registers of … United Church of
Christ, Little Compton, R.I.
Mss 53 Thomas and Oliver Durfee
Papers, 1740-1801
Private and public legal documents of Thomas
Durfee and his son Oliver Durfee (1754-1798), of Portsmouth and Middletown, RI.
The elder Durfee described himself at various times as a vinter and yeoman.
Among his deeds and leases, there is a complaint against a neighbor for selling
rum without a license in 1772 and an itemization of property losses to British
troops in 1776. Oliver Durfee's manuscripts include 33 private deeds, contracts,
public notes etc. followed by 27 warrants issued by Durfee as Justice of the
Peace in Middletown. Finally, there are 8 miscellaneous deeds and military
petitions.
Mss C 5694 Documents concerning Joseph Sanford,
1784-1841
[Note: family lived in Newport] Four of the documents
relate to Hannah Hall and seventeen of the documents (primarily receipts) relate
to her estate. These documents were probably collected by Sanford because he had
power of attorney and was executor of the Hannah Hall estate. The remaining
fourteen documents include a marriage certificate for Joseph Sanford and Nancy
Stockman (1794), "Remarks of a voyage from Georgetown, SC to Newport in schooner
Conziah" by Joseph Sanford (1797), and an indenture binding Joseph's son, Samuel
Clarke Sanford, as an apprentice to Isaac Gould (1826).
Mss C
5436 Documents concerning Richmond family, 1745-1778
Second item is
"A general abstract of wages for several detachments from Col. Cook's Regt
militia in the state of Rhode Island in the service of the United States under
the command of Capt William Richmond for services from the 7th April -8th June
1778". Third item is "Ration abstract for Capt William Richmond and the troops
under his command at Little Compton from the 10th Decr 1777 to the 8 of June
1778".
Mss C 5092 Deposition of Samuel Slater,
1820
Handwritten copy of the deposition by Samuel Slater of North
Providence, R.I., taken by justice of the peace Stephen Jenks, for the trial of
Lydia Croade vs. Edmund R. Croade concerning her failure to honor a promissory
note. Slater testified that he sold Lydia Croade a house on 4 May 1818 and never
received payment.
Mss C 4830 Account book of Jason Newell,
1811-1835 Records include an account of schooling and a record of
tuition for a school in Cumberland, [R.I.] 1811-1812; a list of creditors to the
estate of Ruffus Arnold of Cumberland, RI; Report on the appraisal, division and
partitioning of the real estate of Joseph Jencks late of Cumberland April 2
1817; plot of land divided between widow and heirs of Welcome Jillson late of
Cumberland by Jason Newell surveyor; account of debts due the estate of Rufus
Arnold late of Cumberland deceased 5 Feb 1816.
Mss C 3147
Marriage certificate, 1875
Printed form completed by hand. Both
parties of Warren, R.I., married at Bristol, R.I.
Mss C 2341
Power of attorney for Henry Downing, 1803
Printed form completed by
hand. Henry Downing, mariner, of Providence, R.I., assigns power of attorney to
his sister, Nancy Downing, also of Providence. Witnessed by William Richmond,
Hannah Richmond.
Mss C 1334 Remonstrance to Samuel Cranston,
1704
Handwritten complaint of property
trespasses.
Mss C 1196 Acts and orders made by the Court of
Commoners held at Portsmouth, RI
A contemporary handwritten copy of
court records for 22 and 23 May 1656.
Mss C 1177 Papers of the
Reynolds family, Bristol, RI
Three original handwritten wills for
individuals named Joseph Reynolds of Bristol, R.I., dated 1757 February 16; ca.
1789; and 1813 August 10. Also a receipt, 1832 August 6, signed by Greenwood
Reynolds.
Mss C 1097 Cranston Detecting Society
records
First document has handwritten meeting minutes for March 14
1801, March 13 1802, March 9 & 16 1799, and March 8 1800. Minutes primarily
relate to the election of officers and committee assignments. Second document is
a list of expenses dated March 17, 1806 due to Nathaniel Carpenter from George
Waterman for accounts dated 1797, 1802, 1803, 1784.
Mss A
5703 Orderly book, 1842
Handwritten copy of orders no. 1-75 issued
by Adjutant General Elisha Dyer Jr. by order of Major General William Gibbs
McNeill during the Dorr Rebellion.
Mss A 5161 Record of marriages
solemnized by Rev. Charles H. Fay
List of marriages solemnized by
Rev. Charles H. Fay. Locations include Roxbury, MA; New York, NY; Middletown,
CT; Providence, RI; Nashua, NH, and Brooklyn, NY.
Mss A 3788
Christian Church (Foster, RI) records, 1851-1871
Vital statistic
records and membership lists kept by Rev. Gardner Howard, 1851-1871. Includes
genealogical notes concerning the Howard family, ca. 1791-1899, and an
explanatory letter.
Mss A 3682 Aaron Peck family record,
1780-1805
Original handwritten record with births, marriage, and
deaths concerning the Aaron and Amey (Spencer) Peck family of North Kingstown,
RI.
Mss A 2891 Record of marriages solemnized by Rev. Warren
Lincoln
Account book with a record of the marriages solemnized by
Rev. Lincoln. Locations include ME … MA … NH … Rhode Island (Providence and
Smithfield), VT (Bennington) then Cold Spring NY and Allentown NJ. Record
includes the following loose documents: six letters, four certificates of
marriage, a sermon preached by Lincoln at Banksville in 1871, and a copy of the
resolutions passed on the passing of Rev Warren Lincoln March
1877.
Mss A 1964 Diary of Elisha Green, 1696-1775 (bulk:
1730-1775)
First five pages have a handwritten record of baptisms
performed by Greene and other clergymen at Providence and Cranston, R.I., 1730,
1742-3, 1765-8, 1774. Pages 5-6 have "a journal of remarkable things which
happens with my self and of other remarkable things in the world", 1730,
1742-1744, 1755 concerning earthquakes, etc. Pages 8-14 contains "A remarkable
jurnel of the providentiall delings of God to me and my family", 1741/2,
concerning the illness and death of some of Greene's children. The remaining
pages has family vital statistic information [Cranston & Providence, RI],
1696-1775.
Mss A 1884 Correspondence of William Courtney,
1862-1865, 1867
51 ALS ; 14-27 cm. Letters from a soldier of the 7th
Regiment, R.I. Infantry Volunteers to his family at Rockland (now Scituate),
R.I. Describes his participation in battles and sieges at Fredericksburg, MD;
Petersburg and Richmond, VA; and Vicksburg, Miss. Includes letters from his wife
and daughter, describing the impact of the Civil War on R.I. cotton
manufacture.
Mss A 1075 Orderly book,
1776-1779
Contains an incomplete record of the orders issued at
various times and places by George Washington (Commander-in-chief), General
Sullivan (commander of the forces in Rhode Island), and William Perkins. Perkins
was a commander of a Rhode Island artillery regiment. The orderly book was
trimmed at some point (with the loss of some text) and
bound.
Bible records
31 original records (Mss A 558,
Mss A 1679, Mss A 2562, Mss A 2573, Mss A 3074, Mss A 3395, Mss A 3398, Mss A
3435, Mss A 3535, Mss A 3604, Mss A 3683, Mss A 3688, Mss A 3714, Mss A 4565,
Mss A 4805,