1774 Rhode Island Census
Location: Rhode Island
Surnames/tags: census rhode_island
Contents |
The 1774 Census of Rhode Island
The 1774 census was the first comprehensive account of the colony of Rhode Island. It was undertaken in response to a directive of the General Assembly at its June 1774 session. For all towns except New Shoreham (Block Island), the records include the names of heads of households in addition to numbers of residents. [1]
Transcribed census records were first published in 1858 by Rhode Island Secretary of State John R. Bartlett. Bartlett's compilation has been widely reproduced. It is, however, incomplete; ages and genders of blacks and Indians that were recorded in the census were not included, and all records were alphabetized, resulting in loss of information for those towns where the original record listed households in the order they were visited. A new transcription that was published in installments beginning in 2003 does not have these deficiencies.[1]
In 2022, the Rhode Island State Archives published high-quality digital images of the original census pages on their website.
Census Entries
The 1774 Rhode Island Census entries are presented as rows with eight entries as follows:
| Column | Title |
| 1 | Name of the head |
| 2 | Number of white males above age 16 |
| 3 | Number of white males under age 16 |
| 4 | Number of white females above age 16 |
| 5 | Number of white females under age 16 |
| 6 | Number of Indians |
| 7 | Number of blacks |
| 8 | Total |
Available online at these locations:
As of 2022, digital images of the original pages were published, and they are of such high quality that they are probably preferable to any transcription. However, as of 2022, they were not indexed, nor easily navigated, so here are links to the various starting pages for each town:
New Shoreham (counts only — no names)
Transciptions
HTML format, with links to each town (transcribed, original images not available):
Scanned book, arranged by Bartlett:
Also available through Google Play.
Rhode Island Roots, vol. 29 (2003), page 165ff, continued in subsequent volumes. (Online access requires a free acount to AmericanAncestors.)
Citing this page
The preferred source to cite is the Rhode Island Roots transcription, which can be accessed with a guest membership (free of charge) to americanancestors.org. Just go to the guest membership page and click the button to sign up for a free account.
Once you are logged in with your guest account, go to the Rhode Island Roots database search page and search for your ancestor by name. Links to images of the 1774 Census transcription will be labeled as such. But be careful -- sometimes there are several links belonging to different people with the same name.
Citation Example (for citing Rhode Island Roots transcription):
- <span id='C1774'></span>''[[Space:1774 Rhode Island Census|1774 Rhode Island Census]]'', town name, page census page, entry entry number -- head-of-household name; citing transcription by transcriber in Rhode Island Roots volume number p.page number, month year.
You would need to fill in the
- town name
- page number from the original census pages (page breaks in the original census documents are found intermittently in the transcription)
- entry number on that page (this requires counting through the entries since the previous page break)
- head-of-household name
- transcriber (found at the beginning of the transcription for that town or copy from another profile that cites the 1774 census from the same town)
- the volume and page number and month and year. This refers to information about identifying the entry within the particular issue of Rhode Island Roots
Footnote Example:
- <ref>[[#C1774|1774 Census]]</ref>
What Links Here
WikiTree Profiles that use this source
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The 1774 Census of Rhode Island, A New Look at an Old Friend. Rhode Island Roots, vol. 29 (2003), pages 165-166.
- Milestone for the 1774 Census of Rhode Island Project Jun 27, 2023.
- 1774 RI Census Project milestone! Jan 1, 2018.
- 1774 Rhode Island Census project milestone! Dec 9, 2017.
- Project: 1774 Census of Rhode Island Nov 14, 2017.
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edited by Barry Smith
I haven't seen the original documents, which are at R.I. State Archives. (If someone lives nearby and wants to check it out and see, I'd be happy for a report). Microfilm are also available. According to this website:
https://rigensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=32
age ranges for Indians and Blacks are in the original data. Faithful transcriptions were apparently published in Rhode Island Roots, but you need a subscription to NEHGS to see them, and I don't have one at the moment.