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Cross Reference: 1687 Tax Roll

Author: Randolph R. Beebe, © 27 Jan 2024.

This free space profile provides a "best effort" correlation between individuals listed on Gov. Andros 1687 Rochester, Kings County, Rhode Island tax register and their corresponding wikitree profiles. Andros' tax consisted of two parts; a pole (poll) tax, which was a fixed "head" tax of one shilling for each adult male living in the jurisdiction; and the second part was a property tax levied on an assessed value of the taxpayer's estate (presumably real estate). (Note that this "head count" pole tax appears to be for all adult males, not just for landholders because many on the list are assessed the poll tax, but with zero estate tax, suggesting they did not own any land at the time).

There are a mere 138 taxpayers/taxpaying individuals assessed and listed in this entire Rochester (Kingstown), Rhode Island jurisdiction in this 6 Sep 1687 tax roll. Furthermore, an analysis of the list reveals that there were only 85 unique family groups on the taxroll. This for an area of roughly 22.5 miles (north to south) by about 10 miles wide (east to west), or 225 sq. miles, this yields an average English population density of 0.6 households/sq. mile, or one household per 1058 acres. Furthermore, many of the Narragansett Indians native to the area had perished by the end of KIng Phillip's war in 1676. The long and short of it is that there were very few people living in Kingstown, Rhode Island in 1687 and it is highly probable that nearly all of the people on this list were acquainted with each other. Marriages between the children of these families was nearly universal in the sense that at least one child from nearly every household on this list was married to the child of another household on this list; and this pattern propagated for several generations. One compelling piece of evidence to support this assertion is that there are 11 verifiable "n"th great grandfathers of the author appearing on this tax roll, representing over 10 percent of the family groups living in Rochester/Kingstown in 1687. It Is this interconnectedness aspect of the people in this document that makes this cross-reference a valuable genealogical study tool as it centralizes a connection point between most of the names on the tax list and their corresponding wikitree profiles. As of 10 March 2024, the table below has associated a probable Wikitree identity for 116 of the total 138 names on this list along with a hot link to a certain or probable wikitree profile for each taxpayer.

The essential information source document for this cross reference tool is extracted from Genealogies of Rhode Island Families, Vol. II, Niles - Wilson. by Gary Boyd Roberts, RI Taxes under Gov. Andros pages 592- 594. Robert's 1989 text remains under copyright protection, and the only presently known online access to the document is at Ancestry.com, and is available to subscribers only. ^[1] The three page document provides a transcribed copy of the 6 September 1687 Rochester (Kingstown), Kings County, Rhode Island Tax Register.

The selection criteria used to correlate a particular Wikitree profile to a name on the tax roll is as follows: first, there must be a shared name (allowing for spelling variants and transcription errors); second, the individuals in candidate Wikitree profiles had to have been born prior to 1667 (profiles with birthdates on or after 1667 are dubious, or perhaps there is a birthdate error in the profile), and third; the candidate Wikitree profile would have to provide at least some trace of evidence that the individual had or credibly could have lived in the Kingstown Rhode Island area during this 1687 time period. This list was created in January of 2024.

Each field in the table is sortable by clicking on the sort box in the column heading.

An Important clarification: This area was known as Kingstown or Kingston between 1674 and 1723 and it was not until 1723 that the town was split into North Kingstown and South Kingstown. Thus in 1687 there was no such thing as North and South Kingstown and this demarcation would not come into existence for another 36 years. The notation of a particular individual in North or South Kingstown in the table below is noted if the 1687 residence location of that individual can reliably placed in what became North Kingstown or South Kingstown after 1723. In other words it is a contrived construct to provide a tighter geographic grouping in order to illustrate which individuals may have been living in closer proximity at the time of the tax

Table of 1687 Taxpayers

Assessments of Y^e Estates of Y^e Towne of Rocheste^r (Kingston) in Y^e Kings Province Sep^r 6^th 1687.

Maps

This map of Rhode Island Indian place names is a powerful tool to aid in placement of 1687 Kingstown taxpayer's residences.

The following plat map of Quidnessett, Rhode Island is dated in 1718, but best aligns with the 1661 landowners who were the initial assignees to the properties; many whose names or the names of their heirs are included in the 1687 Tax list. The originating document for this particular copy of the map came from page 12 of Homer Aylesworth's genealogy, Arthur Aylsworth and his descendents in America. ^[2] Refer to the profile of Arthur Aylesworth Sr. (1653-aft.1725) for further discussion. An earlier (1886-7) publication of this map is found in the Narragansett Historical Register V5; ^[3] page 62.

1718 Plat of Quidnesett, Rhode Island

This 1855 map of Washington County, preserves many of the place names cited in the profiles of the 1687 Taxpayers, and thereby establishes the correct location. Examples: Tower Hill, Boston Neck in South Kingstown; the South Kingstown location of the Narragansett Ferry run by the ____ family. Quidnessett is cut off of the Washington County map, but is included in theThe following ma 1855 Kent County map. Devil's Foot Rock in Quidnessett, North Kingstown; Wilke Fort.

The following property map of North Kingstown circa 1667 ownership map of was posted to the profile of Nicholas Utter in 2019. Provenance of the map is unknown.

Property map of North Kingstown circa 1667?.

Gardiner Farms

The following plat map is taken from page 204A of Caroline Robinson's The Gardiners of Narragansett. ^[4] This set of farms lies on the west bank of the Pettaquamscut Lake/River west of present day Saunderstown; between the western shore of Pettaquamscut Lake and Walmsley Lane. Tower Hill Park (one of two so-named locales in North Kingstown) is just to the west of these farms at the junction of I1 and Bridgetown Road; and the farms are located along the Pettaquamscutt Lake shoreline between LaFarge Point Park on the north end and where Bridgetown Road crosses the Pettaquamscutt River on the south

Judge Potter's Map, West of Wickford

In 1838, the Society of Colonial Wars published an eight page pamphlet entitled, Several purchases of the lands west of Wickford, sold by the committee of the Colony for the sale of Vacant Lands in 1709 as shown on a map by Hon. Elisha Reynolds Potter, 1838, summarizing a series of land purchases from the committee in 1709-1710. This plat map drawn by Judge Elisha Potter then provides a 1709-1710 snapshot of land ownership detail for the land west of Wickford, bounded by the Fones purchase on the north, the Pettaquamscutt purchase on the southwest, what is now Highway 1 on the east, and where Ten Rod road bends to the south on the west (Just west of present day Wickford Junction). This map includes many of the citizens included on Gov. Andros's 1687 tax roll, and/or their children, and provides a powerful image illustrating the role proximity played in connecting the various family groups.

• Elisha Reynolds Potter; Several purchases of the lands west of Wickford;] E.l. Freeman Co.; Providence, RI.; 1936. Wickford Purchases, page 8. 3 Jun 1709 Mrs. Abigail Phenix and James Hyams purchased 163 acres Judge Potter's Plat map west of Wickford; page 2

Comments, corrections, and suggestions are invited.

References

1. ↑ Roberts, Gary Boyd; Genealogies of Rhode Island Families, Vol. II, Niles - Wilson; Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore 1989. RI Taxes under Gov. Andros pages 592- 594.
2. ↑ Aylsworth, Homer Elhanan MD; Arthur Aylsworth and his descendents in America, with notes historical and genealogical, relating to the family, from early English records; Edited by James Arnold, Providence, R.I.; Narragansett HIstorical Publishing Company, 1887. Public Domain.
3. ↑ Rhode Island Historical Association, James Arnold Editor; The Narragansett historical register, Vol V. 1886-1887; The Narraganestt Publishing Co., Providence RI; 1886-1888.
4. ↑ Robinson, Caroline E. The Gardiners of Narragansett: being a genealogy of the descendants of George Gardiner, the colonist, 1638, Providence, Rhode Island, 1919. (Public Domain), The Gardiners of Narragansett -- Title Page