Historical note:

           A resolution of the Providence City Council, approved March 6, 1891, appointed three men, Horatio Rogers, George M. Carpenter, and Edward Field, as record commissioners in charge of "collecting and printing the early records of the town of Providence." The records initially designated for the project originated from the earliest years of Providence's settlement to its incorporation as a city in 1832. Earlier but unsuccessful preservation efforts had been made in 1678, 1796, 1865, 1881, and 1884. In the end, the 1891 project took 15 years to complete, incorporated many more papers than were originally believed to exist, and provided researchers with organized access to the papers still in use today.

            Between the years 1892 and 1897, Rogers, Carpenter and Field published five reports which they presented to the city council, pleading cases for appropriation of funds for the project and describing their findings, preservation plans, and results. Included in their first report to the city council are two appendices, A and B, listing town papers still surviving in 1678 and 1755; the papers originally designated for the commissioners' project. The majority of records surviving from these two lists were published in the 21-volume set The Early Records of the Town of Providence, volumes 1-14, 16, and 18-21 (RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P9). The original records remain in the keeping of the Providence City Archives.

            In addition to the above records, the commissioners discovered a huge amount of papers in cupboards at City Hall "... tied up in bundles and partly classified, dating back as far as 1678....Included in these papers are depositions, indentures, documents relating to the Revolutionary war, tax-lists, a mass of records relating to the colonial monetary system, and many other varieties of records too numerous to particularize." These papers were too valuable not to be included in the preservation project; consequently, they were "repaired, pressed, stamped as the property of the city, and finally mounted in large books made specially for the purpose." They were not published. Occupying over 180 volumes, these are the papers that comprise the bulk of the Town Papers in the custody of the RIHS.

            The commissioners also found, in January 1893, Providence-related papers in the holdings of the Rhode Island Historical Society; specifically, in portions of the Theodore Foster and Rhode Island Manuscripts collections. With the cooperation of the Society, these documents were reviewed, then extracted from the Society's records and incorporated into the Providence Town Papers. They were bound into five volumes and classified as "Series 2" of the collection. The first two volumes of the series were published in The Early Records of the Town of Providence, volumes 15 and 17 (RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P9). All five volumes from Series 2 are owned by the RIHS.

            A copy of Reports of the Record Commissioners of Providence, 1892-1897 is also available at the RIHS library (RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P93 1892r). Researchers may want to consult this work as part of any study of the Providence Town Papers. In addition to providing an excellent overview of the scope of material involved in the project, the reports contain subject indexes to several volumes of the collection. A complete inventory of volumes in the Providence Town Papers, a list of their published and manuscript indexes, and an explanation as to which papers have been published, are detailed below.

Bibliography:

Providence (R.I.). Record Commissioners. First-Fifth report of the record commissioners relative to early town records. (Providence: Snow & Farnham, 1892-1897).

RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P93 1892r

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Scope and content:

            The complete collection of Providence Town Papers is divided between the Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division and the Providence City Hall Archives. They derive from the pre-incorporation years of the city, 1633 to 1832. For the sake of simplicity, the papers can be thought of as belonging to two general groups: the published group, the originalsof which, for the most part, are kept at Providence City Hall; and the non-published group, which is bound into large volumes and is owned by the Rhode Island Historical Society. Attached to this finding aid are two lists: "Published Town Papers and location of original manuscripts" and "List of Books arranged by Prov. Record Commissioners." A review of these will help the researcher delineate how ownership of the papers is divided between the two archives. Researchers should also note that, because the scope of papers involved in the 1891 preservation project was larger than first realized, the papers that were ultimately published in Early Records of the Town of Providence (RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P9) do not include the full range of the town papers in the holdings of the Providence City Archives.

            The non-published papers were originally bound into close to 300 volumes. The Rhode Island Historical Society owns over 275 of these; document dates range from 1639 to 1832. Of the remaining volumes, five were removed from the collection and reorganized into the Warner Papers (MSS 778), and the balance are still owned by the City of Providence. The volumes owned by the RIHS are organized into 9 series. Series 3 contains the largest number of papers, over 64,000. The papers in Series 2, though dramatically fewer in number (1,369) are considered the most important group; they contain, for instance, the second-largest number of Roger Williams letters in any single collection (the first being the Winthrop Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society).

            Both the Rhode Island Historical Society and the Providence City Archives own a set of the 21 volume publishedpapers, titled The Early Records of the Town of Providence (RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P9). The earliest document date in this group is 1633. The only original documents among the published papers that are owned by the RIHS are those in volumes 15 and 17, which are part of Series 2 mentioned above.

            The types of documents to be found in the Providence Town Papers are too numerous to list in this inventory. It suffices to say that almost any type of event in the lives of town officials and private citizens during the 199 years of history reflected in the collection is represented: social, agricultural, military, political, legal, financial, commercial, intercultural, and the like. By reviewing the "List of Titles" which precedes each of the subject indexes contained within the published commissioners' reports, the researcher can get a general idea of the scope of the papers. Close examination of the actual indexes, though they are incomplete, reveals a rich portrait of places, people, and events which underlay the landscape of modern Providence.

Note: The researcher may want to read the July, 1952 issue of Rhode Island History, pages 65-70, which gives some additional detail relating to the nature of the documents in the collection. This can be found in the RIHSL Reading Room, Call # F76 .R472.

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Provenance:

        The papers currently owned by the Society were transferred from the City of Providence in the spring of 1952. The papers in volumes 1-5 of Series 2, formerly part of the Theodore Foster Papers and the Rhode Island Manuscripts collection, had once been in the possession of the Society much earlier. They were originally transferred from the city to the Society in 1845 in unbound form, where they became mixed with manuscripts already in the Society's possession. During the 1891 reorganization project, they were extracted from the Society's collections, mounted in five volumes, and returned to the city. They were then given back to the Society in the accession of 1952, where they remain today.

             During the 1890s several groups of papers, some rather substantial in size, were presented to the record commissioners by Ann Elizabeth Arnold, Howard Redwood Guild, William Henry Fenner, and the Olney family. Around 1895, Catherine R. Peirce loaned a large group of papers from the Warner family; these papers were subsequently sold by the owner to the John Carter Brown Library, but in 1906 were transferred back to the RIHS. Originally bound in volumes 173 to 177, they have since been removed from the Providence Town Papers, unbound, re-housed in document boxes, and shelved as a separate collection under "Warner" (MSS 778).

            Examination of the "List of Books Arranged by the Record Commissioners" (see attachment) indicates where the above donations are located in the many volumes of papers. Insertion of these groups of papers into the collection sometimes interrupted its chronological arrangement.

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Processing note:

            The papers arrived at the Society already bound in the volumes in which they remain today. Processing was not so much a matter of physical re-arrangement as determining:

            1) what portion of the Providence Town Papers is in the holdings of the RIHS;

            2) what portion is still in the Providence City Archives;

            3) what portion has been published, and which published papers are available at the                         RIHS;

            4) how much of the collection, if any, has been indexed; and

            5) relationship, usefulness, and location of existing indexes to the collection.

This inventory was begun by Rufus Lund in 1994 and completed by Robin Flynn in 1998.

In 1998, the contents of Series 7, Freemen Meeting Minutes, were transferred to MSS 214, sg11.

In 2006, the documents in Volume 1 of Series 1 and Volume 1 of Series 2 we removed from the books because of the decrepid state of the original bindings and papers, which were putting them in danger. Oversize documents were removed to an appropriate size flat box. Multiple documents grouped on a page were kept together in folders, to follow the orgainzation of the indexes.

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Inventory:

Series 1: (1642-1799, 2 boxes, 1 oversize box, vols. 2-39D)

The papers in this series have not been published. However, several indexes exist for volumes 1-39D; see the attached "List of Indexes..." for their types and locations.

Vol. or Box #                                     Document #                                                    Date range

Box 1                                                  #1-#166                                                          1642-1750

Box 2                                                  #167-#350                                                      1751-1761

Box 3 (Oversize items)                             #2, 21, 22, 29 , 32, 62, 71, 72, 90                   1647-1759

                                                                        91, 93, 96, 123, 171 ,174,

                                                                        283, 289 & 314

Vol. 2-33 (Arnold)                                 #351-14003                                                    1762?-1799

Vol. 33-34 (Bowen)                              #14004-14626                                                1745-1772

Vol. 34-36                                          #14627-14975                                                1684-1828

Vol. 36-39                                          #14976-16610                                                1698-1799

Vol. 39a-c (Fenner,                               #16626-17707                                                1640-1815

  Bates, Olney)

Series 2: (1639-1823 and undated, 5 volumes)

Document numbers in this series were each prefixed with a "0" to distinguish them from the numbering system in Series 1. Part of Series 2, documents 01-0717 (volumes 1 and 2), 1639-March 1722, was published in Volumes XV and XVII of The Early Records of the Town of Providence (RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P9); each volume includes both subject and name indexes. Additional indexes exist for the whole series; please see attached "List of Indexes."

Vol. or Box #                                      Document #                                                    Date range

Box 1                                                  #01-#0170 USE PUBLISHED VERSION     1672-1750

Box 2                                                  #0171-#0367 USE PUBLISHED VERSION    1751-1761

Box 3 (Oversize items)                             # 012, 065, 066, 0118, 0120, 0134,

                                                             0135, 0136, 0167, 0168, 0173, 0199,

                                                             0202, 0243, 0252, 0253, 0254, 0263,

                                                            0264, 0265, 0360 USE PUBLISHED VERSION  

Vol. 2                                                  #0368-0717 USE PUBLISHED VERSION    4/1682-3/1722

Vol. 3                                                  #0718-0974                                                    4/1722-2/1754

Vol. 4                                                  #0975-01056                                                  8/1754-6/1823

Vol. 5                                                  #01057-01369                                                undated

Series 3: (1800-1832 and undated, vols. 40-154)

There are over 64,000 papers in Series 3. Each document number is prefixed with "00" to distinguish it from similarly-numbered documents in the previous two series; thus, 001-0064170. These papers have not been published. They have been indexed by subject, at least partially, in the WPA card index and the incomplete subject index shelved with the collection (.5 ft grey archival box). See attached "List of Indexes."

Vol. #                                                  Document #                                                    Date range

40-151                                                001-0063576                                                  1800-1832

152 (misc. papers)                                     0063577-0063640                                          1717-1827

153-154 (undated papers)                                        0063641-0064170                                          undated

Series 4: Sprague Papers

This series contains only one volume. These papers range from 1722 to 1801 and are numbered 1 through 25. They have not been published, and no index has been found for them.

Series 5: Reports Relating to Streets and Highways

The contents of volumes 163 and 164 were copied for use by the public under the auspices of the record commissioners. The copied material was bound into two volumes, numbered 1 and 2, which are in the holdings of the Providence City Archives and the index for them exists in the Fourth report of the record commissioners relative to early town records (RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P93 1892r). That index does not refer to the volumes below, for which no index has been found.

Vol. #                                                  Document #                                                    Date range

163 (petitions)                                    A1-A223                                                         1686-1805

164 (plats)                                          B1-B111                                                         1713/14-1813 

Series 6: Bank Mortgages

This series contains volumes numbered 165-172. Its dates range from 1720-1786 and 1797-1798. These papers have not been published. They are indexed by name of mortgagor in the Fourth report of the record commissioners relative to early town records (RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P93 1892r). See attached "List of Indexes."

Series 7: Town Meeting Minutes, 1800-1824, volumes 178-180.

These do not appear to have been indexed or published.

TRANSFERRED TO MSS 214, SG 11 IN APRIL/MAY, 1998. rpf

Series 8: Records of Notes and Certificates, 1786-1814, volume 181.

These do not appear to have been indexed or published.

Series 9: Tax Books: Valuation Lists, Colony and Town Rates, 1705, 1749-1789. Volumes 190-236; 243-257; 260-292; 294-295.

See the attached "List of Books. . ." for a detailed listing of the Volumes in this series. Volumes 237-242 and 258-259 are located at the Providence City Hall Archives. The Fifth report of the record commissioners relative to early town records (RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P93 1892r) also contains a list of the above volumes as well as other tax documents in the Town Papers.

WPA Index Box List:

            The WPA began a subject index, on index cards, which cites documents by volume and page number. This index appears to include Series 1 through 3. These index cards are in the MSS Reading Room and 1st aisle of the 2nd floor stacks (43 card file boxes).

            The categories with the most cards are Town Council Meeting, Highways, Poor, Licenses and Bond for Liquor, Orders for Services and School, Bills, Bonds, and Certificates of Indebtedness.

            These cards have been put in some degree of order over the years, but order within some categories has been lost or never existed. The index might prove more useful in researching a general subject rather than an individual. As the cards themselves are of good quality and accuracy, browsing through them might be preferable to browsing through the bound volumes of faded documents.

            A box list follows:

            Box 1: Acadia - Bills against town

            Box 2: Bills against town - Bills, Henry Bowen

            Box 3: Bills, Henry Bowen - Bonds

            Box 4: Bonds - Bridges

            Box 5: Bridges - Certificates of indebtedness

            Box 6: Certificates of indebtedness - P-Y

                        Deeds, A-N

            Box 7: Deeds, O-Z

                        Freemen

            Box 8: Gangways - Highways

            Box 9: Highway bills (locality given)

            Box 10: Highway bills - Labor and misc.

            Box 11: Highway bills - Labor and stones

            Box 12: Highway orders - Hospitals

            Box 13: Hospital reports - Land leases

            Box 14: Legal - Letters, health

            Box 15: Letters (hospitals - licenses)

            Box 16: Licenses and bonds (Liquor A-H)

            Box 17: Licenses and bonds (Liquor H-S)

            Box 18: Licenses and bonds (Liquor S-Z)

            Box 19: Market houses - Notes, bank

            Box 20: Notes (bank - claims)

            Box 21: Notes (claims - personal)

            Box 22: Notes (personal)

                        Notes by virtue of resolution

            Box 23: Notices, bank notes due - Orders, accounts

            Unboxed: Miscellaneous orders

            Box 24: Orders, school

            Box 25: Orders (school - services)

            Box 26: Orders (services - paper money bank)

            Box 27: Orders (paper money bank - poor)

            Box 28: Poor, B

            Box 29: Poor, C

            Box 30: Poor, D

            Box 31: Poor - Town Council Complaints

            Boxes 32-38: Town Council Meetings

            Box 39: Town Council Meetings - Town of Scituate

            Box 40: Town Sergeant

            Box 41: Town Stocks - Vagrancy Proceedings

            Box 42: Vagrancy Proceedings - Watch

            Box 43: Watch - Young's Corner

Tables:

Table 1

*Volumes 3-5, pp. 0718-01369, are unpublished. Volume 5 contains undated papers.

Table 2

*An index for plats for Providence streets and highways exists in the Fourth report of the record commissioners relative to early town records (RIHS Reading Room Call # F89 .P9 P93 1892r). That index does not reference the items in Series 5 of the Providence Town Papers at the RIHS. It refers to two volumes owned by the Providence City Hall Archives, which contain copies of the contents of Series 5. For more information read the record commissioners' 4th Report.

**Original manuscripts of documents published in this series are in the holdings of the Providence City Hall Archives, with the exception of contents of volumes XV and XVII, which are part of RIHSL holdings.

Table 3