Rhode Island Church Records 1671-1899

These records include transcripts created from Rhode Island church records from several denominations including Episcopal, Baptist, and Protestant. Details will vary, but most transcripts will include the following information:

• First name(s)
• Last name
• Year
• Event date
• Place

The state of Rhode Island is located in New England, on the Atlantic coast of the United States. Rhode Island’s history is, in many instances, the history of the United States. It was one of the original Thirteen Colonies – and the first amongst them to renounce allegiance to the British Crown. As Rhode Island is a coastal state, it was a popular destination for ships, with Newport becoming its most important port town, and despite having abolished slavery in 1652, Rhode Island became ‘the epicenter of the North American slave trade’ by the early part of the eighteenth century.

One notable individual found in these records is James Manning. Manning was a Baptist minister. He was also an educator and legislator. Manning later became the first president of Brown University. From his record, we can determine that it is his death date recorded: 29 July 1791. The place listed is Warren, Rhode Island, which is where his parsonage was located.

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