Each result will provide you with a transcript of key information transcribed from the original source material. The amount of detail will vary from record to record, but most transcripts will include the following information:
Father’s first name(s)
Mother’s first name(s)
Volume, folio, file, and page information
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 offered a potential destination for incoming ships, particularly at the port town of Newport, 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.
Some notable individuals in these records include Sarah Doyle and Wilfred Harold Munro:
Sarah Elizabeth Doyle was an educational reformer and educator. She was involved in the Rhode Island School of Design’s founding. She also worked to see women’s education established at Brown University, leading the charge to get women admitted to the university. Her birth record is among those included in this collection; from it, we learn that she was born on 23 March 1830 to Thomas and Martha in Providence, Rhode Island.
Wilfred Harold Munro
Munro was a historian who studied at Brown University and in Europe at Heidelberg and Freiburg. He would go on to teach at several schools over his career, including his alma mater, Brown. He authored several books including The History of Bristol, R. I., Picturesque Rhode Island, and Tales of an Old Sea Port, a General Sketch of Bristol, Rhode Island. From his birth record included in this collection, we learn that Munro was born on 20 August 1849 to John and Abby in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Begin your search broadly. Start with just a first and last name, with name variants selected.
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Keep in mind that years may have been mistranscribed or indecipherable. Try a combination of fields to help locate your ancestor, such as a last name and a place.
You can search for a parent’s name in the keyword search field.