COVENTRY. Coventry was taken from Warwick and incorporated August 21, 1741. Population: 792 (1748), 2,023 (1774), 2,107 (1782), 2,423 (1800), 3,620 (1850), 5,279 (1900). Town meeting for election of officers held on the first Monday in June and for appropriations on the last Monday in May. Town council and probate court meet on the third Monday of each month. Town clerk's office is at Washington. RECORDS. Town meeting records from 1741 to date are in 4 volumes. Vol. 1 contains no records from 1767 to 1789, which are to be found, however, in the original minutes of town meetings 1768-1789. Town council records: Vol. 1 runs from 1741 to 1766. The records for 1767-1789 are only to be found in a bundle of the original minutes. Vol. 2 runs from 1789 to 1805, which is followed by an unnumbered volume 1805-1818, and by a book also numbered vol. 2 1825-1853. Vols. 3-5 cover from 1853 to date. 1755. Probate records from 1741 to 1766 are in vol. 1 of town council records. From 1764 to date they are in 13 volumes. There are also records of wills, vol. 1, 1890 to date; record of bonds, 2 vols., 1875 to date; record of letters, vol. 1, 1888 to date; miscellaneous bonds, 1 vol., 1900 to date; and a separate volume of probate docket. Deeds: There is an old unbound volume of proprietors records, 1672The deeds run from 1741 to date, in 36 volumes. There are also mortgages of personal property, 3 volumes, 1838 to date; real estate mortgages, 5 volumes, 1874 to date; Woodland Cemetery record of deeds, 1 volume, 1874 to date; Maple Root Cemetery record, 1 volume, 1893 to date; and receiving book for conveyances. Plats are rolled. There are several very early plats of divisions of land, including one purporting to be a plat of the original lay out of the town lands. There is a copy of this last plat in the Rhode Island Historical Society. Vital records from 1741 to 1850 are in 2 volumes, and are separately indexed by births, marriages, and deaths. There are also 3 volumes of marriages, 2 volumes of births, and 2 volumes of deaths from 1850 to date. Intentions of marriage, 1881-1896, are in 2 volumes, and intentions and returns of marriage, 1896 to date, are in 4 volumes. The vital records, as far as the year 1850, are printed in Arnold's Vital Record of Rhode Island, volume 1. Assessors records from 1741 to date are in the office, the early years in small manuscript leaflets and the later years in thin volumes. The tax books from 1862 to date have been printed. School records in the town clerk's office are boundaries of school districts, 1874-1895, 1 volume. The school reports have been printed presumably from 1847 to date. Miscellaneous records: Record of earmarks, 1741-1865, 1 vol. Record of highways, 1749 to date, 1 vol. Registry books, 1842-1866, 1877 to date, 3 vols. Record of inventories of property at Coventry Asylum, 1854 to date, 1 vol. Register book of Coventry Asylum, 1854 to date, 1 vol. Militia lists, 1843-1864, 1 vol. Record of payments to volunteers, 1861-62, 1 vol. Militia enrollment, 1898, in sheets. Record of liens, 1872 to date, 1 vol. Assignment of wages, 1884 to date, 2 vols. Record of elections, Districts No. 1, 2, 3, 1889 to date, 3 vols. Register of clergymen, 1896 to date, 1 vol. Dog licenses, 1897 to date, 2 vols. Record of jurors, 1897 to date, 1 vol. There are a few bundles of early papers and documents, such as warrants, receipts, highway districts, rate bills, etc., and including such important documents as signers of the test oath, 1776, list of polls and estates, 1778, etc. There is also a large block of justice's court records The records are kept in a fireproof vault in the town clerk's office at Washington. The remarks made at the close of the account of the Warwick Records as to the Warner Papers are also applicable to Coventry. CRANSTON. Cranston was taken from Providence and incorporated June 14, 1754. Portions of the town were reunited to Providence June 10, 1868, and March 28, 1873. Population: 1,460 (1755), 1,861 (1774), 1,594 (1782), 1,644 (1800), 4,311 (1850), 13,343 (1900). Town meeting for elections held on the Tuesday after first Monday in November; for appropriations, on the third Monday in April. Town council meets on the first Monday of each month and probate court on the second and last Saturdays of each month. Town hall is at Knightsville. RECORDS. Town meeting records are in 4 volumes, 1754 to date. The first volume, 1754-1788, containing also vital records to 1828 and records of earmarks to 1846, is shelved with the vital records and has been transcribed. Town council records are in 19 volumes, 1754 to date. The first three volumes, 1754-1798, contain probate records. Probate records, from 1754 to 1798, are in the town-council records. From 1798 to date they are in a series numbered vols. 1-28, and since 1849 wills, inventories, letters of administration, guardianship letters, executors' bonds, etc., are in separate volumes. There are also 2 volumes of bonds to probate court, 1872 to date, and probate docket. Deeds are in 103 volumes, 1754 to date. The first two volumes have been transcribed. From 1857 to date, however, the record of mortgages of real estate are in a separate series, vols. 1-34. The personal property mortgages are in a series, vols. 1-9, 1834 to date. Receiving book for deeds is kept. The plats are arranged in 2 series of large volumes, 5 of street and grade plats and 7 of books of plats, and are also filed in large drawers. For use in the office the plats are copied on large cards, numbered 1 to 135. There are separate volumes of indexes to the property plats and to the street plats. In the deed office in the Providence city hall there are 2 volumes of indexes to all deeds in Providence records referring to Cranston territory, 1755-1868. Vital records: There are 2 volumes of vital records from 1754 to 1850, the first, 1754-1828, being the first volume of town meeting records. From 1850 to date births are in 3 volumes, marriages in 2 volumes, and deaths in 3 volumes. The vital records to 1850 are printed in volume 2 of Arnold's Vital Record of Rhode Island. Assessors' records: In the assessor's office are 2 record books of meetings, 1870 to date; 37 assessors' plats, covering the town; 37 indexes to assessors' plats, 37 field books, 67 tax books for the past sixty-seven years, 5 ledgers, and 2 records of plats. In the town clerk's office are 2 volumes of tax-levy books, 1885 to date, and 2 volumes of tax-collectors' sales, 1875 to date. The tax books have been annually printed from 1857 to date. School records: There is 1 volume of extracts from the records of the commissioners of public schools, 1828-1882. The school reports have been annually printed from 1849 to date, with a few possible exceptions. Miscellaneous records: Justice's court records, 1850-51, 1872-1884, 1884-1886, 3 vols.; civil judgments, 1872–1885, 1 vol.; civil record, 1872-1880, 1 vol.; docket, 1872-1886, 1 vol. There are many earlier court records as yet unar ranged. Bonds of limited partnership, corporation certificates, and other con tracts, 1851 to date, 1 vol. Record of liens, 1856 to date, 1 vol. Census of Cranston, 1865. Census of Cranston, 1875. Dog licenses, 1866 to date, 3 vols. Registry book, 1877 to date, 3 vols. Record of attachments and executions, 1 vol. Record of commission for erecting town hall, 1885, 1 vol. Record of assignment of wages, 1885 to date, 1 vol. Record of elections 1888 to date, 5 vols. Miscellaneous records-Continued. Town ordinances, 1 vol. Applications to build, 1891-1903, 1 vol. List of jurors drawn, 1896 to date, 1 vol. Sewage licenses, 1881-1890, 1 vol. Druggists' licenses, 1896 to date (on stubs), 1 vol. Liquor licenses, first class, 1897 to date (on stubs), 1 vol. Liquor licenses, 1901 to date (on stubs), 1 vol. Peddlers' licenses, 1903 to date (on stubs), 1 vol. There is a large block of papers, such as warrants, petitions, summons, receipts, highway returns, tax-lists, etc., from 1754 to about 1860, and as yet unarranged. The Cranston records are as well indexed as those of any other town in the State, the deeds, probate records, and plats being provided with separate volumes of indexes. Certain volumes, as noted above, have been transcribed, and taken as a whole the records are in excellent condition, easy of access, and safely kept in a large fireproof vault. CUMBERLAND. Cumberland, formerly a part of Attleborough and known as Attleborough Gore, came into the possession of Rhode Island upon the settlement of the boundary controversy with Massachusetts in 1746, and was incorporated as a Rhode Island town January 27, 1747. Woonsocket was separated from Cumberland in 1867. Population: 806 (1748), 1,756 (1774), 1,548 (1782), 2,056 (1800), 6,661 (1850), 8,216 (1865), 3,882 (1870), 8,925 (1900). Town meeting for election of officers held on the first Wednesday in June and for appropriations on the second Wednesday in June. Town council and probate court meet on the first Thursday of each month. Town hall is on Broad street in Valley Falls. RECORDS. [NOTE.-Land evidence and probate records that concern Cumberland territory previous to 1747 are to be found at Taunton, the shire town for Bristol County.] Town meeting records from 1747 to 1759 are mixed with other records in a volume lettered "Probate records, No. 1-3." From 1759 to date town meeting records are in vols. 1-4. Town council records from 1747 to 1758 are mixed with other records in a volume lettered "Probate records, No. 1-3," and from 1758 to date are in town council records, vols. 2-17. Probate records run from 1747 to date, vols. 1-33, in 31 volumes. (Vols. 1, 2, and 3 are bound in 1 volume, and contain town meeting, town council, and vital records.) There are also the following: Bonds, 18741889, 1 vol.; administration bonds, 1893 to date, 1 vol.; guardianship bonds, 1894 to date, 1 vol.; guardians' bonds, sale of real estate, 1894 to date, 1 vol.; bonds to pay debts and legacies, 1894 to date, 1 vol.; executors' bonds to return inventories, 1895 to date, 1 vol.; accounts, 1895 to date, 1 vol.; wills, 1895 to date, 1 vol.; inventories, administration and guardian, 1895 to date, 1 vol.; letters of administration, etc., 1895 to date, 1 vol.; probate docket, 1896 to date, 1 vol. Deeds run from 1747 to date, vols. 1-52, with 4 volumes of separate index. Mortgages of personal property run from 1834 to date, vols. 1-7. There are 6 volumes of street plats and profiles and 5 volumes of town plats, with indexes for each. Receiving book for deeds is kept. Vital records from 1729 to 1760 are in the volume lettered "Probate records, No. 1-3." There are 3 volumes of births and deaths, 17161850, and 2 volumes of marriages, 1746–1850. These are followed by record of births, No. 4, 1850-1901, 1 vol., 1901 to date, 1 vol.; record of marriages, vols. 3 and 4, 1850-1895, 2 vols., 1895 to date, 1 vol.; record of deaths, vol. 4, 1852-1901, 1 vol. There are also 5 volumes of intentions and returns of marriage, 1896 to date. The records as far as the year 1850 are printed in vol. 3 of Arnold's Vital Record of Rhode Island. Assessors' records: Town tax, 1872 to date, is in 15 volumes. The tax books have been printed, 1854 to date. School reports have been printed from 1848 to date, although some of the earlier numbers can not be located in any collection. Miscellaneous records: Marks of sheep, No. 2, 1760–1827, 1 vol. Corporation returns, 1848 to date, 1 vol. Mechanics' liens, 1855 to date, 1 vol. Registry book, 1877 to date, 11 vols. Assignment of wages, 1884 to date, 2 vols. Registry of dogs, 1884 to date, 3 vols. Report of trustees on cemetery, 1890–1900, 1 vol. Jury book, 1893 to date, 1 vol. Attachments and executions, 1894 to date, 1 vol. (index). Naturalization book, 1895 to date, 1 vol. Medical register, 1895 to date, 1 vol. Register of clergymen, 1896 to date, 1 vol. Record of voting districts, 1896 to date, 5 vols. Liquor licenses, licenses for entertainments, etc., kept in stub volumes. The records are kept in a large vault in the town hall at Valley Falls and are in good condition. |