First report of the Record Commisssioners relative to the early town records, Part 5

Author: Providence. Record Commissioners
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: [Providence] Snow & Farnham [etc.] City Printers
Number of Pages: 334

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NGORPORATED

The Providence Press : SNOW & FARNHAM, CITY PRINTERS, 15 Custom House Street, 1895.

IN CITY COUNCIL, May 2, 1895.

Read, whereupon it is Ordered that the same be Received and Printed.

n Ollarken

City Clerk.

REPORT.

TO THE HONORABLE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PROVIDENCE :

GENTLEMEN : The Record Commissioners hereby submit a further report upon the work committed to their charge :

The Providence Town Papers consist of various papers and documents relating to the affairs of the Town of Providence embracing the period between 1639 and June, 1832, at which latter date the town was succeeded by the city of Providence and ceased to exist. The larger part of them are in the immedi- ate possession of the city, although a comparatively few are in the charge of the Rhode Island Historical Society, where they were deposited by vote of the City Council, passed March 10, 1845. All have been, or are being, repaired, divided into series, each series being arranged in chronological order, so far as prac- ticable, and mounted in books specially made for the purpose, each paper having been stamped as the property of the city and numbered.

The bulk of the material in the immediate custody of the city, as contradistinguished from the papers placed in the custody of the Historical Society, and which the Commissioners have brought into an orderly arrangement, was found in cupboards in the store room of the City Hall, where they were depos-

CITY DOCUMENT.

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ited when the old City Building was vacated in 1878. The first series comprises all the papers culled from that mass bearing date prior to 1800, together with various other papers of that period which have been donated since the organization of the Record Com- mission ; for happily the interest aroused by the cre- ation of a commission for the preservation and arrangement of the town papers, has incited owners of valuable old documents to present them to the city, and thus rich accessions have been made to the city's manuscript possessions.

The city is indebted to Miss Ann Elizabeth Arnold, of Pawtuxet, for 17 papers which once belonged to the early representatives of the Arnold family; to Mr. Howard Redwood Guild for 365 doc- uments formerly in the possession of the Brown and Humphrey families ; to Mr. William Henry Fenner for 1,082 papers and documents once belonging to Arthur and Thomas Fenner, both prominent officials in the early days of the town; and to his Honor Mayor Olney for 19 papers relating to his ances- tors and to other members of his family. A strict chronological order has been somewhat inter- fered with by the desire to keep donations together; and each donated paper, in addition to being stamped as the property of the city, has also been marked with the name of the donor. The first series contains 17,727 documents, arranged in 42 volumes as follows :

Vol. I. 1642 to July 1761 . Nos. I to 350

Vol. 2. July 1761 to Oct. 1775

Nos. 35I to 851

Vol. 3. Oct. 1775 to Oct. 1777 Nos. 852 to 1317

EARLY TOWN RECORDS.

1895.]

Vol. 4. Oct. 1777 to Aug. 1779 .

Nos. 1318 to 1800

Vol. 5. Aug. 1779 to Jan. 1781

Nos. 1801 to

2314

Vol. 6. Jan. 1781 to Aug. 1782 . . Nos. 2315 to 2775

Vol. 7. Aug. 1782 to Aug. 1784 .

. Nos. 2776 to

3208

Vol. 8. Aug. 1784 to Aug. 1785 .

. Nos. 3209 to 3569

Vol. 9. Aug. 1785 to Sept. 1786 .

. Nos. 3570 to 4010

Vol. IO. Sept. 1786 to Nov. 1787 .

. Nos. 40II to 448 I

Vol. II. Nov. 1787 to Aug. 1788 .

. Nos. 4482 to 4948

Vol. 12. Aug. 1788 to Dec. 1789 .

. Nos. 4949 to 5368

Vol. 13. Dec. 1789 to Dec. 1790

Nos. 5369 to 5814

Vol. 14. Dec. 1790 to May 1791

. Nos. 5815 to 6335

Vol. 15.

May 1791 to Dec. 1791

. Nos. 6336 to

6784

Vol. 16.

Dec. 1791 to Aug. 1792

. Nos. 6785 to

7264

Vol. 17. Aug. 1792 to Jan. 1793

Nos. 7265 to 7733

Vol. 18. Jan. 1793 to Nov. 1793

Nos. 7734 to 8152

Vol. 19.

Nov. 1793 to Mar. 1794

Nos. 8153 to 8608

Vol. 20.

Mar. 1794 to Dec. 1794

Nos. 8609 to 9030

Vol. 21.

Dec. 1794 to Feb. 1795

Nos. 9031 to 9504

Vol. 22. Feb. 1795 to Sept. 1795

. Nos. 9505 to 9955

Vol. 23. Sept. 1795 to Jan. 1796

. Nos. 9956 to 10374

Vol. 24. Jan. 1796 to May 1796

Nos. 10375 to 10850

Vol. 25. May 1796 to Oct. 1796

Nos. 10851 to 11260

Vol. 26. Oct. 1796 to Jan. 1797

Nos. 11261 to 11681

Vol. 27. Jan. 1797 to Sept. 1797

Nos. 11682 to 12143

Vol. 28.

Sept. 1797 to Jan. 1798

Nos. 12144 to 12537

Vol. 29. Jan. 1798 to May 1798

Nos. 12538 to 12933

Vol. 30. May 1798 to Oct. 1798

Nos. 12934 to 13299

Vol. 31. Oct. 1798 to May 1799

Nos. 13300 to 13592

Vol. 32. May 1799 to Oct. 1799

Nos. 13593 to 13845

Vol. 33.

Oct. 1799 to Dec. 1799 Bowen Papers

Nos. 13846 to 14186

Dec. 1745 to Sept. 1772 Bowen Papers

Vol. 34.

Sept. 1772 to Sept. 1807 Guild Papers Mar. 1684-5 to May 1722

Nos. 14187 to 14649

CITY DOCUMENT.

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Vol. 35.

Guild Papers May 1722 to May 1806 Guild Papers

Nos. 14651 to 14920

Vol. 36.

Oct. 1806 to Apr. 1828

Nos. 14921 to 15330

Sept. 1698 to Feb. 1793

. Nos. 15330A to 15800

Vol. 37. Oct. 1784 to Apr. 1799

Vol. 38. Apr. 1799 to May 1799

Nos. 15801 to 16275

Vol. 39. May 1799 to Dec. 1799 Town of Providence

vs. Martha Howell

Vol. 39A.

May 1640 to Jan. 1714 Fenner Papers

Nos. 16626 to 16946

Vol. 39B. Mar. 1714 to June 1766 -

Fenner Papers

Vol. 39C. Mar. 1641 to Feb. 1815 Fenner, Bates and Olney Papers

Nos. 17338 to 17727

The second series comprises the papers in the keeping of the Rhode Island Historical Society, which were deposited there by the vote of the City Council in 1845. They number 1,369, each number of this series having a o prefixed as a distinguishing mark, and they occupy five volumes, arranged as follows :

Vol. I. 1639 to April 1682 . Nos. OI to 0367

Vol. 2. Apr. 1682 to Mar. 1722 Nos. 0368 to 0717

Vol. 3. Apr. 1722 to Feb. 1754 Nos. 0718 to 0974 Vol. 4. Aug. 1754 to June 1823 . Nos. 0975 to 01056

Vol. 5. No date papers . . Nos. 01057 to 01369

This series contains papers which are of great value to the city as showing the assignment of lands, tax lists, layout of highways, erection of bridges; and even many pages of the original records of the Town Meeting and Town Council are included in it.

Nos. 16276 to 16625

Nos. 16947 to 17337

EARLY TOWN RECORDS.

1895.]

In separating these town documents from the manuscripts belonging to the Historical Society, with which they had become mixed when arranged and mounted by that Society many years ago, it became necessary, in order to hold the Society harm- less, to repair, arrange and mount 2,076 of its papers. This work was done pursuant to a joint resolution of the City Council No. 715, approved Dec. 8, 1893, and these repaired and rearranged papers, neatly bound in nine volumes, marked Rhode Island His- torical Society Manuscripts, have been returned to the Society.

The third series contains the papers included within the period from 1800 to June 1832, when the town became a city, and consists of 63,576 papers and will occupy about one hundred volumes, begin- ning with volume 40 of the manuscript volumes in the immediate possession of the city. The distin- guishing numbers of this series have two ciphers prefixed, thus : 001, in order to avoid confusing them with the numbers of the papers of other series. The volumes as now arranged are as follows :

Vol. 40. 1800

Nos. OOI to 00319

Vol. 41. 1800

Nos. 00320 to 00750

Vol. 42. 1800

Nos. 0075I to 001214

Nos. 001215 to 001803 Vol. 43. 1 800-1801

Vol. 44. 1801

Nos. 001804 to 002369

Vol. 45. 1801 Nos. 002370 to

002833

Vol. 46. 1801 Nos. 002834 to 003139

Vol. 47. 1801-1802

Nos. 003140 to 003399

Vol. 48. 1802

Nos. 003400 to 003756 Vol. 49. 1802

Nos. 003757 to 004215 Vol. 50. 1802-1803

Nos. 004216 to

004717

CITY DOCUMENT.

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Vol. 51. 1803

Nos. 004718 to 005216

Vol. 52. 1803

Nos. 005217 to 005583

Vol. 53 1 803-1804 Nos. 005584 to 005825

Vol. 54. 1804

Nos. 005826 to 006141

Vol. 55. 1804

Nos. 006142 to 006630

Vol. 56. 1804

Nos. 006631 to 00712I

Vol. 57. 1 804-1805

Nos. 007122 to 007626

Vol. 58. 1805

Nos. 007627 to 008130

Vol. 59. 1805

Nos. 008 131 to 008483

Vol. 60. 1805-1806

Nos. 008484 to 008750

Vol. 61. 1806

Nos. 00875I to 009007

Vol. 62. 1806

Nos.

009008 to 009494

Vol. 63.

I806

Nos. 009495 to 009983

Vol. 64.

1806-1807

Nos. 009984 to 0010477

Vol. 65.

1807

Nos. 0010478 to 0010993

Vol. 66. 1807-1808

Nos. 0010994 to 0011293

Vol. 67. 1808

Nos. 0011294 to 0011680

Vol. 68.

1808 Nos. 0011681 to 0012215

Vol. 69.

1808-1809

Nos. 0012216 to 0012690

Vol. 70. 1809

Nos. 0012691 to 0013336

Vol. 71. 1809

Nos. 0013337 to 0014044

Vol. 72. 1809-1810

Nos. 0014045 to 0014547

Vol. 73.

1810

Nos. 0014548 to 0015308

Vol.

74. 1810-18II

Nos. 0015309 to 0016224

Vol. 75. 18II

Nos. 0016225 to 0017098

Vol. 76 18II

Nos. 0017099 to 0017783

Vol. 77.

1811-1812

Nos. 0017784 to 0018230

Vol. 78. 1812.

Nos. 0018231 to 0019015

Vol. 79. 1812. NOS. 0019016 to 0019903

Vol. 80. 1812-1813

Nos. 0019904 to 0020765

Vol. 81.

1813

Nos. 0020766 to 0021389

Vol. 82 1813-1814

Nos. 0021390 to 0021753

Vol. 83. 1814

Nos. 0021754 to 0022294

Vol. 84. 1814

Nos. 0022295 to 0022958

Vol. 85. 1814-1815

Nos. 0022959 to 0023656

Vol. 86. 1815 Nos. 0023657 to 0024158

Vol. 87.

1815

Nos. 0024159 to 0024849

EARLY TOWN RECORDS.

1895.]

Vol. 88.

1815-1816

Nos. 0024850 to 0025313

Vol. 89. 1816

Nos. 0025314 to 0025989

Vol. 90. 1816

Nos. 0025990 to 0026697

Vol. 91.

1816-1817

Nos. 0026698 to 0027408

Vol. 92. 1817

Nos. 0027409 to 0027924

Vol. 93. 1817 Nos. 0027925 to 0028262

Vol. 94. 1817 Nos. 0028263 to 0028908

Vol. 95. 1817-1818

Nos. 0028909 to 0029456

Vol. 96.

1818

Nos. 0029457 to 0029882

Vol. 97.

1818

Nos. 0029883 to 0030506

Vol. 98. 1818

Nos. 0030507 to 0031197

Vol. 99.

1818-1819

Nos. 0031198 to 0031984

Vol. 100.

1819

Nos. 0031985 to 0032801

Vol. IOI. 1819

Nos. 0032802 to 0033445

Vol. 102. 1819

Nos. 0033446 to 0033779

Vol. 103.

1819-1820

Nos. 0033780 to 0034132

Vol. 104. 1820

Nos. 0034133 to 0034468

Vol. 105. 1820

Nos. 0034469 to 0035199

Vol. 106.

1820

Nos. 0035200 to 0036061

Vol. 107.

1820-1821

Nos. 0036062 to 0036878

Vol. 108. 1821

Nos. 0036879 to 0037670

Vol. 109.

1821

Nos. 0037671 to 0038164

Vol. IIO.

1821

Nos. 0038165 to 0038525

Vol. III.

1821-1822

Nos. 0038526 to 0038881

Vol. 112. 1822

Nos. 0038882 to 0039302

Vol. 113.

1822

Nos. 0039303 to 0040092

Vol. 114. 1822-1823

Nos. 0040093 to 0040845

Vol. 115. 1823

Nos. 0040846 to 0041448

Vol. 116. 1823

Nos. 0041449 to 0041754

Vol. 117.

1823

Nos. 0041755 to 004242I

Vol. 118. 1823-1824

Nos. 0042422 to 0043207

Vol. 119. 1824

Nos. 0043208 to 0043517

Vol. 120. 1824

Nos. 0043518 to 0043981

Vol. 121. 1824

Nos. 0043982 to 0044855

Vol. 122.

1824

Nos. 0044856 to 0045441

Vol. 123. 1824-1825

Nos. 0045442 to 0046274

Vol. 124. 1825

Nos. 0046275 to 0046653

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Vol. 125. 1825.

Nos. 0046654 to 0047096

Vol. 126. 1825.

Nos. 0047097 to 0048080

Vol. 127. 1825 -- 1826

Nos. 0048081 to 0048503

Vol. 128. 1826. Nos. 0048504 to 0048888

Vol. 129. 1826

Nos. 0048889 to 0049549

Vol. 130. 1826

Nos. 0049550 to 0050448

Vol. 131.

1826

Nos. 0050449 to 0051055

Vol. 132.

1826-1827

Nos. 0051056 to 0051677

Vol. 133.

1827

Nos. 0051678 to 0052000

Vol. 134.

1827

Nos. 0052001 to 0052511

Vol. 135.

1827

Nos. 0052512 to 0053611

Vol. 136. 1827-1828

Nos. 0053612 to 0054155

Vol. 137. 1828

Nos. 0054156 to 0054584

Vol. 138. 1828

Nos. 0054585 to 0055062

In addition to the manuscripts above referred to, Mrs. Catherine R. Peirce has lately deposited with the city a valuable collection of papers of the Warner family, which collection numbers 1,921 documents and contains many which throw much light on our early history, and particularly upon the relations existing between Providence and Warwick. The arrangement of these Warner papers will at once engage the attention of the Commissioners.

So brittle was the condition of many of these old manuscripts when they came to the hands of the Commissioners that the least handling caused them to break to pieces, hence the most careful repairing was absolutely necessary for their preservation, and especially was this true as to whole pages of the Third Book of the Town Records. The result of this work of reparation may be seen, although imper- fectly, by the plates which accompany this report, which convey some idea of the nature of the docu- ments to which the Commissioners have directed

Iny Eutbries was cast up to 18 10° : but amount Eth to more y Mony pay Ging Confidens & Gallanche :- There was also m cna chart a parcell of prags with John Jump the day was to pay The Ward If if it were burn it must bass tórias:

There was " money also 16 paid to James Ofny upon y Sale of the Amjuni this John Which Said he was forced to pay out for washing of Aamis Olmy's ? Linnen orforty at his Death of other Necessary charges Attested By mr Roger Williams Town clark: a tais agitation

this & merid my sigt mer cust

EARLY TOWN RECORDS.

1895.]

their attention. The first plate represents one page of a paper found among the mass of documents in the City Hall store room, previously mentioned, and now among the files of the Municipal Court, and is a part of the only paper in the immediate custody of the city which attests the fact that Roger Williams was once the Town Clerk.

The second plate represents a part of paper No. 16,627, which is a memorandum in the handwriting of Daniel Abbott, who was town clerk from 1677 to 1681, and relates to certain questions as to land titles. It begins as follows :

" Memorand: - Some short necessary intemations (for plea) against ye Wesquadnadians As followeth

" ffirst That M' Williams ye Agent for ye Towne of providence & procur' of ye plantation thereof : had seaverall Treaties wth ye cheife Sachims in ye yeare i634. & in 35 : And in ye end obtained ye same :

" 2.ly. And in ye yeare 1637. became a Towne incorporated Agust ye 20th : __ "

In the transcript made in 1800, under the author- ity of the town, of the first three books of the town, at the head of the first page and directly preceding the copy of the Compact of Providence (see Early Records of the Town of Providence, vol. I, p. I) is written the date "August the 20th, 1637," in the same handwriting in which the transcript is made. Opposite and to the left of this date is written, apparently at a different time, as follows : -

"N. B. this date is on the Left

hand page of the following."

This date does not appear in the original book; as it now is, and, therefore, was not printed in the

CITY DOCUMENT.

No. 23.

volume prepared by the Commissioners. This tran- script of 1800, according to the inscription on the book, was " Transcribed by Order of the Town of Providence under the Inspection of a Committee and by them compared."

Comparing these two entries the Commissioners think it may be concluded that the Compact of Prov- idence now appearing on the first page of the First Book of the Town of Providence is the first written compact or act of incorporation of the town, and that it was signed on the 20th of August, 1637. This marks the date at least of the formal foundation of Providence, a date hitherto uncertain.

It is from papers in such condition as these that the Commissioners have been able to fill the hiatus existing in the records in the possession of the town for the period between 1676 and 1677.

The papers being thus repaired and compactly arranged in volumes it became an important ques- tion how to render them available for reference. It was determined to prepare a comprehensive index which would afford to investigators information of the character of the papers and the place where they could be found. This task of indexing was dele- gated to Welcome Arnold Greene, Esq., of this city, whose familiarity with the history of the town and state had equipped him with the peculiar qualifica- tions required for such work. He has indexed the papers in the first series up to the end of the year 1790, and the result of his labors will be found in the index accompanying this report.

A manuscript index of the names of persons and

INSER

FOLD-O

OR MA

HERE !

11:15 - 12

EARLY TOWN RECORDS.

1895.]

places mentioned in the papers included in this printed index has been made by Amelia E. Carpen- ter, and comprises upwards of 200 closely written pages. She has also indexed all the names appear- ing in the volumes of the Providence Town Papers in the keeping of the Rhode Island Historical Soci- ety, making 100 closely written pages.

In the prosecution of the work on the Providence Town Papers the Commissioners have employed four assistants.

The work of arranging the papers and inserting them in books has been done mostly by A. Josephine Torrey. The work of repairing and preparing for mounting has been performed by Susie F. Rathbun and Elizabeth E. Hunt, while the indexing of names has been done, as previously stated, by Amelia E. Carpenter.

A part of the time of one assistant, Mabel G. Cole, has been given to arranging the papers preparatory to mounting.

In addition to the papers which the Commissioners have brought together from the mass which came into their custody, they have put in order a number of loose and unbound pages of miscellaneous rec- ords which have not heretofore received the atten- tion which their value would justify. These have all been substantially but cheaply bound and put in a good state for preservation, and perhaps they can be described in no better way than by the follow- ing schedule :

Town Meeting Minutes, from April, 1800, to August, 1808.

CITY DOCUMENT.

[No. 23.

Town Meeting Minutes, from August, 1808, to June 4, 1810.

Town Meeting Minutes, from August, 1810, to August, 1812.

List of Voters, October 11 1824.

[These volumes contain the original minutes of the proceedings in town meeting, the petitions, memorials and communications generally submitted for consideration, and the certificates of freemen as to their qualifications to vote.]

Record of Fire Buckets, 1811 to 1814, 1816 to 1818, 1820 to 1825 and 1828.

[These are the reports of the town sergeant as to the number and condition of the fire buckets which each householder was required to have on hand by order of the town, with the names of such householder.]

In the arrangement of the papers heretofore referred to, the Commissioners found nearly a com- plete set of the records of the so-called Paper-Money Bank Mortgages, - devices by which bills of credit were issued by the colony and state from 1715 to 1786. These were originally a part of the records of land evidence, and while they are of no value as affecting titles to real property, they are of conse- quence in identifying property and its ownership at certain periods. These volumes, eight in number, the Commissioners have caused to be bound for preservation and to be indexed; and have printed that index following the index to the Providence Town Papers.

Through the cooperation of William E. Clarke, City Clerk, and J. Herbert Shedd, City Engineer

EARLY TOWN RECORDS.

1895.]

the Commissioners have caused 332 plats and reports on file in the City Clerk's office, relative to streets and highways in the Town of Providence, mostly dated previous to 1800, and which were badly mutilated from long and continuous handling, and were in imminent danger of soon becoming worthless, to be repaired and copies to be made for ordinary use.

On the 20th day of November, 1893, the Commis- sioners addressed a letter to J. Herbert Shedd, City Engineer, requesting that these plats be copied, as many, if not all, were of great value in determining the original lines and layout of streets, many of them now in the compact part of the city.

Pursuant to this request, Mr. Shedd assigned the work of copying to William G. Brennen, Assistant Engineer, and most careful copies have been made, which have been bound up in volumes entitled, Plats of Streets and Highways in the Town of Provi- dence, Numbers 1 and 2. The originals have been repaired and mounted in volumes entitled, Plats of Streets and Highways in the Town of Providence, Reports on Streets and Highways in the Town of Providence; and references have been made on the copies to the places where the originals may be found. These when finally completed will be placed in the custody of the City Clerk.

An index of these plats has been prepared by Mr. Brennen, under the direction of City Engineer Shedd and follows the index to the Paper-Money Bank Mortgages with this report.

The work of printing the Early Records of the Town of Providence has been prosecuted with as

CITY DOCUMENT.

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much rapidity as the nature of the work would permit. In this work the Commissioners have employed two assistants, Cora B. Jewett and Mabel G. Cole, the former having been engaged in the work of transcribing the ancient records, while the latter has served as proofreader and general assistant.

The first three books of records of the town have been reproduced in type and their contents are therefore preserved for all time against any calamity against which human foresight can guard. These three books make five printed volumes.

Before this point had been reached, a careful examination of the records was made and the Com- missioners decided that it was desirable that the suc- ceeding books should follow as perfect a chronological order as the condition of the records would permit. The records from 1676 to 1692 were in such condi- tion that parts of this period could only be covered by the examination of many hundred manuscripts, involving much labor.

In order that no time might be wasted while this work was in progress, the Commissioners decided to commence the printing of the first Will Book, as it is now generally called, but which was originally known as the first book for the Town Council's particular use. This volume had been copied some years ago and the copy thus made was used for the purpose of printing, thereby saving expense.

Another reason why it was desirable to print this book at this time was that it was the earliest book of the Town Council Proceedings and covers in date a part of the proceedings of the Town Council dur-

EARLY TOWN RECORDS.

1895.]

ing the very time of which the Commissioners were endeavoring to perfect a record.

The first Will Book having been printed, in vol- umes six and seven of the Early Records, the Com- missioners then proceeded to collect the material for the Town Meeting records from the year 1676. This material is made up from the Town Meeting record book which, by some misarrangement, made many years ago, when the books of record were bound, was numbered 3, but which, in order of chronology, fol- lows the- books in the custody of the Recorder of Deeds (which have been printed) and precedes the volumes now marked Vol. I of the Town Council and Town Meeting records. The manuscript for the period from 1676 to 1692 has been prepared and the first volume thereof is in the hands of the printer.

HORATIO ROGERS, G. M. CARPENTER, EDWARD FIELD, Record Commissioners.

PROVIDENCE, April 22, 1895.

INTRODUCTION

TO THE

INDEX

INTRODUCTION TO THE INDEX.

It is deemed advisable to present in this place a general statement of the character and method of the work whose results are here printed, as well as various particular statements as to titles, sub-titles and other entries. These particular statements are placed here, rather than in foot- notes, mainly for typographical reasons. They are intended to be only interpretative of the words used in the index, whether those be the words `of the original documents or of the indexer. If statements of construc- tion or of correlative fact be therein found, they have been inserted because they are deemed necessary to a clear interpretation.

In the work here presented there are references to about seven thousand and fifty documents. Many of these documents are of a composite order, embracing matters so differing from each other that separate references for each one are required. It is estimated that there are over ten thou- sand references in this work.

When the Commissioners first began to gather and preserve these papers, it became evident that an index was needed. They had, at first, intended to place all the papers in, as nearly as could be determined, a chronological order so that the serial numbers would serve as a clue to the dates. After they had placed some fourteen thousand papers in this way, carrying the dates up into the present century, a collection came to light, comprising nearly a thousand papers and of dates between 1743 and later than 1800. By the time these papers were properly mounted and numbered, another lot was received, the earliest date of which is in 1698; and before these were properly arranged another lot was found, the earliest one of which was dated in 1644. Hence it comes that in this volume, which covers only the period to 1790, we have this result :

Serial Number I bears date in 1642

66 14004 bears date in 1744.

14976

" 1698.

16611 66 " 1642.

It may be noted, also, that since the preparation of the manuscript for this index was begun, there have come to the Commission some thou- sands of papers all bearing on the first century of the existence of Provi-

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First report of the Record Commisssioners relative to the early town records, Part 5

Author: Providence. Record Commissioners Publication date: 1892 Publisher: [Providence] Snow & Farnham [etc.] City Printers Number of Pages: 334

Author: Providence. Record Commissioners
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: [Providence] Snow & Farnham [etc.] City Printers
Number of Pages: 334