One Rhode Island Family

The Rhode Island State Archives has launched a set of state-copy vital records online, available for free. These records are from the state-reporting era which began in 1853, and they cover the following periods:

• Birth Registrations, 1853-1920
• Death Registrations, 1853-1921
• Marriage Registrations, 1853-1920

Here is the link: Vital Records (Birth, Marriage & Death records), 1853-1920

The vital records in this era would have been collected by the cities and towns, and copies would have been given to the state on a regular basis. Beginning in 1921, the towns would have sent the original records to the state, and saved copies within the town. Since Rhode Island government agencies must limit, by law, access to birth and marriage records for 100 years, and death records for 50 years, the state archives does not have records within that legal limit; those are held by the state department of health, and the towns.

The pages of the state record books have been photographed, in color, for this effort; these are not old black and white microfilm images.  But this record set will work a little differently from other online record sets.

To find and view the record you need, go to the link:

 Vital Records (Birth, Marriage & Death records), 1853-1920

There you will see a master index, and the sets of books. You might want to start with the index sets to know what page you are seeking. The index takes a bit of getting used to but the key points to note when you find an entry are the town (listed by number) and the page number, as well as the year. 

After that, you can pull up the record type (birth, marriage, death) and from there, select a year.  The book pages for a year are presented in two ways: as a single pdf for the year, which will be shown first on the list when you click on the year, and as separate .jpg page images. The pages images are presented in order and all have numbers (and the “Sort” button up top will help you if you get in trouble) HOWEVER those numbers do NOT correspond to the page numbers given in any index, so it gets confusing to sort of guess which numbered image you need for the page you want. Hopefully you’re good at math. 

The full pdf for the year may be more convenient for you. It takes a while to open. Once opened, there is a menu on the side to skip to the entries for any town. The “download” button up top – circled here in green – will allow you to download the entire pdf for the year to your own computer. Most genealogists would probably prefer to just screen-shot the page they need, and save that, or go back to the jpg pages, find the one needed, and download that.

The pages have been nicely photographed from these valuable books, and the pages have been placed online. Using them will take a little practice and trial-and-error, but this is an extremely valuable resource for genealogists everywhere who trace Rhode Island ancestors.

While you’re at it, take a look around at other newly digitized materials at the state archives.

Website: https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/state-archives

Digital archive: https://sosri.access.preservica.com/archive

Request a vital record: https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/state-archives/discover-your-family-story

The new State Archives location

Recently, the Rhode Island State Archives has moved to its new location at 33 Broad Street, Providence. I had a chance to visit recently; it’s looking great.  Genealogists will miss the old card catalogs that were previously available for public use, but be sure and let staff know what you need and I’m sure they will be able to help you.

The post you are reading is located at: