One of my favorite things to do at a local library is to use the index books of Providence Births, Marriages and Deaths that span the period 1851 – 1935+. The indices give a volume and page number for the entry in the Providence city records. From there, the actual record should be requested from the Providence City Archives or the State Archives.
Lately I have been finding some of these index volumes online as pdf’s. I have not found them all but I thought they might be useful, in some cases, anyway. Many links, below, will open the pdf’s on Internet Archive. Most volumes there are mis-numbered, so I am linking directly here to avoid confusion. Download the pdf, open it and look at the title page for the proper volume number. You will want to re-name any file you download with the right volume number. Note that a few of the links are to copies I have made of the actual books in my possession; I continue to seek the rest, if you have any information please let me know.
The title is usually given as:
Alphabetical Index of the Births, Marriages and Deaths Recorded in Providence
note: these volumes download slowly. Italics title means book is not available. Many, many thanks to the tireless Walt O’Dowd, the world’s leading expert on these index volumes, from his perch in the sunny UK (OK I know it’s not sunny there). Thank you Walt for providing us some updates in February, 2020. I get a lot of questions about the missing volumes; I know people will like to have them here.)
- Vol. 1 Births, Marriages, Deaths 1636-1850 (opens the FamilySearch.org pdf located here)
- Vol. 2 Marriages 1851-1870 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 3 Deaths 1851-1870 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 4 Births 1851-1870 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 5 Marriages 1871-1880 (opens the FamilySearch digital/microfilm copy, best for a quick lookup; if you prefer to download the whole book, open my own digital copy here)
- Vol. 7 Deaths 1871-1880 (download my scan – it will take several minutes. When downloading a pdf book, you should set your browser to download & save; NOT to try and open the pdf in the browser as it downloads).
- Vol. 9 Births 1871-1880 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 6 Marriages 1881-1890 (download my scan – it will take several minutes. When downloading a pdf book, you should set your browser to download & save; NOT to try and open the pdf in the browser as it downloads). Note: after you use the index, the ACTUAL RECORD BOOKS for 1880-1891 (vols. 13, 14, 15, 16) are at this link on FamilySearch.org – see the four Marriage Register volumes towards the end of the list.
- Vol. 8 Deaths 1881-1890 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 10 Births 1881-1890 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 11 Births 1891-1900 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 12 Deaths 1891-1900 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 13 Marriages 1891-1900 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 14-1 Births 1901-1910 Part 1 A – Koulil (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 14-2 Births 1901-1910 Part 2 Kourhi – Z (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 15-1 Deaths 1901-1910 Part 1 A – Labrie (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 15-2 Deaths 1901-1910 Part 2 Labrie – Z (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 16-1 Marriages 1901-1910 Part 1 A – Kingsley (opens the FamilySearch digital/microfilm to the proper place in the roll – the whole book could not be easily downloaded, but at least the pages can be viewed and downloaded one at a time)
- Vol. 16-2 Marriages 1901-1910 Part 2 Kingsley – Z (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 17-1 Births 1911-1920 Part 1 A – Kotuski (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 17-2 Births 1911-1920 Part 2 Kouffman – Z (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 18-1 Deaths 1911-1920 Part 1 A – Kinsky (opens the FamilySearch digital/microfilm to the proper place in the roll – the whole book could not be easily downloaded, but at least the pages can be viewed and downloaded one at a time. If you want the whole book, download my scan instead – it will take several minutes. When downloading a pdf book, you should set your browser to download & save; NOT to try and open the pdf in the browser as it downloads).
- Vol. 18-2 Deaths 1911-1920 Part 2 Kinsley – Z (opens the FamilySearch digital/microfilm to the proper place in the roll – the whole book could not be easily downloaded, but at least the pages can be viewed and downloaded one at a time. If you want the whole book, download my scan – it will take several minutes. When downloading a pdf book, you should set your browser to download & save; NOT to try and open the pdf in the browser as it downloads).
- Vol 19-1 Marriages 1911-1920 Part 1 A – Frade (opens the FamilySearch digital/microfilm copy)
- Vol. 19-2 Marriages 1911-1920 Part 2 Fradet-Murtha (opens the FamilySearch.org pdf)
- Vol. 19-3 Marriages 1911-1920 Part 3 Murtha-Z (opens the FamilySearch.org pdf)
- Vol. 20-1 Births 1921-1930 Part 1 A – Kopelow (opens the FamilySearch digital/microfilm to the proper place in the roll – the whole book could not be easily downloaded, but at least the pages can be viewed and downloaded one at a time. If you want the whole book, download my scan – it will take several minutes. When downloading a pdf book, you should set your browser to download & save; NOT to try and open the pdf in the browser as it downloads).
- Vol. 20-2 Births 1921-1930 Part 2 Kopit – Z (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 21-1 Deaths 1921-1930 Part 1 A – LaMothe (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 21-2 Deaths 1921-1930 Part 2 LaMothe – Z (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 22-1 Marriages 1921-1930 Part 1 A – Kelly (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 22-2 Marriages 1921-1930 Part 2 Kelly – Z (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 23 Births 1931-1935 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 24 Deaths 1931-1935 (opens to the correct spot in the FamilySearch digital/microfilm)
- Vol. 25 Marriages 1931-1935 (opens the Internet Archive pdf located here)
- Vol. 26 Births 1936-1940
- Vol. 27 Deaths 1936-1940 (opens to the correct spot in the FamilySearch digital/microfilm)
- Vol. 28 (likely to be Marriages, 1936-1940, but not found)
- Vol. 29 pt. 1. Births, 1941-1945, A-Gray, Al (opens to the correct spot in the FamilySearch digital/microfilm)
- Vol. 29 pt. 2. Births, 1941-1945, Gray, An.-Palmieri, G (opens to the correct spot in the FamilySearch digital/microfilm)
- Vol. 29, pt. 3. Births, 1941-1945, Palmieri, L.-Z (opens to the correct spot in the FamilySearch digital/microfilm)
- Vol. 30, Deaths, 1941-1945 (opens to the correct spot in the FamilySearch digital/microfilm)
- Vol. 31, Marriages, 1936-1940 (opens to the correct spot in the FamilySearch digital/microfilm)
- Vol. 32, pt. 1 Marriages, 1941-1945, A-LaRochelle (opens to the correct spot in the FamilySearch digital/microfilm)
- Vol. 32, pt. 2. Marriages, 1941-1945, LaRocque-Z (opens to the correct spot in the FamilySearch digital/microfilm)
I am trying to find out who Ellen Armstrong is on this death certificate for Clarinda Armstrong. Ellen Armstrong is listed as Kin 2. Is there a way to do so?
Marilyn Gallo.
Name
Clarinda Armstrong
Relation
wid
Kin 1
Robert Armstrong
Kin 2
Ellen Armstrong
Death Date
19 Dec 1925
Age
78 Yrs
Household Members
Are you looking at abstracted data like what you showed here, or are you looking at an image of the record itself? You need to know what the full record says. Request it from the State Archives.
I don’t see an Ellen on the actual death record. From her Providence Record of Death: Clarinda born in Lubec Maine on Oct 20,1847, widow of Robert Armstrong. Daughter of Levi Ramsdell and Mary McGlahflin. Burial in Lubec, Maine. Her brother Thomas was the informant. I don’t know if you have a familysearch.org account, but the record is viewable there.
Dear Diane, kudos and many thanks for all these Providence index records. I have had a blast going through them and getting proof of Providence births, deaths and marriages for people in my Family Tree. what a true help this has been. I did notice that one volume seems missing – the one on Births from 1936-1940. Any idea where to get the info for that volume? Will you be able to upload it sometime in the future? Either way thank you so much for doing this. Great Job! Dave De Vecchis
Hello Dave. Although I have owned a few of these, and scanned them, I have no others. If this is ever found by anyone somewhere on the web, please holler so I can link to it. Thanks.
[…] thanks to the website One Rhode Island Family without whom I would not have easily located the birth/death records for this […]
Thanks so much for providing links and an organized method to these free records. Your website is very helpful, appreciate all the work you’ve put into it.
Thanks Kirsten!!
My Kentroti ancestors lived in Providence RI from around 1911-1923. All 7 of their children were born there. They had one still born baby boy and a daughter that died before the age of 10 also in Providence RI. Why can I not find them on any of the vital records? I searched with different spellings with no luck.
Well that’s a great question. Are you looking in the Providence vital record index books? If you don’t see them, they may have lived over the line in a nearby town like Pawtucket or Cranston.
To check this out more broadly, if you can get to a Family History Center locally where you are, there is a typed index of statewide records for those years which is digitized and available on a computer within a Family History Center. It’s the same statewide index they have at the State Archives.
Very few vital records for this era are online at all.
Another idea is to make sure you are seeing them in the 1905 R. I. State Census so you can check the location. Midwives were common then; I suppose if they had an immigration problem they may have wanted to lay low and avoid vital records however I think that was hard to do.
Another thought is Catholic records and cemetery records. Check the RI Historical Cemetery Commission web database and Findagrave (obviously you probably have already).
Birth records are only available publicly after 100 years in Rhode Island, but the pre-1919 records should be searchable at any town hall in Rhode Island. If you are close enough to visit one, try that.
Thanks for the tips!
Although not a PDF file the, FamilySearch have scanned the following volume:
[Vol. 19-3 Marriages 1911-1920 Part 3 Murtha-Z] at
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVY-Q93T-G?i=321&cat=83212
Walt, thank you so much!! This arrived when I was traveling and I am just seeing it. I will work this into the list. You are amazing! Diane
A few comments on missing volumes:
PROBLEM with Volumes 28, 31, and 32 between NEHGS and FamilySearch records. I suspect FamilySearch has mis-catalogued here due to substitute title pages: V 28 is actually Marriages, 1936-1940, while V 32 (Parts 1&2) should actually be V 31 (Parts 1&2). Perhaps someone else can clarify.
Walt, thanks for the extensive list which was attached to this. I believe I have made all the updates. I’m going to check on some volumes at the Rhode Island Historical Society when I am there in a couple weeks just to be sure I know which volume has which title.
Thank you so much, this is wonderful. It’s great how much of that old microfilm is coming online.
Diane
Just spotted my own “deliberate mistake” (oops! wrong link).
Here’s correct link for this entry in the list:
Vol. 32, pt. 2. Marriages, 1941-1945, LaRocque-Z
[Copy page images start at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSZD-LB81?i=3&cat=83212 ]
Thanks Walt! Thought I checked that; I guess not. Thanks again for all this.
Diane
what about deaths in providence for 1930-1935?
As the post says, if the title does not link to anything, then personally I have not found it online.
I would like to echo the other comments- thank you so much for this! I’ve discovered my grandfather had 2 siblings we never knew about and who are a bit of a mystery. Neither Ancestry nor My Heritage had records of their birth (although they appeared in census records). I was able to find confirmation that they were born to my great-grandparents in here. One of the siblings falls off the map after the 1930 census so would also love to find the Vol. 24 Deaths 1931-1935. Hopefully it will become available soon. Thank you!
Marina, you could contact the Providence City Archives or the Rhode Island State Archives. This is not a big request, I think either place would give a look. In general the genealogy data services do not have much coverage of the post-1850 era. Makes it tougher I know.
I was trying to find my fathers real father, but his birth certificate says delayed, I called Providence city hall and they told me that it was never recorded. I will use this site to try and find him. Thank you for your awsome work !!!
You have no idea how helpful this is, and I’m sure it was an insane amount of work. Thank you so much!
Kayla thank you. I have lost several days of my life hunting through all the mis-labeled copies on the internet! I figured no one else should have to do that. I am slowly trying to buy and digitize the remaining volumes myself.
Hello! I have a Greek Marriage Certificate from the Orthodox Greek Community in Pawtucket, RI for my great grandparents. I am desperately trying to find if there is an offical RI Marriage certificate. I currently live in the United Kingdom so have no way to get back to the States. Do you have any suggestions of how I could try and find out this information from afar? From what you have said, Pawtucket information would not be in the Providence record Archives??
Hi Christine. You need to contact the vital records office, or city clerks office for the city of Pawtucket. If the record is less than 100 years old further steps are required. Good luck with your search.
vol 1. deaths 1911-20 is not a pdf file. any plans to make it a pdf?
Hi Norm. I have one or two of these volumes on hand in paper, but not that one. If someone finds it digitized online, please alert me so I can post the link here.
Hi, I’m a clerk in the Pawtucket City Hall. We handle all the birth death and marriage records of Pawtucket. Our RI records are made public after a number of years so anyone would be able to call or email us with a request for information on certain vital records. Death records are made public information after 50 years, Marriage and Birth records are public after 100 years. Please give us call with questions we’d be more than happy to help with your searches. 401-728-0500
Lillian, what a kind note. Thanks!!
Thanks for the reply, to my original post. Im happy to say most of my Rhode Island Genealogy worked out well thanks to many of the tips I learned from from this site. I did go to Pawtucket for a few records and they were very helpful. I also used the RI State Archive and the Providence Public Library. It all fell into place, the trail only went cold when some cousins moved to California. But this site helped me transition the Massachusetts Records I was used to and Rhode island very well.
New to Rhode Island Genealogy and Records. The Providence Index’s are amazing and solved a long standing family mystery. This may be a dumb question, would Pawtucket, RI be part of the providence Index?
Looking for a death certificate of someone that died in Pawtucket in 1920.
Hi. The answer is, no. Try the Rhode Island State Archives for that record. The Pawtucket town hall would have that record, but may not be willing to help people remotely; I don’t know.
You can find the following index and images on the FamilySearch website:
[Pawtucket] Death records (1872-1945),and returns of death (1900-1921)
I am looking for death record of my grandfather Joseph Eugene Cook who died on August 5, 1931.
Your site is amazing!! I found the person’s name I was researching, Charles H. Smith D. 1882, does that mean they have a death certificate for him?
Hi Tina. Thank you! Yes, you can contact the Providence City Archives. They can send you a copy of the full information on the register pages. Normally, that’s what you want, since you will have to pay if you want them to type this on a certificate. And to re-type might only introduce errors. If you need,and official certificate, like for a lineage application, go to the Providence Vital Records office website and follow instructions to mail in a request and payment.
Thank you so much for all your work in providing these resources! It’s been extremely helpful in my research on my ancestors!
How can I get a copy of a death certificate from [Vol. 18-2 Deaths 1911-1920 Part 2 Kinsky – Z]. Looking for Joseph Dennis who died Dec 31, 1919 in providence, ri. Please let me know. Thank you.
Wendy, try contacting the Providence City Archives.
Is there a marriage volume 19-3? I am desperately searching for the marriage record of my great grandfather Eugene (Gene) Mckinley Reeves to a woman named Lydia in approximately 1919! My grandmother desperately wants to find her half siblings! (My great grandfather had a secret family on the side). I know their names and birthdates too! But I need to know Lydias maiden name and it looks like the very record I would need is 19-3! Any idea where I can find it? I so appreciate your response.
Yes Lydia, good point, and I will add the volume to the list. But that won’t help you. These volumes are almost impossible to find online because most are mis-labelled. So far, that one has not turned up. Try contacting the Rhode Island State Archives, giving the names and locations that you know. Best of luck!
I am trying to find any records on William Bourt. Born 1870s and Ethel I Bourt. Maden name Anderson. Born October 2 1887 thanks.
Ken I’m assuming you did not find any record in the books, above. You would need to find the “Unable to Visit” form on the Rhode Island State Archives, fill one out for each person, and submit.
The link is here – look for the Unable to Visit form.
Thank you diane
http://sos.ri.gov/archives/researchers/
I found my great grandmother Ethel IAnderson Gustay and Ida Anderson born October 2 1887 11:12 . Thanks again. Still trying to find my great grandfather Wm bourt.
I found my great grandmother Ethel I Anderson .
You have done a great job organizing all of these free resources. I have visited many sites in my searches…and taken note of the sites cursorily because I wanted to get on with what I was doing. The distraction of genealogical pathways, “Oh look at that!” I learned through the years to stay on task! Not always successfully:) Thanks for being good at it.
I think those are called “bright shiny objects” Val. The downfall of all of us! Thanks for visiting.
This is a wonderful site…many thanks for sharing !!!!
This site was a great help!
Thank you so very much for organizing these resources — especially the Prov Vital Records. Cynthia