Kent County, Rhode Island Genealogy

United States

Rhode Island

Kent County

Guide to Kent County, Rhode Island ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

This article is about a county in the state of Rhode Island. For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation).

Kent County, Rhode Island
Map
Location in the state of Rhode Island
Facts
Founded	June 11, 1759
County Seat
Courthouse
Named for: Kent, England Website: Kent Rhode Island

Description

The County was named for the county of Kent, England. The County is located in the east central area of the state.

Kent County, Rhode Island Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
at town creation	at town creation	at town creation	1750	1679	1679	1747
Statewide registration for births and deaths began in 1853. General compliance by 1915.

County Courthouse

Kent County Courthouse
222 Quaker Lane;
West Warwick, RI 02893
Phone: 401.841.835 

(Town and City Clerks have birth, marriage, death, burial, probate and land records
 
(Five twns in Kent Co) Towns Organized Before 1800; Coventry 1741, East Greenwich 1677, Warwick 1642-3, West Greenwich 1741

There is no county government. The government is located at town and state levels.

Quick Facts

Named for County of Kent, England.

Parent County

11 June 1759: Created from the Providence Plantations.

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating Rhode Island County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Rhode Island County Boundary Maps" (1643-1963) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places / Localities

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Warwick
Towns
Coventry East Greenwich (county seat)	West Greenwich	West Warwick
Villages
Anthony Arkwright Blackrock Coventry Centre Crompton Fairbanks	Harris Hillsgrove Hopkins Hollow Nooseneck Lippitt Quidnick	Spring Lake Summit Tiogue Washington Whaley's Hollow
Census-designated places
Greene

Resources

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
RIGenWeb	WorldCat	Billion Graves
Tombstone Project
RIInterment
EPodunk
Billion Graves
See Rhode Island Cemeteries for more information.

• Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission

Census

For tips on accessing Kent County, Rhode Island Genealogy census records online, see: Rhode Island Census.

• 1905 - Rhode Island State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1907-1991 - Rhode Island Naturalization Records 1907-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Probate Records

Online Probate Records

• 1582 – 1932 Rhode Island Wills and Probate Records 1582-1932 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Vital Records

See also How to order Rhode Island Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for Rhode Island Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Death Certificate Application to mail.

Births

• 1630 - 1945 - Rhode Island Town Clerk Vital and Town Records 1630-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images
• Rhode Island Births, 1636-1930 Ancestry ($)

Marriages

• Genealogy Trails
• Rhode Island Marriages, 1636-1930 Ancestry ($)

• 1522-1989 - Rhode Island, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1630 - 1945 - Rhode Island Town Clerk Vital and Town Records 1630-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images

Deaths

• 1630 - 1945 - Rhode Island Town Clerk Vital and Town Records 1630-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies, Libraries and Museums

• Rhode Island Genealogical Society,
  P.O. Box 433,
  Greenville Public Library,
  573 Putnam Pike,
  Greenville, RI 02828
• Rhode Island Historical Society,
  110 Benevolent St,
  Providence 02906-3103

Libraries

• Rhode Island State Library,
  State House, 2nd floor,
  Providence, RI 02903
  Phone: (401) 222-2473
• Rhode Island Historical Society Library,
  121 Hope Street,
  Providence, RI 02906
  TEL: (401) 273-8107
• East Greenwich Free Library,
  82 Pierce Street East,
  Greenwich, RI 02818
  
• Lincoln Public Library,
  Old River Road,
  Lincoln, RI 02865,
  Phone: (401) 333-2422
• Louttit Memorial Library,
  274 Victory Highway,
  West Greenwich, RI 02817
  Phone: (401) 397-3434
• Robert H Champlin Library,
  1043 Main Street,
  West Warwick, RI 02893,
  Phone: (401) 828-3750
• Warwick Public Library,
  600 Sandy Lane,
  Warwick, RI 02886

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

• For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map

• Providence Rhode Island Family History Center (Warwick)

Websites

• Kent County, RI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• Rhode Island Genealogy Network Community on Google+
• Rhode Island Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• The Kent County RIGenWeb Project, an member of The RIGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
• The USGenWeb Archives Project for Kent County.
• FamilySearch.org FamilySearch Catalog for Kent County
• Kent County RI Genealogy

Family History Library