Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island Genealogy

United States

Rhode Island

Bristol County

Warren

Warren, Rhode Island
Map
Location in Bristol County
Bristol County's location in the state of Rhode Island
Facts
Founded	1668
Seat	Warren
Address	Warren Town Hall 514 Main Street Warren, RI 02885
Website: townofwarren-ri.gov/

Quick Facts

Warren was the site of the Indian village of Sowams on the peninsula called Pokanoket (the near parts now called Mount Hope Neck), and was first explored by Europeans in 1621, by Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins. By the next year, Plymouth Colony had established a trading post at Sowams. In 1623, Winslow and John Hampden saved the life of Wampanoag Sachem Massasoit with medicine, gaining an important native ally.

In 1636, Roger Williams, banished from Salem, fled to Sowams where he was sheltered by Massasoit until he settled at Providence.

Permanent English settlement east of the Indian village began. In 1653, Massasoit and his oldest son sold to certain Plymouth Colony settlers what is now Warren and parts of Barrington, Rhode Island; Swansea, Massachusetts; and Rehoboth, Massachusetts. After the death of Massasoit, relations between the Indians and the settlers became strained, leading to King Philip's War in 1675. The English settlement at Sowams was destroyed during the war, but rebuilt.

In 1668, the township was officially incorporated with the name Sowams; in 1691, the Plymouth Colony merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Modern town borders of Warren in Bristol County, Rhode Island.

Warren was ceded to Rhode Island from Massachusetts in 1747. The town was named "Warren" after a British naval hero, Admiral Sir Peter Warren, after a victory at Louisburg in 1745. At the time of cession in 1747, Barrington, Rhode Island was unified with Warren, until it was separated again in 1770.

Warren was the original home of Brown University, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The school registered its first students in 1765. Brown was the Baptist answer to Congregationalist Yale and Harvard, Presbyterian Princeton, and Episcopalian Penn and Columbia. At the time, it was the only one of these schools that welcomed students of all religious persuasions (following the example of Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island in 1636 on the same principle).

• Town of Warren History

Resources

Archives and Libraries

• George Hail Free Library Genealogy Resources
  530 Main Street
  Warren, RI 02885

Biography

• La Paroisse Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Warren, état du Rhode Island, 1877-1952 FHL Collection
  First half of text in French; second half is English translation. Includes biographies of parish priests, professional people, nuns, outstanding parisioners, lists of parochial school students, members of the parish enlisted in the military, Franco-Americans in public office, censuses completed in 1888 and 1895, and memorials to their deceased parisioners.

Cemeteries

• Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission, required reading for anything concerning Rhode Island's cemeteries.

Barton Family

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #7, Long Lane and Barton Avenue

FindaGrave
cemetery database at Find A Grave.
Barton Family Cemetery database at Find A Grave.

Benjamin Barton Family

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #5, Barton Avenue

• FindaGrave

Brown Family

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #16, Long Lane

• FindaGrave

Butterworth

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #4, Long Lane

• FindaGrave

Captain Edward Mason Family

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #15, Market Street

• FindaGrave

Cole

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #12, Colonial Drive

• FindaGrave

Haile Family

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #2, Market Street

• FindaGrave

James Mason Family

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #6, Maple Road

• FindaGrave

Kickemuit

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #3, Serpentine Road

• FindaGrave

Later Handy Family

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #13, Adam Lane

• FindaGrave

North Burial Ground

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #1, North Main Street

• FindaGrave

Obadiah Bowen Family

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #14, School House Road and Market Street

• FindaGrave

Saint Alexander

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #8, Greenlawn Street, Off Vernon Avenue

• FindaGrave

Saint John the Baptist

(Saint Jean Baptiste) Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #9, Vernon Street

• FindaGrave

Saint Mary of the Bay

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #10, Vernon Street

• FindaGrave

South Burial Ground

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Warren #11, Sowamset Avenue

• FindaGrave

Census

1850

• Census of 1850 FHL Collection
  Microfilm of documents filmed at town hall, Tisbury, Mass.

1888

Biography

1895

Biography

Centennial Celebrations, etc

• 200th anniversary of Warren, Rhode Island: historical sketch, 1747-1947 FHL Collection

Church History and Records

Baptist

• A discourse delivered at the dedication of the new church edifice of the Baptist Church and Society in Warren, R.I.: May 8, 1845 FHL Collection
• The centennial discourse on the one hundredth anniversary of the First Baptist Church, Warren, R.I.: November 15, 1864 FHL Collection

Episcopal

• Historical discourse delivered in St. Mark's Church, Warren, R.I.: Sunday evening, November 10, 1878, being the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the parish FHL Collection The church closed the doors after last mass, 2 May 2010

Methodist

• First United Methodist Church of Warren
• The origin and progress of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Warren, R.I.: including notices of many clergymen and others who have contributed to its planting and growth FHL Collection

Roman Catholic

• La Paroisse Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Warren, état du Rhode Island, 1877-1952 FHL Collection

Court Records

Probate Records, Town Records and Vital Records

Directories

• Warren and Barrington Directory, 1897: comprising a complete general and business directory of the towns of Warren and Barrington, also, a record of the town governments, institutions, societies, etc. FHL Collection
• Bristol, Warren and Barrington (Rhode Island) city directories FHL Collection

History

Biography

• Dedication of the Massasoit Memorial: at Warren, Rhode Island, October nineteenth, nineteen hundred and seven FHL Collection
• The history of Warren, R.I. from the earliest times: with particular notices of Massasoit and his family FHL Collection

Land and Property

• Mortgages 1752, 1755, 1786 FHL Collection
• Warren (R.I.) deed records (1744-1916) and indexes (1747-1982) --, 1744-1982 FHL Collection
  Grantor and grantee index 1747-1895
  Deeds 1744-1902
  Warranties 1883-1916
  Deed Grantor index 1747-1982
  Deed Grantee index 1747-1982
  Deed records 1898-1910
  

Military History and Records

• Militia rolls 1843-1878 FHL Collection

Revolutionary War

• The history of Warren, Rhode Island, in the War of the Revolution, 1776-1783 FHL Collection

Naturalization and Citizenship

• Warren (R.I.) naturalization papers, 1898-1940 FHL Collection

Probate Records

• Probate records, 1746-1920 FHL Collection
  Before 1799 the town council handled all probate matters.
  Probate proceedings 1808-1879
  Wills and inventories 1746-1851
  Inventories 1831-1918
  Executors, administrators and guardianship bonds 1872-1893
  Bonds and letters of testamentary 1811-1836
  Administration and testamentary letters 1810-1871
  Accounts 1832-1947
  Commissoners reports of claims 1843-1913
  Letters of guardianship 1840-1900
  Letters and bonds to return inventory 1823-1839
  Probate index 1746-1859
  Probate records 1879-1920
  Wills 1880-1918
  Bonds, numbered and un-numbered 1872-1917
  Administration and letters testamentary index 1840-1849

Town Records

Taxation

• Valuation List 1778 Genealogy Trails

Town Records

• Town meeting records 1746-1881 FHL Collection
• Financial records 1858-1908 FHL Collection

Probate Records

Vital Records

• Births, marriages, deaths 1730-1856 FHL Collection
• Births, marriages, deaths, 1850-1915 FHL Collection
  Births 1850-1915
  Marriages 1850-1915
  Deaths 1850-1915
• Warren, Bristol, Rhode Island computer printout; births or christenings, 1851-1876 FHL Collection
• Warren, Bristol, Rhode Island computer printout; marriages, 1636-1885 FHL Collection

Societies, Libraries and Museums

• Warren Hall of Fame
• The Massasoit Historical Association of Warren, Rhode Island