Barrington Town Records Collection

Barrington, RI

Town records, 1744-1825

Size: .25 ft

Catalog number: MSS 187

Processed by: Karen Eberhart, April 2007

©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

Historical note:

The area that is now the Town of Barrington was originally occupied by the Wampanoag Indians. They called the area Sowams and Pokanoket. The English colony established in 1620 at Plymouth, Massachusetts began the influx of Europeans to the area. The town of Swansea was incorporated in 1667 as part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1717 the resident's petition to separate from Swansea was granted and the town of Barrington was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Then in 1747, Barrington, along with parts of Swansea and Rehoboth were transferred to Rhode Island by royal decree. The entire area was named Warren, Rhode Island. The Rhode Island General Assembly recognized that Barrington was indeed a separate town and it was incorporated as such in 1770.

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Scope and content:

This small collection consists primarily of documents relating to the taxes collected from the residents of Barrington between 1770-1825 and the organization of the highways.

Of note are two documents relating to people of color. The first is List C from the Direct Tax of 1798 listing the slaves owned by residents of Barrington. The list includes only 4 people each owning 1 slave: Edward Bosworth, Nathaniel Smith, Ebenezer Tiffaney, Matthew Watson. The names of the slaves are not given. The second is a chart showing the valuation of real and personal estate as assessed by the Committee of Five and the Committee of Ten for all the towns in Rhode Island. This valuation includes the number of slaves between the ages of 10 and 50 and indicates that there were 6 slaves in Barrington. The document is undated but its date can be set as 1767 based on the similarity between it and Tax Rate List, 1767-1778 in the Exeter Town Records (MSS 197). The Exeter Tax Rate List includes a statement that it was prepared in accordance with the resolution of the General Assembly at its June 1767 session. The totals for Exeter that appear on the chart in this collection are exactly the same as the totals that appear on the Tax Rate List in the Exeter Town Records collection. The handwriting is also the same..

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Inventory:

Location	Description	Dates	Former page number
Box 1, Folder 1	Arms and ammunition, request for account of, signed by Thomas Bowen, Colonel of Regiment	2 May 1744	Page 12
Box 1, Folder 2	Freeman's Meeting resolution for town tax	8 Oct 1770	Page 24
Box 1, Folder 3	Highway - List of men and cattle to work on highway	25 Jun 1798	Page 75
Box 1, Folder 4	Highway - Subscription for maintenance of road between Providence and Bristol	1814, 1817	Page 90
Box 1, Folder 5	Highway plans	[c.1780s]	Page 105
Box 1, Folder 6	List of the members of the Corporation sent to Sam Smith by Tristam B[urges?]	[c.1825]	Page 114
Box 1, Folder 7	Proprietor's Meeting minutes	1 Mar 1784	Page 49
Box 1, Folder 8	School subscription for North District School listing parent and number of children enrolled, Alva Carpenter employed as teacher	29 Nov 1817	Page 94
Oversized Folder	Taxes - Valuation of real and personal estate by the Committee of Five and the Committee of Ten for all the towns in Rhode Island. This valuation gathered information on the following categories: Polls, Buildings, Mills, Wharves, Distilleries, Slaves from ages 10 to 50, Money (in pounds and shillings), Ounces of Plate, Chases, Horses, Oxen, Horn Cattle, Sheep and Goats, Swine, Acres of Pasture, Cows it will keep, Acres of Tillage, Bushels of Grain, Pounds of Tobacco, Acres of Orchard, Barrels of Cider, Acres of Meadow, English Hay, Fresh Hay, Salt Hay, Acres of Wood and Wasteland, Total Acres, Value of Real Estate, Total Value, Value per Acre, Established Value	[1767]	Page 99
Oversized Folder	Taxes - Valuation of Real and Personal Estate by the Committee of Five and the Committee of Ten for all the towns in Rhode Island. This chart is a shorter version of the one above. Several categories are omitted	[1767]	Page 100
Box 1, Folder 9	Taxes - Report of Committee for Warren and Barrington to proportion the estates of the towns for taxes	7 Sep 1770
Oversized Folder	Taxes - Town Tax	26 Sep 1788	Page 52
Oversized Folder	Taxes - Town Tax	20 Nov 1788	Page 52
Box 1, Folder 10	Taxes - State tax; Salt meadow rates and hay	1788-1789	Page 52
Oversized Folder	Taxes - Town Tax	14 Dec 1790	Page 55
Oversized Folder	Taxes - Town Tax	19 Oct 1791	Page 57
Box 1, Folder 11	Taxes - Taxes assessed for years 1789-1791 for State tax; Town tax; Salt meadow rates and hay	1791-1792	Page 57
Oversized Folder	Taxes - Town Tax	31 Oct 1793	Page 63
Box 1, Folder 12	Taxes - Direct Tax, List C Particular List of Slaves	1 Oct 1798	Page 77
Box 1, Folder 13	Taxes - Real and personal estate valuations	1818-1823
Box 1, Folder 14	Taxes - Highway, North District	1825	Page 97
Box 1, Folder 15	Town Meeting Minutes	30 May 1814	Page 90

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Subjects:

African Americans - Barrington, R.I.

Taxes - Barrington, R.I.

Highways - Barrington, R.I.

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RIHS1822