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3. Provenance 5. Inventory 6. Subjects |
Portsmouth Town Records Collection Portsmouth, R.I. Records, 1808-1857 Size: .25 ft. Catalog number: MSS 213 Processed by: Elizabeth Delmage, April 2008 ©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
The town of Portsmouth is located on Aquidneck Island and was settled in 1638 after the island was purchased from the Narragansett Indian tribe. In 1639, the border between Portsmouth and Newport was established and a general government for Aquidneck Island was formed in 1640. This government was in place until 1663, when the Rhode Island Charter was granted by King Charles II and a new government was organized under the charter.
Scope and content:
This collection includes ten day books from Hampton Lillibridge, the schoolmaster of the Bristol Ferry School House in Portsmouth. These volumes contain lists of students who attended both the winter and summer school, accounts, weather observations and other information pertaining to the schoolhouse. Also included in this collection are Returns of the Public Schools in Portsmouth, which show the number of students and teachers in each district, funds appropriated to the schools from the town and state, etc. There are also miscellaneous tax records from 1822-1823, a copy of a record from the Town Meeting detailing the roadways and lanes in Portsmouth and two letters.
Provenance:
The State of Rhode Island deposited tax records from 1822 and 1823 in 1829 (#1829. 3. 21. 1-) and it is recorded in the Acts and Resolves of the R.I. General Assembly, January 1829, page 43 that: "The clerk of the committee appointed to take an estimate of the rateable property in this state [in June 1822]. . . deposit in the Cabinet of the R.I.H.S."
Charles Gregory Maytum donated two letters in 1964 (#1964. 70. 3-4). The first letter was from Edwin M. Stone, a R.I.H.S. librarian, to the Town Clerk of Portsmouth asking him reference questions about Prudence Island, which was under the jurisdiction of Portsmouth. The second letter is the Town Clerk's, Richard Sherman, reply to Stone.
The provenance of majority of the material is unknown. It is likely that many of these items were part of a miscellaneous collection and rearranged together at an unknown date.
Processing note:
This collection was rehoused to full archival standards in April 2008. The items in this collection are arranged in chronological order.
Inventory:
Box 1, Folder 1. A list of the road ways and lanes in Portsmouth 10 June 1717
[Handwritten transcription by William Lanford,
Town Clerk]
Box 1, Folder 2. Day book, Hampton Lillibridge Nov 1808 - Mar 1810
Box 1, Folder 3. Day book, Hampton Lillibridge May 1810 - Mar 1811
Box 1, Folder 4. Day book, Hampton Lillibridge Nov 1811 - Mar 1812
Box 1, Folder 5. Day book, Hampton Lillibridge Apr 1812 - Oct 1812
Box 1, Folder 6. Day book, Hampton Lillibridge Nov 1812 - Oct 1813
Box 1, Folder 7. Day book, Hampton Lillibridge Nov 1813 - Sep 1814
Box 1, Folder 8. Day book, Hampton Lillibridge Dec 1815 - Mar 1816
Box 1, Folder 9. Day book, Hampton Lillibridge May 1816 - Apr 1817
Box 1, Folder 10. Day book, Hampton Lillibridge Nov 1817 - May 1818
Box 1, Folder 11. Testimony of Stephen B. Cornell to the 1821
Superior Court regarding the apportioning
of taxes to Portsmouth residents
Box 1, Folder 12. Schedule of the Valuation of the Real and 1822
Personal Estate of the Town of Portsmouth
Box 1, Folder 13. State taxes for Portsmouth residents 1822
Box 1, Folder 14. State taxes for Portsmouth residents 1823
Box 1, Folder 15. Record from Richard Sherman, Town Clerk, 1823
certifying that Asa Sherman and Gideon
Gifford had been assessed for taxes from
1818 to 1823
Box 1, Folder 16. Returns of the Public Schools in Portsmouth, 1856 - 1857
all districts
Box 1, Folder 17. Returns of the Public Schools in Portsmouth, 1857 - 1858, 1860,
District No. 1 1862
Box 1, Folder 18. Returns of the Public Schools in Portsmouth, 1857 - 1858,
District No. 2 1860 - 1862
Box 1, Folder 19. Returns of the Public Schools in Portsmouth, 1857 - 1858
District No. 3 1860 - 1861
Box 1, Folder 20. Returns of the Public Schools in Portsmouth, 1857 - 1858
District No. 4 1860 - 1861
Box 1, Folder 21. Returns of the Public Schools in Portsmouth, 1858, 1860 - 1861
District No. 5
Box 1, Folder 22. Returns of the Public Schools in Portsmouth, 1857, 1860 - 1862
District No. 6
Box 1, Folder 23. Returns of the Public Schools in Portsmouth, 1857 - 1858,
District No. 7 1860 - 1861
Box 1, Folder 24. Letter from Edwin M. Stone to the Town Clerk 21 Jan 1857
of Portsmouth [Richard Sherman]
Box 1, Folder 25. Letter form Richard Sherman to Edwin M. Stone 14 Feb 1857
Subjects:
Bristol Ferry School House (Portsmouth, R.I.)
Lillibridge, Hampton, ca. 1776-1823
Property tax - Rhode Island - Portsmouth
Roads - Rhode Island - Portsmouth
Schools - Rhode Island - Portsmouth
Sherman, Richard, ca. 1791-1865
Stone, Edward Martin, 1805-1883
End of finding aid - return to top
RIHS1822