The state of Rhode Island has several nicknames. One is “the Ocean State”. Are you searching for more information about your ancestors who once lived in the state of Rhode Island? If so, then check out the many Rhode Island genealogy resources that I’ve included in this blog. They are good starting points.
Ancestry.com has a page that is filled with links to all of their Rhode Island collections of records. To access most of these records, you will need an Ancestry.com membership. Sometimes, a collection will be offered for free. Return to their page often. Ancestry.com does a good job of making it clear when a collection is new, has been updated, or is currently offered for free.
Cyndi’s List is probably the most comprehensive collection of links to genealogy resources on the internet. They have a page called “United States – Rhode Island”. Start by selecting one of their many collections. Some collections include: “Birth, Marriage, Death”, “Census”, “Counties”, “Military”, “Newspapers” and more!
FamilySearch has a Wiki about Rhode Island. There are links to more FamilySearch Wiki pages for each of the counties in the state. You can also find links that will give you more information about major repositories of records in Rhode Island. Towards the bottom of their page, you can find some links to more FamilySearch Wiki pages about specific FamilySearch Rhode Island collections of records.
Facebook has a Community Page for FamilySearch Rhode Island Genealogy Research. This is a good resource for genealogists who want to connect with other genealogists who are also working on Rhode Island research right now. It is also a good place to go to find links to FamilySearch collections of records that relate to the state of Rhode Island.
Internment.net has cemetery records online. Start by putting the first and last name of your ancestor into the search engine at the top of their page. Or, you can start by selecting one of the counties in Rhode Island. Kent county, and Providence county, have links that will give you information about records from cemeteries that are located in those counties. Sorry, Internment.net doesn’t have records for Bristol, Newport, or Washington counties.
GeneaLinks also has a search engine at the top of their page. Put your ancestor’s name into it. Select which type of records you want to search through: vital, birth, death, marriage, divorce, or “Genealogy”. GeneaLinks also has helpful information for genealogists who are new to Rhode Island genealogy. Did you know that some Rhode Island records go back to the late 1600’s?
Image by Morrow Long on Flickr