This page contains most of the resources you will need to research the history of your house. If you are new to house history research, please visit the Get Started section. For a quick overview of the process visit 10 Steps to Researching the History of Your House.
Establishment
Portsmouth was established in 1638.
Assessor’s Property Data
The Assessor’s Office will provide links to property cards, assessment values and assessor maps. It also provides the most recent book and page number to the deed of your house.
- Portsmouth, RI Assessors Database – https://gis.vgsi.com/portsmouthri/
- Little Compton Assessor GIS Maps – https://www.axisgis.com/PortsmouthRI/
Land Evidence Records / Deed Research
You’ll need a Deed Chart to keep track of the deeds. You can download one here.
If possible you’ll want to research in-person in the Town Clerk’s office at Town Hall – 2200 E Main Rd, Portsmouth, RI 02871
The Town Clerk provides recorded land records for Portsmouth online – https://i2l.uslandrecords.com/RI/Portsmouth/D/Default.aspx The website says that Land records are searchable online back to 1834. If you put in a book and page and don’t get a result, try putting in just the book number. Same applies to a name search. If you don’t get a result, put in just the last name and leave off the first name. If you need earlier land records, visit the Town Clerk’s office in person or access on FamilySearch.org.
FamilySearch.org provides access to Portsmouth Land Evidence records 1647-1901. You need to access these from a FamilySearch affiliate library. The nearest ones are The Redwood Library and Athenaeum (Newport) and the Newport Public Library.
Census Records (also RI State Census Records)
- Find the occupants of your house in the census. Please note: the occupants might not be the owners!
- Federal Census Records are available every 10 years from 1790 to 1950 with the exception of 1890.
- RI State Census Records are available for 1865, 1875, 1885, 1905, 1915, 1925 & 1935
- Available from:
- Ancestry.com ($ subscription service) http://www.ancestry.com/
- The local library offers free access to Ancestry.com from within the library
- FamilySearch.org (free)
- MyHeritage.com ($) , FindMyPast.com ($) and others
Probate Records
Probate files provide a variety of estate records such as wills, administration papers, house inventories and guardianship records.
Probate records for Portsmouth, RI are found at Portsmouth Town Hall and are available in-person.
- Probate Index Cards, A-Z, 1700-1900 are available online from a FamilySearch Affiliate Library.
- Probate Records, 1824-1919 are available online from a FamilySearch Affiliate Library.
- Rhode Island, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1582-1932 are available from Ancestry.com
Vital Records
- Vital records provide the details about births, marriages and deaths for the people who previously lived in your house.
- Find Portsmouth, RI Vital Records Online:
- Ancestry.com ($)
- FamilySearch.org (free with account)
- AmericanAncestors.org ($)
- MyHeritage.com
Maps
- 1779 Map of Newport County by Edward Fage (Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library)
- 1850 Map of Newport County, Rhode Island by Henry Francis Walling (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1860 Map (Rev. 1870) of Newport & vicinity (including Middletown & Portsmouth) by M. Dripps (Library of Congress)
- 1870 Rhode Island State Atlas, Portsmouth (Ancestry.com)
- 1907 Portsmouth (Ancestry.com)
Maps are also available online from many website such as:
- Ancestry.com ($)
- Hathi Trust,
- David Rumsey Map Collection,
- Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library
- The Library of Congress
- Digital Commonwealth
Rhode Island HPHC Publications
- 58 publications containing detailed information for each town for historic properties and neighborhoods
- Found at https://preservation.ri.gov/historic-places/rihphc-publications
City Directories & Residents Lists
City Directories were typically published every year. Because of that they are great for filling in the gaps between the 10 year spread of census records. They are also helpful to identify when people move from place to place.
- City Directories are available online at the major database sites like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org
Tax Records
Tax records provide the value of property through the years. These can be a great indicator of when changes were made to a property. Check your local library, Town Hall or Archive.org for Town Annual Reports which contain the tax records.
Tax Books of the Town of Portsmouth, R. I. with Treasurer’s Report and Town Officers – Covers the years 1877, 1880, 1883,1887, 1892, 1895, 1900. This is made available on the Newport County, RI Rootsweb page and include transcription as well as scans of the original documents.
Newspapers
Many old newspapers are available online through Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, AmericanAncestors.org, GenealogyBank.com, Newspapers.com, OldNews.com, the Boston Public Library, the American Antiquarian Society (Worcester, MA), Community History Archives.. Newspapers.com is available from the Portsmouth Free Public Library.
Cemetery Information
There are 80 cemeteries in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. You can find the list at FindaGrave.com and RIHistoricCemeteries.org
Local Resources
- The John T. Pierce, Sr. Portsmouth Historical Collection
- Portsmouth Free Public Library – Genealogy and Local History
- The Portsmouth History Center
- The Portsmouth Historical Society
- PortsmouthHistoryNotes by Gloria Schmidt
State Resources
- Preserve Rhode Island
- Small State, Big History
- Rhode Island Historical Society
- Rhode Island State Archives
Further Reading
Boumenot, Diane MacLean and Maureen Alice Taylor. Rhode Island (NGS Research in the State Series). Falls Church, VA: National Genealogical Society, 2018.
Chapin, Howard M. Documentary History of Rhode Island: The History of the Towns of Portsmouth and Newport (Volume Two). Providence: Preston and Rounds Co., 1919. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto02chap/page/n7/mode/2up
Devin, Nancy Jensen and Richard V. Simpson. Portsmouth, Rhode Island (Images of America series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 1997.
Garman, James E. Historic Houses of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Newport, RI: Franklin Printing, 1976.
Garman, James E. A History of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1638-1978. Foster, RI: Lavendier Books, 1978.
Schmidt, Gloria. Portsmouth Women: Historical Sketches of Women Who Contributed to Our Portsmouth Community. Portsmouth, RI: 2018.
The Early Records of the Town of Portsmouth, ed. by the RIHS. Providence, RI: Freeman Sons, 1901. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/earlyrecordsofto02port/page/n7/mode/2up
West, Edward Homer. History of Portsmouth, 1638-1936. Providence, RI: 1936. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/historyofportsmo00west/page/n3/mode/2up
