1774 Census
of the
Inhabitants of the Colony
of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
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At the session of the General Assembly of the Governor and Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England, in America, begun and holden in Newport on the first Wednesday in May, in the year 1774, and fourteenth of the reign of His most sacred Majesty George the Third, by the Grace of God King of Great Britain, the following resolution was passed:
It is Voted and Resolved, That the Number of Families and Persons in this Colony be taken; specifying the Number of Whites, Indians, and Blacks, both Male and Female, and ascertaining the Number above, and under, the Age of Sixteen.
Bristol County
- 1774 Town of Barrington, Bristol County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Bristol, Bristol County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Warren, Bristol County Rhode Island Colonial Census
Kent County
- 1774 Town of Coventry, Kent County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of East Greenwich, Kent County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Warwick, Kent County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of West Greenwich, Kent County Rhode Island Colonial Census
Newport County
- 1774 Town of Jamestown, Newport County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Little Compton, Newport County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Middletown, Newport County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Newport, Newport County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Portsmouth, Newport County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Tiverton, Newport County Rhode Island Colonial Census
Providence County
- 1774 Town of Cranston, Providence County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Cumberland, Providence County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Glocester, Providence County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Johnston, Providence County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of North Providence, Providence County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Providence, Providence County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Scituate, Providence County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Smithfield, Providence County Rhode Island Colonial Census
Washington County
- 1774 Town of Charlestown, Washington County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Exeter, Washington County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Hopkinton, Washington County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- New Shoreham - This census record not found.
- 1774 Town of North Kingston, Washington County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of Richmond, Washington County Rhode Island Colonial Census
- 1774 Town of South Kingston, Washington County, Rhode Island Census
- 1774 Town of Westerly, Washington County Rhode Island Colonial Census
RECAPITULATION
of the inhabitants of the colony of Rhode Island, according to the official census taken in 1774.
Key:
- A = White males above 16 years of age.
- B = White males under 16 years of age.
- C = White females above 16 years of age.
- D = White females under 16 years of age.
- E = Total Whites.
- F = Indians
- G = Blacks
- H = Total of each town
Town | Families | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Newport | 1,590 | 2,100 | 1,558 | 2,624 | 1,635 | 7,917 | 46 | 1,246 | 9,208 |
Providence | 655 | 1,219 | 850 | 1,049 | 832 | 3,950 | 68 | 303 | 4,321 |
Portsmouth | 220 | 343 | 341 | 400 | 285 | 1,369 | 21 | 122 | 1,512 |
Warwick | 353 | 569 | 512 | 615 | 465 | 2,161 | 88 | 89 | 2,438 |
Westerly | 257 | 421 | 441 | 443 | 401 | 1,706 | 37 | 69 | 1,812 |
New Shoreham | 75 | 109 | 119 | 121 | 120 | 469 | 51 | 55 | 575 |
East Greenwich | 275 | 416 | 345 | 464 | 338 | 1,563 | 31 | 69 | 1,663 |
North Kingston | 361 | 538 | 497 | 595 | 552 | 2,182 | 79 | 211 | 2,472 |
South Kingston | 364 | 550 | 554 | 597 | 481 | 2,185 | 210 | 440 | 2,835 |
Jamestown | 69 | 110 | 90 | 118 | 82 | 400 | 32 | 131 | 563 |
Smithfield | 476 | 742 | 665 | 769 | 638 | 2,814 | 23 | 51 | 2,888 |
Scituate | 564 | 909 | 879 | 933 | 817 | 3,538 | 8 | 55 | 3,601 |
Glocester | 525 | 743 | 724 | 740 | 719 | 2,926 | - | 19 | 2,945 |
West Greenwich | 304 | 429 | 395 | 465 | 456 | 1,745 | - | 19 | 1,764 |
Charlestown | 307 | 312 | 315 | 350 | 264 | 1,241 | 528 | 52 | 1,821 |
Coventry | 274 | 474 | 555 | 493 | 470 | 1,992 | 11 | 20 | 2,023 |
Exeter | 289 | 441 | 415 | 478 | 446 | 1,780 | 17 | 67 | 1,864 |
Middletown | 123 | 210 | 179 | 259 | 156 | 804 | 13 | 64 | 881 |
Bristol | 197 | 272 | 232 | 319 | 256 | 1,079 | 16 | 114 | 1,209 |
Tiverton | 298 | 418 | 500 | 438 | 434 | 1,790 | 71 | 95 | 1,956 |
Warren | 168 | 237 | 251 | 255 | 185 | 928 | 7 | 44 | 979 |
Little Compton | 218 | 304 | 254 | 382 | 220 | 1,160 | 25 | 47 | 1,232 |
Richmond | 189 | 286 | 316 | 324 | 287 | 1,213 | 20 | 24 | 1,257 |
Cumberland | 264 | 400 | 408 | 478 | 450 | 1,736 | 3 | 17 | 1,756 |
Cranston | 340 | 476 | 399 | 517 | 390 | 1,782 | 19 | 60 | 1,861 |
Hopkinton | 299 | 427 | 420 | 477 | 415 | 1,739 | 21 | 48 | 1,808 |
Johnston | 167 | 242 | 227 | 254 | 234 | 957 | 9 | 65 | 1,031 |
North Providence | 138 | 193 | 172 | 230 | 197 | 792 | 7 | 31 | 830 |
Barrington | 91 | 142 | 118 | 162 | 120 | 542 | 18 | 41 | 601 |
Totals | 9,450 | 14,042 | 12,731 | 15,349 | 12,386 | 54,460 | 1,479 | 3,668 | 59,707 |
NOTE:
At the January Session of the General Assembly 1858 of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the following resolution was passed:
RESOLUTION for printing and distributing the census returns of 1774.
Resolved, That the secretary of the state be, and is hereby, authorized and empowered to cause to have printed, at the expense of the state, five hundred copies of the official census of Rhode Island, made by order of the General Assembly in the year 1774; together with a list of men over 16 years of age, made in 1776; provided the cost of the same shall not exceed four hundred dollars; and that when printed, the volume be distributed as follows:
One copy to each of the states and territories in the United States; one copy to each of the public offices in Washington; one to each of the historical societies in the United States; one to each town clerks in the state; one to each of the judges and the clerks of the several courts in the state; one to each of the public libraries in the state; one to each of the general officers, school commissioner and the members of the present General Assembly; one to each public library or institution which now receives the documents of the state; thirty copies to the Rhode Island Historical Society; and thirty copies for libraries, societies and individuals engaged in historical research, at the discretion of the secretary.
On examining the census returns of 1776, alluded to in the resolution, it was found that those of Newport and several other towns were wanting. For this reason it was thought best, rather than to give imperfect lists, to confine the publication to the census of 1774, the original returns of which were complete among the files of the secretary's office, except those of the town of New Shoreham. Of this town, merely the numbers were given, and no names. In printing the census, the orthography of the original manuscript has been followed in the names, as nearly as possible. A recapitulation of the census will be found at the end.
Related Records:
- 1813 Pension List: Rhode Island
- 1820 Pension List: Rhode Island
- 1840 Rhode Island Census of Pensioners
- James N. Arnold Collection of Rhode Island Vital Records: 1636 - 1850
- Rhode Island State Census Records