This is a list of free Rhode Island Genealogy Records.

These records include birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, former slave records, freedmen records, pension records, military records and more. Included as well are general United States collections if they include or could reasonably include Rhode Island residents.

Most of these collections are at free sites. Fee sites are noted. All collections at FamilySearch are free but you’ll need to be logged in with a free FamilySearch account to search these records. It’s easy to register for a free account at FamilySearch.

Rhode Island Birth Records

• Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914, index
• Rhode Island, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1630-1945, index & images
• Rhode Island, Vital records, 1846-1898, 1901-1953, index & images
• United States Births and Christenings, 1867-1931, index
• United States Native American Birth and Death Records, 1885-1940, index
• United States National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel Files, 1954-1970, index
• United States Public Records, 1970-2009, index

Rhode Island Marriage Records

• Rhode Island Marriages, 1724-1916, index
• Rhode Island Town Marriages Index, 1639-1916, index
• United States, Freedmen’s Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872, index & images
• United States Western States Marriage Index, index
• United States Marriages, 1733-1990, index

Rhode Island Death Records

• Rhode Island Deaths and Burials, 1802-1950, index
• United States, Cemetery Abstracts, index & links to images
• United States Deaths and Burials, 1867-1961, index
• United States Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968, images
• United States Social Security Death Index, index
• United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014, index & images
• United States Native American Birth and Death Records, 1885-1940, index
• United States, Obituaries, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1899-2012, index & images
• United States, Panama Canal Zone, Index to the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary Registers, 1906-1991, index & images
• United States Public Records, 1970-2009, index
• United States Records of Headstones of Deceased Union Veterans, 1879-1903, index & images
• United States, Burial Registers for Military Posts, Camps, and Stations,1768-1921, index & images
• BillionGraves Index, index & links to images
• CurrentObituary Index, 2001-2014, index & links to images
• Find A Grave Index, index & links to images

Rhode Island Residence Records

• Rhode Island Naturalization Records 1907-1991, index & images
• Rhode Island, District Court Naturalization Indexes, 1906-1991, index & images
• Rhode Island State Census, 1885, index & images
• Rhode Island State Census, 1905, index & images
• Rhode Island State Census, 1915, index & images
• Rhode Island State Census, 1925, index & images
• Rhode Island State Census, 1935, index & images
• United States Census 1790, index and images
• United States Census 1800, index and images
• United States Census 1810, index and images
• United States Census 1820, index and images
• United States Census 1830, index and images
• United States Census 1840, index and images
• United States Census 1850, index and images
• United States Census (Slave Schedule) 1850, index and images
• United States Census (Mortality Schedule) 1850, index and images
• United States Census 1860, index and images
• United States Census 1870, index and images
• United States Census 1880, index and images
• United States Census 1890, index and images
• United States Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, 1890, index and images
• United States Census 1900, index and images
• United States Census 1910, index and images
• United States Census 1920, index and images
• United States Census 1930, index and images
• United States Census of Merchant Seamen, 1930, index
• United States Census 1940, index and images
• United States Enumeration District Maps for the Twelfth through the Sixteenth US Censuses, 1900-1940, images
• United States, Native American, Census of the Ute Tribe, 1944, index
• United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940, index & links to images
• United States, Native American, Eastern Cherokee Enrollment Records, 1908-1910, index & links to images
• United States, Native American, Eastern Cherokee Indian Reservation Rolls, 1848-1970, index and images
• United States Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, 1800 – circa 1955, images
• United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932, images
• United States Homestead Final Certificates, 1863-1909, images

Rhode Island Daily Life Records

Compiled Genealogies

• Family Group Records Collection, Archives Section, 1942-1969, images
• United States National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel Files, 1954-1970, index

Court Records

• United States Index to Naturalizations of World War I Soldiers, 1918, index & links to images
• United States Internal Revenue Assessment Lists, 1862-1874, images
• United States, Freedmen’s Bank Records, 1865-1874, index & images
• United States, Freedmen’s Bureau, Freedmen’s Court Records, 1865-1872, index & images

Directories

• 1871 Newport City Directory (Newport County)
• 1935 Providence City Directory (Providence County) searches only, no images
• Providence House Directories, Providence City Archives, ONSITE ONLY

Employment Records

• United States Panama Canal Zone, Employment Records and Sailing Lists, 1905-1937, index & images
• United States, Freedmen’s Bureau Hospital and Medical Records, 1865-1872, index & images
• United States National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel Files, 1954-1970, index
• United States Index to General Correspondence of the Pension Office, 1889-1904, index and images

Ethnic Records

African American

• • United States Freedmen’s Branch Records, 1872-1878
  • United States, Freedmen’s Bank Records, 1865-1874, index and images
  • United States, Freedmen’s Bureau, Freedmen’s Court Records, 1865-1872, index and images
  • United States, Freedmen’s Bureau Hospital and Medical Records, 1865-1872, index and images
  • United States Freedmen’s Bureau Miscellaneous Records, 1865-1872, index & links to images
  • United States Freedmen’s Bureau, Records of Freedmen, 1865-1872, index & images
  • United States Freedmen’s Bureau Ration Records, 1865-1872, index and images
  • United States Freedmen’s Bureau Claim Records, 1865-1872, index and images
  • United States Freedmen’s Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture & Apprenticeship Records, 1865-1872, index and images
  • United States Freedmen’s Bureau Records of Persons and Articles Hired, 1865-1872, index and images
  • United States Freedmen’s Bureau, Land and Property Records, 1865-1872, index and images
  • United States Freedmen’s Bureau, Freedmen’s Bureau, Records of the Superintendent of Education and of the Division of Education, 1865-1872, index and images
  • United States Freedmen’s Branch Records, 1872-1878, images
  • United States Freedmen’s Bureau, Records of Freedmen’s Complaints, 1865-1872, index and images
  • United States Freedmen’s Branch Records, 1872-1878, images
  • United States, Freedmen’s Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872, index & images
  • United States, Freedmen’s Bureau Hospital and Medical Records, 1865-1872, index and images
  • United States, Freedmen’s Bureau Ration Records,1865-1872, index and images
  • United States, Freedmen’s Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner, 1865-1872, images
  • United States, Freedmen’s Bureau, Records of the Commissioner, 1865-1872, images

Native American

• • United States Native American Birth and Death Records, 1885-1940, index & links to images
  • United States, Native American, Census of the Ute Tribe, 1944, index
  • United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940, index & links to images
  • United States, Native American, Eastern Cherokee Enrollment Records, 1908-1910, index & links to images
  • United States, Native American, Eastern Cherokee Indian Reservation Rolls, 1848-1970, index and images

Japanese American

• • United States, War Relocation Authority Centers, final accountability rosters, 1942-1946, index and images
  • United States Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946, index

Government & Legal

• United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925, index

Libraries, Museums, & Archives

Onsite at a FamilySearch Library / Family History Library

• FamilySearch Catalog collections for Rhode Island available onsite only
• FamilySearch Catalog collections for Rhode Island, onsite and possibly online
  • For example, in the second link above, there is a Bible Records collection, if you follow the link to a single collection, a digital version of Miscellaneous Bible and cemetery records is available online. You may need to be logged in to your FamilySearch account to view these library collections from home.

Immigration, Emigration, & Citizenship Records

• United States, New England Petitions for Naturalization Index, 1791-1906, index & images
• United States, New England Passenger & Crew Lists, 1911-1954, index & images
• United States, New England Seamen’s Identification Cards, 1918-1940, images
• United States Index to Naturalizations of World War I Soldiers, 1918, index & links to images
• United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925, index and images
• United States Border Crossings from Canada to United States, 1895-1956, index
• United States, Border Crossings from Canada to United States, 1894-1954, index & links to images
• United States Border Crossings from Mexico to United States, 1903-1957, index
• United States Germans to America Index, 1850-1897, index
• Unites States Russians to America Index, 1834-1897, index
• United States Italians to America Index, 1855-1900, index
• United States Index to Alien Case Files, 1940-2003, index & links to images
• United States Index to Passenger Arrivals, Atlantic and Gulf Ports, 1820-1874, index and images
• United State Famine Irish Passenger Index, 1846-1851, index
• United States Panama Canal Zone, Employment Records and Sailing Lists, 1905-1937, index and images

Names & Surnames

• Irish Surnames in Rhode Island & the Irish Counties they Represent, Providence City Archives

Passenger & Crew Lists

• Rhode Island, Davisville, Melville, Newport, and Quonset Point, Airplane Passenger and Crew Lists, 1955-1957, images
• United States, New England Passenger & Crew Lists, 1911-1954, index & images
• United States, New England Seamen’s Identification Cards, 1918-1940, images

Pension Records

• United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, index & images
• United States Index to General Correspondence of the Pension Office, 1889-1904

Prisons/Prisoners Records

• United States, War Relocation Authority Centers, final accountability rosters, 1942-1946, index and images
• United States Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946, index

Shipping, Ports, & Merchant Marine

Societies

• American-Canadian Genealogical Society
• American Antiquarian Society

Taxes

• United States Internal Revenue Assessment Lists, 1862-1874, images

Rhode Island Military Records

Revolutionary War

• United States Revolutionary War Compiled Service Records, 1775-1783, index links to images
• United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872, index and  images
• United States Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, 1800-1900,  index links to images

• United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, index and  images

• United States Revolutionary War, Virginia Pension Application Files, 1830-1875, images
• United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783, index and  images

• United States Casualties of Army Personnel, Dependents and Civilian Employees, 1961-1981, index
• United States Headstone Applications for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1949, index & images
• United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914, index & images
• United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872, index & images
• United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, index & images
• United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783, index & images
• United States, Burial Registers for Military Posts, Camps, and Stations,1768-1921, index & images
• United States Revolutionary War, Virginia Pension Application Files, 1830-1875, images

War of 1812

• United States War of 1812 Index to Pension Application Files, 1812-1910, index and images
• United States War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 1812-1815, index and images

Mexican-American War

• United States Mexican War Pension Index, 1887-1926, index & images
• United States Mexican War Index and Service Records, 1846-1848, index & images

US Civil War

• United States Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865,  index & links to images
• United States Civil War Service Records of Union Colored Troops, 1863-1865,  index & links to images
• United States Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1864-1866,  index & links to images
• United States Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865, index
• United States Civil War Unfiled Papers of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865,  index & links to images
• United States Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files, 1861-1934,  index & links to images
• United States Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917,  index & links to images
• United States Confederate Navy and Marine Service Records, 1861-1865, images
• United States Confederate Officers Card Index, 1861-1865, images
• United States Civil War Confederate Applications for Pardons, 1865-1867, index & links to images
• United States Civil War Confederate Papers of Citizens or Businesses, 1861-1865, index & links to images
• United States Civil War Records of Confederate Nonregiment Soldiers, 1861-1865,  index & links to images
• United States Records of Headstones of Deceased Union Veterans, 1879-1903, index and images
• United States Records of Confederate Prisoners of War, 1861-1865, images
• United States Register of Confederates and Civilians Who Died in the North,1861-1865, index and images

Indian Wars

• United States Index to Indian Wars Pension Files, 1892-1926, index & images

Spanish-American War

• United States Index to Service Records, War with Spain, 1898, index & images

World War I

• United States, YMCA World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919, index & images
• United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, index & images
• United States, World War I American Expeditionary Forces Deaths, 1917-1919, index

World War II

• United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, index
• United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, index & images
• United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 images
• United States World War II Prisoners of War of the Japanese, 1941-1945, index
• United States, World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1945, index

Korean War

• United States, American Prisoners of War During the Korean War, 1950-1953, index
• United States Casualties of Army Personnel, Dependents and Civilian Employees, 1961-1981, index
• United States Korean War Battle Deaths, 1950-1957, index
• United States Korean War Dead and Army Wounded, 1950-1953, index
• United States Korean War Repatriated Prisoners of War, 1950-1954, index

Vietnam War

• United States Casualties of the Vietnam War, 1956-1998, index
• United States Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, 1890, index and images
• United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, index and images
• United States Headstone Applications for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1949, index and images
• United States Index to General Correspondence of the Pension Office, 1889-1904, index and images
• United States Military Personnel who Died During the Vietnam War, 1956-2003, index

• United States Casualties of Army Personnel, Dependents and Civilian Employees, 1961-1981, index
• United States Casualties of the Vietnam War, 1956-1998, index

Veterans, Enlistments, Pensions

• Rhode Island Military Discharge Papers Index, 1944-1985, index
• United States National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938, index and images
• United States Naval Enlistment Rendezvous, 1855-1891, index and images
• United States Navy Widows’ Certificates, 1861-1910  index & links to images
• United States Old War Pension Index, 1815-1926, index and images
• United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914, index and images
• United States Remarried Widows Index to Pension Applications, 1887-1942, index and images
• United States Union Provost Marshal Files of Individual Civilians, 1861-1866, images
• United States Union Provost Marshal Files of Two or More Civilians, 1861-1866, images
• United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933, index & images
• United States, Burial Registers for Military Posts, Camps, and Stations,1768-1921, index and images
• United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940, index
• United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, index and images
• United States Mormon Battalion Pension Applications, 1846-1923, index & links to images
• United States Muster Rolls of the Marine Corps, 1798-1937, index and images

Rhode Island Modern Helps

Research

• Step-by-Step Rhode Island Research, 1880-Present