Some recommended local Rhode Island books
(some in ebook format):
Aunt Hat’s Diaries, by Harriet Spink Smith and Rachel E. Peirce
The diaries of Harriet Spink Smith (“Aunt Hat”) of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, start in 1854 and continue until 1919. Harriet was an uncommon woman, highly intelligent, compassionate, and an astute observer of the people and events around her. Entries in her diary and letters she retained cast light on inter-connected social movements that began before the Civil War: Water Cure, Reform Dress, Abolitionism, and Suffrage. Readers will encounter scores of ordinary people Harriet met, some of whom may well be ancestors.
Episodes in the diaries include a brief, unsuccessful first marriage, a second marriage to a notorious con man, the insanity of two beloved nephews, the shooting of one dear niece by a spurned admirer, and the very difficult life of another.
Colonial Kings Towne, Rhode Island, By George R. Loxton
This set of 11 volumes examines the records of Kingstowne (now North Kingstown, South Kingstown, Exeter, and Narragansett). Volumes 1 through 6 provide biographical sketches that include every reference to every person mentioned in the records prior to 1723 (vital records, town meeting, town council, probate, and land evidence) arranged alphabetically by surname. Volumes 7 and 8 present abstracts of town meeting, town council and probate records, with indices. Volumes 9 to 11 (to appear) will cover deeds. Damaged by fire in the 1800s, the records are here placed in proper page order, with much of the burned content restored using internal and
outside sources. Available in print in Hardcover/Paperback or in Ebook format.
Full list of all available available volumes and formats is available at Lulu.com at the following link:
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