Records of the Island of Rhode Island (C#00206)

The Records of the Island of Rhode Island consists of one bound volume of records of the colony of Rhode Island dating from 1638 to 1644. It includes the proceedings of the General Assembly, the General Court of Election, and the General Court. The records specifically document the establishment of the Pocasett settlement on the island of Aquidneck (called Rhode Island) and its division into the settlements of Portsmouth and Newport. Specific documents in the volume include the Aquidneck Compact (1638) of the founders of Portsmouth, R.I. (1638); the Pocasset agreement (1639) which established Newport as a separate settlement; agreements between William Coddington and other colonists and Indian Sachem Miantonomo; and receipts from Miantonomo and Weshagansett. The minutes of the General Assembly include legislation, court proceedings, land allotments, and lists of freemen present at the assembly.