Project 3: Ownership Contexts | Property Transfers, Inheritances

Information about the ownership history of a property is a critical starting point for documentary research and dating material culture on historical archaeological sites. Though we know the general sequence of the property’s ownership from lay histories, museum narratives, and websites, how precise is our information?

This project will search for and locate the records documenting land transfers and ownership of the John Brown House property, from the 17th century to the present. The project will involve a good bit of detective work! The goal is to locate and examine the property deeds for this parcel of land between Benefit, Power, Brown, and Charlesfield Streets, and to understand how and why ownership changed over time. This information will shed more light on reasons for why landscape transformations may have occurred over time, on the property’s changing monetary and social value over time, on the processes of inheritance, on the conditions of exchange, and on the individuals involved in these transactions.

The process of locating these land transfers requires accumulation of a bit of background information. Particularly, you will need to identify the names of individuals who owned (or may have owned) the property. Currently the Rhode Island Historical Society owns the land. You may consult with historical sources and/or the Rhode Island Historical Society (Dan Santos or the RIHS library) to get started. You may also start by locating the most recent property records at Providence City Hall – Recorder of Deeds and Land Evidences Office – Room 508 http://www.providenceri.com/deeds/. This is public information! Eventually, you will be able to locate many of the more recent documents at the Recorder of Deeds office. Their records may not extend very far back into the 18th century, so your search may take you to the RIHS library. For the 17th-century land ownership information, you won’t be able to find a deed, but you can obtain information about land owners from the Hopkins (1886) book on reserve in the Joukowsky Institute Library. The Hedges books include a genealogy of the Brown Family that may be useful for acquainting yourselves with the family members and possible property owners (also on reserve in Joukowsky Institute Library).

Ultimately, you will piece together a chronology of landowners, accompanied by official land transaction documents whenever possible (you may copy these at the library, and scan them at the Institute). Using the information you have gathered, write up a summary that addresses the following points (depending on documentation available you may be able to answer some of these questions more completely than others)

• What is the chronology of land ownership on the property of the John Brown House?

• How has the shape, size, and makeup of the landscape changed over time?

• How has the monetary value of the property changed over time?

• Who were the owners of the property? What were their roles in the social context of Rhode Island (i.e. their occupation, social status, household composition, etc)?

• How did the property transactions occur? What was the medium of exchange? (money, goods, inheritance? )

• Are there any disputes recorded in the land ownership transactions?