Overview of the Collection
St. Stephen's Church (Providence, R.I.)
St. Stephen's Church, Providence
1833-1988
33 box(es) (24 linear feet)
The records described here document the administrative, fiscal and religious activities of St. Stephen's Church. Though the Church was chartered in 1839, the large majority of the records are from the twentieth century. The financial records of the parish are the most comprehensive, while administrative and religious activities are less completely documented.
University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections
15 Lippitt Road Kingston, RI 02881-2011 Tel: 401-874-4632 email: archives@etal.uri.edu
Mss. Gr. 98
The records are in English.
Preferred Citation
St. Stephen's Church, Providence, Mss. Gr. 98, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.
Scope and Content NoteThe records of St. Stephen's Church documents the administrative activities of the parish and includes minutes of the parish's annual meetings, minutes of vestry and Parish Corporation meetings, a parish guest book, correspondence, bound copies of the Sunday Bulletin of the parish entitled
The Kalendar, a typed chronology of significant events in parish history and a published history of the parish entitled St. Stephen's Church in Providence, 1839-1964.
Additional materials are bound volumes in which are recorded the details of religious services as well as listings of communicants, marriages, baptisms, confirmations, and burials held in the parish. The information recorded includes the date, the type of service, the place of service, the number of people in attendance, the name of the officiating priest and celebrant.
The bulk of the records detail the financial activities of the parish and includes balance sheets, check registers, cash receipts and disbursement ledgers, general ledgers, payroll ledgers, pledges and offering ledgers, treasurer's reports and treasurers' monthly statements. Further financial records include pew rental ledgers, and deeds to pews both in bound volumes and in loose pages.
The final grouping of documents consists of bound volumes of the parish's monthly newsletter entitled
St. Stephen.
Arrangement
After processing, the records were organized into five series as follows:
- 1. Subject Files, 1833-1988
- 2. Registers of Church Services, 1837-1983
- 3. Pew Records, 1840-1915
- 4. Financial Records, 1864-1984
- 5. St. Stephen,1885-1960
Open for research.
Acquisitions Information The records of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Providence were deposited in the Special Collections Department of the University Library in 1989 by the priest-in-charge, the Rev.
S. W. Martin.
Custodial HistoryHoused in the parish office prior to their transfer, the records are in generally good physical condition. In 2003 the parish deposited an additional 2 linear feet of records consisting of 8 bound registers of communicants, marriages, baptisms, confirmations, and burials in Special Collections. These were added to Series II. The records contained in this collection represent the inactive records of the parish. The most recent active records are still housed in the parish offices.
Processing InformationThe records were processed in 1991.
Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.
See Mss. Gr. 41, Records of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, 1715-1990, and Mss. Gr. 41.1, Records of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, 1810-2003, for additional related materials regarding St. Stephen's Church.
There are no known separate materials.
Names
St. Stephen's Church (Providence, R.I.)
Subjects
St. Stephen's Church (Providence, R.I.) -- Records and correspondence
St. Stephen's Church (Providence, R.I.) -- History -- Sources
St. Stephen's Church (Providence, R.I.) --- Registers
Episcopal Church -- Rhode Island -- History -- Sources
Providence (R.I.) -- Church history|Sources
RIAMCO Browsing Terms
Religion
Inventory
Series 1
Subject Files
1833-1988
4 box(es) (3 linear feet)
church bulletins
histories
letters (correspondence)
minutes
manuscripts
visitors' books
The records in this series document the administrative and religious activities of St. Stephen's Church in
Providence, Rhode Island. Topics include the annual meetings of the parish, the
Parish Corporation, the vestry, fundraising, the history of the parish, renovation of the Parish House, the
Ladies Sewing Circle, and the
Women's League.
Types of records represented include minutes of meetings of the vestry, and the Parish Corporation, bound volumes of the minutes of parish annual meetings; the parish guest book; typed "historic notes" of the parish; contracts and plans for renovation of the Parish House; bound volumes of
The Kalendar, the Sunday Bulletin of the parish; correspondence; and a history of the parish published on the occasion of its one hundred twenty-fifth anniversary and entitled St. Stephen's Church in Providence, 1839-1964.
ArrangementThe records in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of record and chronologically within folders.
1
1
1969, 1971-1972
Annual Meetings, Minutes of
1
2
1939
Centenary Luncheon Program
1
3
1896 Apr 6, 1940 Nov 14
Corporation and Vestry Meetings, Minutes of. See also: Vestry Meetings, Minutes of
1
4
1954
Fundraising Brochure
1
5
1984-1988
Guest Book
1
6
1932?
Historical Notes (Typed mss.)
2
6a
1932-1956
The Kalendar
3
6b
1957-1979
The Kalendar
4
7
1838-1844
Ladies Sewing Circle: Accounts
4
8
1868
Ordination Service
4
9
1955
Parish House Renovations: Contract and Plans
4
10
undated
Photograph: St. Stephen's
4
11
1839?
Report of the Rector to the Convention
4
12
1964
Saint Stephen's Church in Providence, the History of a New England Tractarian Parish 1839-1964, by Norman Joseph Catir, Jr. 1964.
4
13
1833?
Subscriptions for the Erection of St. Steven's
4
14
1967-1974, undated
Vestry: Miscellaneous
4
15
1956-1962
Women's League of St. Stephen's: Meetings
4
16
1963-1971
Women's League of St. Stephen's: Meetings
Series 2
Registers of Church Services
1837-1983
4 box(es) plus 5 oversized boxes (2 linear feet)
baptismal registers
burial registers
confirmations
marriage registers
This series consists of bound volumes in which are recorded the details of religious services as well as listings of communicants, marriages, baptisms, confirmations, and burials held in the parish. The information recorded includes the date, the type of service, the place of service, the number of people in attendance, the name of the officiating priest and celebrant.
ArrangementThe registers are arranged chronologically.
5
1
1924 Sep 7-1949 Dec 9
Register of Church Services
5
2
1949 Dec 10-1953 Jul 24
Register of Church Services
5
3
1953 Aug 8-1957 May 23
Register of Church Services
6
4
1957 May 24-1961 Dec 13
Register of Church Services
6
5
1961 Dec 14-1962 Nov 2
Register of Church Services
6
6
1962 Nov 3-1964 Apr 6
Register of Church Services
6
7
1964 Apr 7-1965 Nov 5
Register of Church Services
6
8
1965 Nov 6-1967 Mar 8
Register of Church Services
7
9
1967 Mar 8-1968 Aug 28
Register of Church Services
7
10
1968 Aug 28-1970 Mar 4
Register of Church Services
7
11
1970 Mar 5-1972 Oct 29
Register of Church Services
7
12
1972 Oct 30-1973 Nov 8
Register of Church Services
8
13
1973 Nov 9-1975 Oct 29
Register of Church Services
8
14
1975 Oct 30-1977 Jul 10
Register of Church Services
8
15
1977 Jul 10-1979 Mar 14
Register of Church Services
8
16
1979 Mar 15-1981 Feb 4
Register of Church Services
8
17
1837-1872
Register of Communicants, Marriages, Baptisms, Confirmations, Burials (in oversize 1)
8
18
1874-1893
Register of Communicants, Marriages, Baptisms, Confirmations, Burials (in oversize 1)
8
19
1893-1905
Register of Communicants, Marriages, Baptisms, Confirmations, Burials (in oversize 2)
8
20
1905-1922
Register of Communicants, Marriages, Baptisms, Confirmations, Burials (in oversize 3)
8
21
1922-1931
Register of Communicants, Marriages, Baptisms, Confirmations, Burials (in oversize 4)
8
22
1931-1947
Register of Communicants, Marriages, Baptisms, Confirmations, Burials (in oversize 4)
8
23
1947-1962
Register of Communicants, Marriages, Baptisms, Confirmations, Burials (in oversize 5)
8
24
1962-1983
Register of Communicants, Marriages, Baptisms, Confirmations, Burials (in oversize 5)
Series 3
Pew Records
1840-1915
2 box(es) (1 linear feet)
deed registers
The records in this series document the rental and transfer of pews in St. Stephen's Church. Included are bound volumes of deeds to pews, unbound copies of deeds, and pew rental and tax ledgers.
Until well into the twentieth century, the Episcopal churches in Rhode Island continued the practice of assigning specific pews in the church to families or individuals who paid a one time fee plus additional rental fees or taxes for the privilege of having a pew assigned to them. The individual or family received a deed to the pew and could will it or assign it to an heir or another parishioner as long as the rental fee or tax payments were current.
ArrangementThe records in this series are arranged alphabetically by type of record and chronologically within folders.
9
1
1840-1862 scattered
Deed Book
9
2
1862-1915 scattered
Deed Book
9
3
1840-1863 scattered
Deeds
9
4
1867-1898 scattered
Deeds
10
5
1844-1856
Rent Ledger
10
6
1856-1862
Rent Ledger
10
7
1862-1866
Rent Ledger
10
8
1864-1900
Rent and Taxes Ledger. See: Oversize
10
9
1900-1908
Rent and Taxes Ledger. See: Oversize
Series 4
Financial records
1864-1984
8 box(es) plus 7 oversized boxes (7 linear feet)
annual reports
ledgers (account books)
The records contained in this series document the financial activities of St. Stephen's Church. Included are trial balance sheets, check registers, cash receipts and disbursement ledgers, general ledgers, payroll ledgers, pledges and offerings ledgers, and the monthly and annual reports of the treasurer.
ArrangementThe records in this series are arranged alphabetically by type of record and chronologically within folders.
11
1
1968, 1972-1976
Balance Sheets
11
2
1977-1980
Balance Sheets
11
3
1864 Apr 30-1889 Jan 21
Cash Book (In oversize 6)
11
4
1889 Jan 21-1902 Aug 1
Cash Book (In oversize 6)
11
5
1902 Aug 1-1908 Apr 20
Cash Book (In oversize 6)
11
6
1908 Apr 21-1915 Apr 5
Cash Book
11
7
1967
Cash Receipts and Disbursements
11
8
1968
Cash Receipts and Disbursements
11
9
1972
Cash Receipts and Disbursements
11
10
1973
Cash Receipts and Disbursements
12
11
1974
Cash Receipts and Disbursements
12
12
1975
Cash Receipts and Disbursements
12
13
1976
Cash Receipts and Disbursements
13
14
1977
Cash Receipts and Disbursements
13
15
1978 Jan-1978 June
Cash Receipts and Disbursements
13
16
1978 Jul-1978 Dec
Cash Disbursements
13
17
1978
Cash Receipts
13
18
1979 Jan-1979 Jun
Cash Disbursements
13
19
1979 Jul-1979 Dec
Cash Disbursements
13
20
1979
Cash Receipts
14
21
1907 Feb 11-1907 Aug 6
Check Register
14
22
1908 Aug 17-1908 Jan 3
Check Register
14
23
1978 Nov 20, 1979 Jun 22
Check Register
14
24
1979 Jun 22, 1980 Feb 22
Check Register
14
25
1980 Feb 22-1980 Oct 31
Check Register
15
26
1980 Oct 31, 1981 Jun 5
Check Register
15
27
1981 Jun 10-1981 Oct 30
Check Register
15
28
1972-1973
General Ledger
15
29
1974-1976
General Ledger
15
30
1977-1978
General Ledger
15
31
1978-1980
General Ledger
16
32
1957-1962, 1972-1975, 1978
Journal Entries
16
33
1973-1974
Payroll Book
16
34
1975-1976
Payroll Book
16
35
1977-1978
Payroll Book
16
36
1979-1980
Payroll Book
16
37
1981-1982
Payroll Book
16
38
1983-1984
Payroll Book
17
39
1953, 1958
Pledges and Offerings
17
40
1959-1960
Pledges and Offerings
17
41
1961-1963
Pledges and Offerings
17
42
1964-1965
Pledges and Offerings
17
43
1900-1915
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 7)
17
44
1915-1921
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 7)
17
45
1931
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 8)
17
46
1932-1933
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 8)
17
47
1934-1935
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 8)
17
48
1936-1937
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 8)
17
49
1938-1939
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 9)
17
50
1940-1941
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 9)
17
51
1942-1943
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 9)
17
52
1944-1945
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 9)
17
53
1946-1947
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 10)
17
54
1948-1949
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 10)
17
55
1950-1952
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 10)
17
56
1953-1954
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 10)
17
57
1955
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 11)
17
58
1956-1957
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 11)
17
59
1958-1959
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 11)
17
60
1960-1961
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 11)
17
61
1962-1964
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 12)
17
62
1965-1966
Pledges and Offerings Ledger. (In oversize 12)
18
63
1959-1963
Treasurer's Reports: Monthly Statements
18
64
1964-1967
Treasurer's Reports: Monthly Statements
18
65
1968-1969
Treasurer's Reports: Monthly Statements
18
66
1970
Treasurer's Reports: Monthly Statements
18
67
1971
Treasurer's Reports: Monthly Statements
18
68
1972
Treasurer's Reports: Monthly Statements
18
69
1973
Treasurer's Reports: Monthly Statements
Series 5
St. Stephen
1885-1960
3 box(es) (3 linear feet)
newsletters
This series contains bound volumes of
St. Stephen, the parish's monthly newsletter.
ArrangementThe issues of the newsletter are arranged chronologically.
19
1885-1910
St. Stephen
20
1911-1940
St. Stephen
21
1940-1960
St. Stephen