Rhode Island "District of Highway"
Can someone explain to me what a "district of highway" is? I see it throughout town records of lat 1700s and early 1800s for Johnston, Rhode Island, where they assign a "district of highway" to someone every year, and then list "his men and their taxes". I've tried googling it, but maybe I don't know the right words to use, because I can't find anything on it.
TIA
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If I had to guess I would say that it is some kind of community responsibility involving taxation. It does not look that it would be pertainent to our research for ancestors except as an indicator that those people existed at that location.
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"District of Highway" was simply an area designated to be assigned to the residents living in it to maintain the roads. Minutes of town council meetings could disclose descriptions of the district and who lived there. Thus, you could map out your ancestors and their neighbors.
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