Scott, Joseph. The United States Gazetteer Containing an Authentic Description of the Several States ; Their Situation, Extent, Boundaries, Soil, Produce, Climate, Population, Trade and Manufactures, Together with the Extent, Boundaries and Population of Their Respective Counties ... Illustrated with Nineteen Maps. Philadelphia: F. and R. Bailey, 1795. David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Well we are off to the East Coast of the United States to visit one of the early American settlements, South Kingston, Rhode Island. Here is a map of South Kingston:
Geological Survey (U.S.), David W. Hoyt, John W. Ellis, and Winslow Upton.Topographical Atlas of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Providence, R.I.: J.C. Thompson [distributor], 1891. David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
South Kingston, Rhode Island is where my Tanner family ancestors originally settled in America. South Kingston is located in Washington County and is the largest, by land area, of all the towns in Rhode Island. It was formed in 1722 when the former Kings Town was separated into two parts; North Kingston and South Kingston. In 1888 a narrow strip of land along the eastern bank of the Pettaquamscutt River to the shore of Narragansett Bay was separated from South Kingstown to form the town of Narragansett. See Wikipedia: South Kingston, Rhode Island.
My wife and I once spent an interesting afternoon in the blackberry brambles trying to find the grave marker for William Tanner (b. abt. 1660, d. aft. 1735). Here is a photo of his gravesite which is located off of the third tee of the Laurel Lane Country Club and is registered as #17 as a Rhode Island Historical Cemetery in the Town of South Kingston. 
Most of the markings on the grave markers have been eroded off because of the long time period involved. Since I have been doing research in this area for years, I thought I would share some of the places I have looked. This is a list of the books specifically used for William Tanner. If you want to see any of these, you can do a Google search on the name of the book or source or find it in WorldCat.org.
0
0
1
1607
9165
PhotoArizona360
76
21
10751
14.0
96
800x600
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
JA
X-NONE
1790 US Census; Image Source: Year: 1790; Census Place:
Hopkinton, Washington, Rhode Island; Roll: M637_10; Page: 44; Image: 0076.
Joshua Tanner
Alden G., Washington
County, Rhode Island, births 1770 to 1850 : comprising the towns of North
Kingstown, South Kingstown, Exeter, Westerly, Charlestown, Richmond,
Hopkinton vol. 5, Washington County, East Princeton, Mass. :
A.G. Beaman, 1976, c1976, 974.5 V2b v. 02, Mesa Regional Family
History Center.
Arnold, James N., Editor of the Narrangansett
Historical Register, Compiler, The Records of the Proprietors of
Narrangansett. Otherwise Called the Fones Record, Rhode Island Colonial
Gleanings, n.d. 974.5 R2 Mesa Regional Family History Center.
Arnold, James N.,
Index to civil and military list Providence?, R.I. : Narragansett
Historical Publishing? 191-?, 974.5 M22, Mesa Regional Family History
Center.
Arnold, James N.,
Vital record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850, first series, births, marriages and
deaths : a family register for the people, (6 vols.), "Published under
the auspices of the General Assembly." Providence, Rhode Island,
Narragansett Historical Publishing Company, 1894, 974.5 V2a Mesa Regional
Family History Center.
Austin, John
Osborne , 1849-1918. (Main Author) Moriarty, G. Andrews (George Andrews), 1883-1968.
(Added Author), The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island : comprising
three generations of settlers who came before 1690 (with many families carried
to the fourth generation (Albany, N.Y. : Joel Munsell's Sons, 1887. viii,
440 p. [With a new foreword by Albert T. Klyberg, librarian, The Rhode Island
Historical Society, and the additions and corrections, Baltimore, Maryland
Genealogical Publishing Inc., 1969] 974.5 D26a 1969 Mesa Regional Family History Center.
Austin, John Osborne, Ancestry of Thirty-Three
Rhode Islanders (Born in the Eighteenth Century) also Twenty-Seven Charts of
Roger Williams’ Descendants to the Fifth Generation, and an Account of Lewis
Latham, Falconer to King Charles I, with a Chart of His American Descendants to
the Fourth Generation and a List of 180 Existing Portraits of Rhode Island
Governors, Chief Justices, Senators etc. and of Certain Military Officers,
Divines, Physicians, Authors, Lawyers, Merchants, etc. (Albany, New York,
Joel Munsell’s Sons, 1889) 974.5 D2ajo Mesa Regional Family History Center.
Barnes, Robert and Catherine, Genealogies
of Rhode Island Families from Rhode Island Periodicals with the Gore Roll of
Arms and Other Records, 2 Vols., (Baltimore, Maryland, Genealogical
Publishing Co., Inc., 1983) LC #82-84324, Set #0-8063-1016-2, 974.5 D2g Mesa
Regional Family History Center.
Beaman, Alden G.,
North Kingstown, South Kingstown, Exeter and Richmond, Rhode Island
marriages from the probate records, 1692-1850, Princeton, Mass. :
[s.n.], c1975, 974.59 V2ba, Mesa Regional Family History Center.
Beaman, Alden G., Ph.D., Editor, Rhode
Island Genealogical Register, 20 Vols. 2nd Ed. Revised and
Enlarged, (East Princeton, Massachusetts 01517Alden G. Beaman, P.O. Box 585,
1986). 974.5 D2ri Mesa Regional Family History Center.
Chapin, Howard
Millar and Rhode Island Historical Society (Providence, Rhode Island) (Added
Author) Rhode Island in the colonial wars; a list of Rhode Island soldiers
& sailors in the old French & Indian war, 1755-1762, Providence,
Rhode Island, Printed for the Rhode Island Historical Society, 1918, 974.5
M2c Mesa Regional Family History Center.
Coldham, Peter
Wilson, Bonded Passengers to America. 9 vols. in 3. Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983. Vol. 6. Oxford Circuit, 1663-1775: Berkshire,
Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire,
Staffordshire, and Worcestershire. 95p. Page: 54, Ancestry.com.
Coldham, Peter
Wilson, The Complete Book of Emigrants: A Comprehensive Listing Compiled
from English Public Records of Those Who Took Ship to the Americas for
Political, Religious, and Economic Reasons; of Those Who Were Deported for
Vagrancy, Roguery, or Non-Conformity; and of Those Who Were Sold to Labour in
the New Colonies. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. 1661-1699. 1990.
894p, Ancestry.com.
Cole, J. R., History
of Washington and Kent Counties, Rhode Island including Their Early Settlement
and Progress to the Present time; A Description of Their Historic and
Interesting Localities; Sketches of Their Towns and Villages; Portraits of Some
of Their Prominent Men, and Biographies of Many of Their Representative
Citizens, New York, W.W. Preston Co., 1889 [Facsimile Reprint: Higginson
Book Company, 148 Washington Street, P.O. Box 778, Salem, Massachusetts 01970,
508-745-7170] Call No. 974.5 H2c Mesa Regional Family History Center. Call No.
974.5 H2c Mesa Regional Family History Center
Cowell, Benjamin, Spirit of ’76 in Rhode
Island, with Cowell’s “Spirit of ‘76” An Analytical and Explanatory Index, by
James N. Arnold, Baltimore, Maryland, Genealogical Publishing Inc., 1973
[Originally published as “Spirit of ’76 in Rhode Island, or, Sketches of the
Efforts of the Government and the People, in the War of the Revolution,
Together with the Names of Those who belonged to Rhode Island Regiments in the
Army, with Biographical Notices, Reminiscences Etc. Etc. by Benjamin
Cowell, Boston, Massachusetts, A. J. Wright, Printer, No. 3 Water Street, 1850]
974.5 M2cbe Mesa Regional Family History Center.
De Brouwer,
Elizabeth, Compiler, Under the Direction of George Shepherd Tanner, Sidney Tanner, His Ancestors and Descendants,
Pioneer Freighter of the West, 1809 – 1895, Sidney Tanner Family Organization, 4545 South 2760 East, Salt Lake
City, Utah 84117, 1982.
Dougine,
Genevieve N., Detailed Index to Rhode Island Land Evidences, Vol. 1 (1648 –
1696), Microfilm #22254 R Is G 6, (handwritten).
Farnham, Charles W. F.A.S.G., Rhode Island
Genealogy, typed manuscript, n.d. 15 pages: Call No. 974.5 D2 Mesa
Regional Family History Center
Gale Research. Passenger
and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s [database on-line]. Provo, UT,
USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2005. Original data: Filby, P. William, ed.. Passenger
and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale
Research, 2005.
Hazard, Caroline
, 1856-1945. The Narragansett Friends' Meeting in the XVIII century, with a
chapter on Quaker beginnings in Rhode Island Boston : Houghton,
Mifflin, 1899, c1899 (Cambridge, Mass. : Riverside) 974.5 K2hc, Mesa
Regional Family History Center.
McAleer, Althea
H., Beatrix Hoffius, and Deby Jecoy Nunes, Graveyards of North Kingstown,
Rhode Island, North Kingstown, R.I. : A.H. McAleer, 1992, c1992, 974.59/N2
V3m, Mesa Regional Family History Center.
National Geographic Society, National Geographic
Society, Map, Close-up U.S.A., New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., National Geographic Society, 1975.
Parker, J.
Carlyle, Rhode Island biographical and genealogical sketch index
1991 compiled by J. Carlyle Parker, California, Marietta Publishing
Co., 1991, 974.5 D32p Mesa Regional Family History Center
Pioneer Immigrants to Utah Territory, Electronic Database, Ancestry.com,
Downloaded information for John Tanner, John Joshua Tanner, Julia Ann Shepherd
Tanner, Martin Henry Tanner, Nancy Agnes Keys Tanner, Nathan Tanner, Rachel
Neyman Fulmer Tanner, Sidney Tanner, Sidney C. Tanner, Thomas Tanner, William
Stuart Tanner, 10 May 2006.
Representative
men & old families of Rhode Island, genealogical records and historical
sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the old
families Chicago, Illinois, J.H. Beers & Co., 1908, 974.5
D3r Mesa Regional Family History Center.
Rhode Island
Census, 1740-1890, Record; Name: Joshua Tanner; State:
RI; County: Washington County; Township: Hopkinton; Year: 1777; Page: 004;
Database: RI 1777 Military Census Index; Ancestry.com
Rhode Island Genealogical Society, Rhode
Island Roots, Vol. 13, No. 4, December, 1987 (Warwick, Rhode Island, Rhode
Island Genealogical Society, 1987) [P.O. Box 7618, Warwick, Rhode Island
02887-7618].
Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Descriptions, http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/cemetery/
Rhode Island State Library On-Line Catalog, http://www.library.state.ri.us
Rhode Island.
Secretary of State, Bartlett, John Russell , (Added Author) Census of
the inhabitants of the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 1774,
(Reprint of 1858 edition, arranged by John R. Bartlett) Lambertville, N.J. :
Hunterdon House, c1984, 974.5 X2pb 1774, Mesa Regional Family History
Center.
Sons of the American Revolution, Manual of
the Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1900 – 1910
Inclusive, Providence, Rhode Island, Published by The Sons of the American
Revolution, E.A. Johnson & Company, 1911: Call No. 974.5 C4sm Mesa Regional
Family History Center.
Sons of Utah Pioneers Memorial Gallery Index Cards, Electronic
Database, Ancestry.com, Downloaded John Tanner, Elizabeth Beswick, Nathan
Tanner Sr., Nathan Tanner, Jr., Rachel Neyman Tanner, William Smith Tanner, 10
May 2006.
Sperry, Kip, Rhode Island Sources for
Family Historians and Genealogists, (Logan, Utah, Everton Publishers, Inc.
1986). 974.5 D23s Mesa Regional Family History Center.
Tanner, Elias,
Reverend, The Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas Tanner, Sr. of
Cornwall, Connecticut, with Brief Notes of Several Allied Families, also Short
Sketches of Several Towns of their Early Residence. Lansing, Michigan,
Darius D. Thorp, Printer and Binder, 1893.
Tanner, George C., Reverend, William
Tanner of South Kingston and his Descendants, Faribault, Minnesota (Self
Published, 1910).
Tanner, George C., Reverend, William
Tanner of South Kingston and his Descendants, Faribault, Minnesota (Self
Published, 1905).
Tanner, George
Shepherd, John Tanner and his
Family, Salt Lake City, Utah;
The John Tanner Family Association; 1974.
Tanner, Maurice, Descendants of John Tanner, Born August 15,
1778, at Hopkintown, R. I. Died April 15, 1850 at South Cottonwood, Salt Lake
County, Utah, The Tanner
Family Association, 1942.
U.S. and
International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Electronic Database,
Ancestry.com, Record; Name: Joshua Tanner; Gender:
male; Birth Year: 1757; Spouse Name: Thankful Tefft; Spouse Birth Year: 1757;
Marriage Year: 1775; Number Pages: 1, 10 May 2006.
United States Constitution Sesquicentennial
Commission, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the time of the
ratification of the Constitution from 1777 and 1795 Originals in the Library of
Congress at Washington, [reprinted, 1936 by U.S. Geological Survey,
Original Engraved and Printed for Wm Feden, Charing Cross, July 22, 1777], 974.5
E7r, Mesa Regional Family History Center.
Here are some other useful bibliographic references and suggested websites for South Kingston:
FamilySearch.org FamilySearch Catalog for South Kingston, Washington, Rhode Island
FamilySearch.org Research Wiki for Washington County, Rhode Island
Washington County, Rhode Island USGenWeb Project
Rhode Island USGenWeb Project Archives, Washington County
The number of sources for information about New England states and counties can be overwhelming. There is really no end to the records.