Make a Connection

The BVHS receives many inquiries about genealogy, family stories and how to contact others about these subjects.  The Society wants to act as a facilitator for people to connect with one another. Post here to ask questions,  share a story or a photo.  Who knows? You may uncover something special!

13 thoughts on “Make a Connection”

  1. I am looking for information on my great-grandfather’s side of the family. His family name in Gregson. I have found his mother’s death certificate on ancestry.com stating that she was burried in the Blackstone Cemetery which is located on Mendaon St, Blackstone, Mass.We went to try to locate her stone and were unable to locate it. Are there any cemetery records that could be checked out to find her? Her husband James is listed as being burried at the Union Cemetery in North Smithfield. I haven’t check the whole cemetery as yet. My great-grandparents are burried there.

    1. You may wish to contact the American French Genealogical Society
      in Woonsocket. They may have access to the RI Cemetery Collection … and they
      might be able to help with those just over the line in Blackstone. A search on Find-A-Grave found only a Anne Gregson LeBlanc in St. Charles Cemetery in the Blacksone Valley area. There are also a ton of Gregsons in the Union Cemetery which was also found on Find-A-Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/

  2. I am looking for information about Ralph Capron, the manager of the Albion baseball team in 1915-1916. I am particularly interested in his origins and how he came to be chosen as the team’s manager by the Albion Baseball Association.

    1. We have a RI baseball historian, Rick Harris, giving a talk tomorrow (Oct 6) at North Gate. If you can make it, maybe he will have some suggestions.

      1. Thank you, Lori. I was aware of Rick Harris’ presentation, but since I live in Maryland, it was not possible to be there. I have purchased Harris’ book on Rhode Island baseball, but local teams are not specifically covered.

        1. I have since discovered through perusing the archives of the Pawtucket Times and piecing together the news found there that Ralph Capron was in fact actually Ralph Cipriano, a resident of Albion who worked as a barber in Providence. The Times referred to him as Ralph Capron for at least five years without correction by Mr. Cipriano. His wife, Lilian, was also referred to as Mrs. Capron. I have no clue as to why the Capron surname was used.

  3. Looking for old maps of Saylesville, trying to determine when my house was moved to current location on Chapel St. from original location on Walker St.

    1. Rob, You should perhaps contact Danny Bethel who has quite a collection of Saylesville Ephemera. He’s also on Facebook and posts on the ‘You Know Your’re from Lincoln if..’ group frequently.

  4. I am looking for information about the Thomas Lapham house on Old River Road, in the Kirkbrae complex. I understand that the year 1748 has been associated with the building of this house, but has there to your knowledge ever been any historical or archaeological survey of the house to verify a build date or to describe construction details and the like?

  5. Mr. Klyberg checked his library and found a listing on a map showing the Lapham farm. It was just north of Mussey Brook, closer to Manville than Albion. I am summarizing his message:

    Beginning in the 1970s the Preservation Commission began issuing published town reports, inventories really, of historic structures throughout RI. The Lincoln report, which is one of the best, appeared in 1982. But the Lapham house is not in the printed version. Behind each report, though are hundreds of survey sheets detailing old buildings; not all of them were included in the published reports.

    You can check with the RI Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission (www.preservationri.gov) at the Old State House in Providence (150 Benefit Street).

    There are also the land deeds in Central Falls City Hall. The clerk’s office has the old land records of the Town of Smithfield, going back to 1731, when Smithfield was split off from Providence. In 1871, when old Smithfield was split into Lincoln, N.Smithfield, and Smithfield, the old records were kept in the Central Falls district of Lincoln, which was where town meetings for Lincoln were held because it was the most populous part of the town. In 1893, Lincoln and Central Falls parted company and the old records which embrace all of the old town of Smithfield were kept at Central Falls where they reside today.

    1. Thank you. I will check with the Preservation Commission. Would it be possible to ask Mr. Klyberg where he specifically found the map that he refers to, or if possible to scan a copy of the map for me? I suspect that the Manville property was that of Augustus Lapham, which may or may not have been part of his father Thomas Lapham’s original homestead. Thomas and his brothers received land from their father, who lived in Dartmouth, MA, around 1733 according to the land records in Central Falls. I suspect that Thomas may have received land from his father earlier, maybe around 1729, before Smithfield was incorporated.

  6. There is a beautiful old farm house inside the woods behind Mussey Brook Road and before you get to Northern Elementary School. The people who built the now condo’s on New River Road live their now.

  7. This site is fascinating. My ancestor was Maturin Ballou listed in the “Ballou Book” as in RI in 1652. I don’t have it at hand now, but my branch of the Ballou family since 1888 included the two sons of Captain Daniel (Wordsworth??) Ballou, whose second wife was Sierra Ella Meek. They are my great-grand-parents who were married in Yolo City, CA. They had two sons, Delcar and Percy. Delcar had two sons, John (Jean) and Gerald Ballou. Gerald was my father. He had 3 daughters, of whom I am the youngest, so his line ended with me. I don’t have any knowledge of Percy’s ancestors, but would love to find out more about them. One of his ancestors (not named Ballou) I found on the internet once, apparently had a photograph of Sierra Ella (Meek) Ballou, my grandmother, but I was never able to track it down. I would really LOVE to see what she looked like! Anyway, thank you so much for all the work you do for u!

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