Grant family home in Central Falls, Rhode Island

Around 15 years ago, I asked my father, Warren W. Grant, to drive us past what had been his family's home in Central Falls, Providence County, Rhode Island. My father had never lived in the home since his father, Ralph W. Grant and his mother, Florence Hazel (Hazel) Skinner, moved from Central Falls to New Jersey around 1920.


54 Jenks Avenue, Central Falls, Rhode Island



The lot this house was built on was purchased for $100 by Lydia B. [Leach] Grant (Ralph's grandmother and my g-g grandmother) from Jas. H and Jonathon Chase on 4 April 1891. Lydia 's husband, Joseph Goff Grant had died around 18 months earlier.


Deed for sale of lot from Jas. H and Jonathon Chase to Lydia B. Grant, 4th April 1891.
Recorded in Book 67, page 61 of the Record of Deeds in the Town of Lincoln, RI

Presumably, the house was built soon after the lot was purchased and Lydia moved into the new house with her son William Sprague, and daughter Mary Elizabeth by 1892 when William appears at that address in a Pawtucket and Central Falls City Directory. Lydia died there on 9 June 1900, on the day that the census enumerator visited the property. Living there at that time were her son William Sprague Grant with his family, as well as William's un-married sister, Mary Elizabeth Grant.

My great-aunt, Marion Grant Wood (Ralph's sister) was the last Grant to live in the house. The house was sold around 1940 when Aunt Marion moved with her husband, George Henry Wood, Jr, to East Greenwich, Rhode Island. I remember Aunt Marion telling me it took a long time to clean out the house and the "burn barrel in the back yard was going for days." Luckily, she saved family heirlooms and family records - it was the family stories I heard on our visits to her when I was a child that piqued my interest in family history when I became an adult. What I would give to just have 10 minutes with her now to confirm some family lore!

Fifty nine years ago yesterday

October 11th was my parents' wedding anniversary. Warren Westcott Grant and Dorothy Minna Veith got married at the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Harwichport, Massachusetts on 11 October 1952. Their best man and matron of honor were Matt and Fran Zuck. My father knew Matt from growing up in Clifton, NJ and Mom got to know them both during the years she and Dad dated.

Warren and Dorothy Grant
11 October 1952

 My mom did not wear a traditional wedding dress. She said that she wanted a dress she could wear again.

Mom's parents - Harold and Minna Veith
 and Warren and Dorothy Grant

The wedding reception was held at the Eastward Ho! Inn in Orleans, MA.It poured with rain during the whole event.

At the Reception

After the reception, my parents went on a short honeymoon to Rockport, MA. My dad had a MG at the time and this is the vehicle they used for the trip.

Dad's MG at Rockport MA

My cousin-bait worked!

I don't remember whose blog I was reading when I first came across the term "cousin bait". It was mentioned that blogging about our family history is a good way to "troll" for unknown relatives. The hope was that someday someone googling a family name would come across a blog post that had mentioned the mutual ancestor and contact could be made between previously unknown relatives. I remember smiling at the term and thinking it was a great idea. I didn't seriously expect it to work for me though!

Last week, I got a comment on one of the blog posts I had made last summer in which I mentioned I was traveling back east to meet previously unknown descendants of my immigrant ancestor, Joseph Zeiler, my great-great grandfather. This poster is a previously unknown 2nd cousin (once removed)! Her family descends from my great-grandmother's brother, Theodore A. Zeiler and his 2nd wife, Carrie E. Belknap.

Elmdale Cemetery
Jefferson Township, PA

Theodore A. Zeiler
1885 - 1936

Grace E. [Brown] his wife
1873 - 1903

Carrie E. [Belknap] his wife
1871-1922






 My great-grandmother was Theodore's younger sister, Hannah Zeiler. This new cousin and I have been busily exchanging emails back and forth and comparing family information. We are both hoping that with our new connections we can find previously unseen photos for some of our ancestors. She is hoping to see a photo of her grandfather, Theodore, and I am hoping to find a photo of my great-grandparents, Joseph Zeiler and Margaret Mack.

My Dad and his WW2 Air Force buddies

My father, Warren Westcott Grant, served 2 years with the Army Air Force during World War II as detailed here. I've recently been going through some old boxes and scanning all his old photos and came across these. I assume they were taken in 1945 when my dad was stationed at the Army Air Force base in Amarillo, Texas for his flight training.

Warren W. Grant

Warren Grant, Ray Garrett, Goode, and Gus

Ray Garrett (on left) and Gus

Goode, Garrett, Gus and Paul

Goode, Warren Grant, Gus and Ray Garrett

Ray Garrett became a good friend of my dad and they maintained a friendship after the war. Ray's Aunt Bea Garrett became a friend of our family too and often stayed with us when she was visiting from Florida. Ray married Lydia  (I remember  Christmas cards signed "Ray and Lydia Garrett") but I don't know anything more about them.
As of now, I do not have full names for Goode, Gus, or Paul. I think because of my father's month-long emergency leave during his flight training, he was in two different units at Amarillo. The first was "Group R, Sqdn 251" and the 2nd was "Sqdn W 3701st AAFBU Amarillo". This second designation was on his discharge papers, the first came from his personal address book.

Ralph Grant - Captain 1913 RISD football team

Susan Clark over at the blog Nolichucky Roots published a picture of her football-playing great-uncle today. It reminded me of this photo of my grandfather, Ralph Westcott Grant.

GRANT
Captain and Centre of School of Design Team

There is a date on this newspaper photo of Tuesday, October 21, 1913. The name of the paper was not included but it was probably The Pawtucket Times, published in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. My grandfather received an drafting degree from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) around 1915 but until I came across this newspaper photo, I had no idea that he played sports as a young man.

Tombstone Tuesday - Nathaniel Freeman

My 5th great grandfather is Nathaniel Freeman. He was born in 1740 in Norton, Bristol County, Massachusetts and died there July 27, 1793 at the age of 53. I was recently able to get a good (or better than my last!) photograph of this hard to read, lichen-covered tombstone.

Nathanial Freeman Tombstone
Norton Common Cemetery, Norton, Massachusetts

In memory of
En[.]ign    [Ensign]
Nathaniel Freeman
who died July 27th
[...]3, in the 53rd
Year of his Age.



Nathaniel is buried in the Freeman plot at Norton Common Cemetery in Norton, Massachusetts alongside his wife, Bethiah Hodges, and other relatives.

Acadia Mines Family

One of my father's cousins has a photo album that belonged to our Betts ancestors who immigrated to Rhode Island in 1884 from Acadia Mines (now Londonderry), Colchester County, Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, most of the portraits in this album are unidentified although most of the photographer's imprints are from Nova Scotia. One of these is the following group photograph.

unknown group
Acadia Mines, Nova Scotia

On the back of the photograph is the following stamp:

James O'Connell
Photographer
Acadia Mines, N.S.

I need to research when James O'Connell was active in Acadia Mines to more accurately date this early 20th century photo. It appears to show what is probably a family group in front of a small store. Are these Betts or Fulton or Wilson ancestors? Are there city directories from this area? Or can I determine store-keepers from the 1901 Canadian census? Would the Colchester Historical Society have listings of small shop-keepers for this period?  I will publish an update if I can find out any information about this photograph.