Mary, a mother of three, grandmother of eight, great-gandmother of six, Treasurer of the Kent Hospital Auxiliary, member of Kent County Auxiliary Board, spent two years researching the where-abouts of families who once lived in what she calls "lower Riverpoint."
Her "project" started with an invitation to a luncheon with nineteen women from the "Village," many of whom had not seen one another in years. As the woman reminisced, happy memories from her childhood, as well as curiosity as to what happened to her former neighbors, inspired Mary to take this opportunity to present the group with a questionnaire soliciting information on the families who once lived, and some who still live, in the mill houses numbered from 206 to 322 Providence Street.
The cooperation of the group brought an avalanche of paper which provided not only the family histories going back five and six generations, but also memories. People recalled the fun times at "Wacky Beach", the play times, the walks to school, the backyard gardens, and the customs that were unique to the close-knit community that was populated by immigrants from Italy (mainly Fornelli), and Toulon, France, and Canada. Most of the families derived their income from employment at the Royal Mill or Bradford Soap Works. They worked long hours and wages were low but from the Old Country, they brought a willingness to work, an innate common sense, strong religious beliefs, and a determination to succeed.
On June 6, 2004, another reunion was held - this time at the West Valley Inn. The book was finished. Three hundred and five people came to share the memories of the past. Mary told them that the time she spent writing the book was truly a lobor of love, a gift of herself to a "Village that once was."
Copies of "From the Village" are available from Mary, 96 Pilgrim Ave., Coventry, RI 02816 or from the Society. Price is $20.
Taken from the Pawtuxet Valley Historian, Volume 18, Issue 4
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