Canadiens

Clinton Colburn and Alberta Ripley, my great-grandparents, came from rural northern Nova Scotia, Canada —specifically, the little farming and timber town of River Philip. Settled in the 1770s, the town is still populated by its immigrant families. They were Methodists from Yorkshire, England, who acquired land grants to settle this “wild” area. The two 21-year-olds

Builder

My great grandfather Clinton Colburn built both of these houses in the Washington Park section of South Providence. He built the one on the right, and lived there while he built the other on the left—his eventual home for the rest of his life. He described himself as a carpenter when he was a young