Talk:James Ralph

I am working on fleshing out James Ralph's entry on WikiTree at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ralph-207.

I'm finding some conflict on who his American wife was. The best sources that I'm finding are identifying her as Rebecca Ogden, but Wikipedia states "the first solid fact about Ralph is his marriage to Mary Ogden in 1724 in Elizabethtown" with no source given.

I'm going to proceed with documenting what I learn on WikiTree, but unless a source can be provided for this information, I think this can't be reported as a solid fact on Wikipedia.

There is also significant evidence that he was not born in the Colonies at all and actually arrived from England as an apprentice when he was about 13 or 14.

Please see the above Wikitree link for my research-in-progress.

Trinsics (talk) 22:34, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

As I continue to work on this, here's where I now stand:

I would really like to integrate the research documented in to Wikipedia. However, my gut tells me that his wife was not Rebecca as referenced there and elsewhere, but indeed was Mary (Hannah) Ogden, born on 22 Aug 1702 in Middleton Pennsylvania. The problem is that I can't find any documentation to back up my gut. Wikipedia currently has this sourceless claim that backs up my gut.

I don't feel that I can add the Shipley reference to wikipedia without either having documentation to counter the Rebecca claim or changing the "solid fact" that is currently here.

If we had a source for the marriage to Mary Ogden, this would not be a problem.

Thankfully, Wikipedia is already using the 1705 birth year at least.

Trinsics (talk) 15:48, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

It took me five years, but I decided to dive in and improve this article myself. It remains a bit of a work in progress, but it's come a long way in the past few weeks. Trinsics (talk) 17:54, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

We should use the closest description of where someone was born

If someone was born in the Thirteen Colonies, we should say this explicitly in the article. We need to be precise and accurate when describing where someone was born.John Pack Lambert (talk) 18:04, 9 August 2024 (UTC)

I've now considerably rewritten the article, so I think this comment is moot. I am continuing to work on improving the article, so any feedback would be appreciated! Trinsics (talk) 17:53, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

Ralph's place of birth

The article as recently revised makes the assertion that "James Ralph was born in London around 1705." This statement needs to be qualified. Presumably, it is based on the Shipley 1964 article cited after the sentence following, but all that article does is present circumstantial evidence that Ralph was a native Englishman and born in London, rather than direct, indisputable evidence. The majority of sources continue to assert that Ralph was born in Pennsylvania.

I think the statement should be revised to reflect this ambiguity. Perhaps something like, "James Ralph's place of birth is unknown. Historians have traditionally asserted that he was born in Pennsylvania, although more recent scholarship suggests he was born in London in 1705." Jrt989 (talk) 21:11, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

Thanks. Suggestion taken. I actually suspect he was born slightly before 1705, but I find the argument for London pretty convincing. Trinsics (talk) 17:49, 17 August 2025 (UTC)