As far as he knows, Ralph Staples is the only person alive to have been born on Onset Island.

“People are amazed that someone was born on the island,” said Staples, 81, who was one of two twins born prematurely while mother Grace Robinson Staples was vacationing at her family’s cottage there on July 14, 1933.

Unfortunately, Ralph’s twin brother Russell died after only five days, leaving Ralph as the only known native of the island.

On Monday, Staples visited Onset Island with his close friend Ian Johnstone, both of whom live in Canton. It was Staples’ first time on the island in about five years. Though he doesn’t currently know anyone on the island, many of those present were happy to have him there and were nice enough to take the duo in for a bit and show them around.

“I think it’s great,” said Trisha Lapanna, whose family owns two cottages on the island.  Lapanna happened to be nearby when Staples and Johnstone arrived via the Wareham Harbormaster’s water taxi, and she brought them back to her house for coffeecake and lemonade.  “I didn’t know there was a native Onset islander.”

She also secured one of the island’s only vehicles (a golf cart to be used only for special occasions) to show the duo a bit more of the island than they could access on foot.

"He wanted to come home," said Johnstone, who was on the island for the first time. "I'm so glad to come over and see his birthplace."

The island, adorned with about 50 cottages, lies in Onset Bay near the western end of the Cape Cod Canal. It is private, and most of the residents are only there for the summer months. Only three families that are known to spend the entire year there.

Staples said that before he was born, his mother sensed that she’d be having twins, but her doctor told her that wasn’t the case.

“It was a surprise,” he said.

When the twins were born, there was no doctor present, so a woman named Mrs. Cote went to the mainland to get a Dr. Cummings, who then went to the island to tend to the boys. Staples said his father Ralph, upon receiving word about his twins being born, made it from Stoughton to Wareham in a Ford Model T in about 40 minutes.

“And that was before the highways were built,” he said.

Staples had to stay on the island for five days before he could be brought to the hospital in Stoughton. From there, he fought several illnesses as a result of being born prematurely and with little immediate medical attention. Born at 4 pounds, 9 ounces, he dropped to 2.5 pounds at three weeks old.

Even with all the illnesses, Staples endured as a youngster and was able to live a happy, healthy life. As a printer, Staples worked for 13 years for the Christian Science Monitor, and he owned his own print shop in Canton up until about a year ago. He was also recently named a “Right Worshipful Master” Freemason, having belonged to the group for 47 years.

Staples has several memories of the island. He and his family would go there every year for his birthday when he was a youngster.  He said he remembers walking the beach and shellfishing with his grandmother, as well as fishing for flounder on his uncle’s boat.  He also remembers watching the “New York boat” come through the Cape Cod Canal.

“It was lit up like a Christmas tree,” he said.

The Hurricane of 1938 saw his father’s cottage get washed completely off the island.  He said it landed near the Point Independence Yacht Club. Surprisingly, it was still in good condition, though they could not rebuild on the island due to erosion on their property.  Eventually, his father brought the materials from the cottage to Stoughton, where he used them to build a barn that still stands there today.

Staples said he was thankful for the generosity shown to him the Lapannas and by a man named Paul Ricciardi, who also took the gentlemen around the island for a bit Monday morning.

“We’re being treated like kings,” said Staples.

“This is wonderful to get back out here,” he added. “Not many people know the island exists—that’s the funny part about it.  It’s another world.”