Steamboats on Lake Champlain, a brief history

Steamboats on Lake Champlain, a brief history

Dan Cole, Contributor

When Thompson’s Point became a magnet for the summer cottages of the leading businessmen of the area, thanks in no small part to a major dock facility, they would commute to work and return to their camps aboard the Chateaugay and then the Ticonderoga, which were among the first steel-hulled steamboats on the lake, or in other small steamers and naphtha-powered steam launches that brought campers back and forth to Vergennes, Burlington or Westport, N.Y. By 1895, one of the occupants was Justice D. J. Brewer of the U.S. Supreme Court. President Theodore Roosevelt visited Thompson’s Point in 1902 as a guest aboard Dr. William Seward Webb’s steam yacht, the Elfrida.

Long live Les Filles du Roi

Long live Les Filles du Roi

Lynn Monty, Editor in Chief

After some urging from Charlotte’s resident historian, Dan Cole, and about nine hours of research on Ancestry.com I found that famous singer Madonna and I share the same set of 9th great-grandparents in Jean Besset De Brisetout and Anne Le Seigneur, who was a “King’s Daughter” or “Fille du Roi.” Anne married Jean who was a soldier and settler in 1668 to help colonize Canada for the king. Their son, also named Jean, is my 8th great-grandfather who was scalped by the Iroquois and lived to tell the tale.

Charlotte’s first families

Charlotte’s first families

Dan Cole, Contributor

Charlotte’s first families were remarkably homogeneous culturally and almost exclusively Protestant in their outlook, from our 1762 charter through the 1820s. Political repression by the English and famines in Ireland saw migrations of the Irish, many arriving in Quebec City to find political repression of the French-Canadians by the English and famines in Quebec. Many looked south of the border for relief.

Living our lives as elders

Living our lives as elders

Lydia Clemmons (Senior), Charlotte

My husband first discovered the farm when he came for a job interview with the University of Vermont. He found the farm one day while walking from Shelburne to explore a town called “Charlotte” on what were then dirt roads: Bostwick Road and Greenbush Road. He was in his late 30s back then and had the energy to walk that distance to explore the area. The farm at 2158 Greenbush Road was the first place he stopped during his long walk.