Arthur Mylott's Champlain Canal Childhood in Waterford, New York

 

Lacasse Family in Northside, Waterford circa 1900

The Lacasse family are ancestors of the Rivet family of Cohoes

Dedace Lacasse, one of the younger sons in the family of Ephrème Cassé and Luce Desautels-Lapointe, was probably made a wanderer by virtue of his birth order. Without a plot of his own land to farm, he was consigned to be a day worker on the farms of others. 

Portrait of woman believed to be Lucie Lapointe-Desautels, the mother of Dedace Lacasse.

Dedace and his wife Marie Louise Mireault were both born in St Jacques de L'Achigan, Quebec - Dedace in 1844 , Marie Louise in 1849. The couple married in 1867 in the church of St Alphonse de Rodriques, Quebec. In the 1881 census of Canada, the family is in Terrebonne, Quebec. In the 1891 census, they are located in Joliette, Montcalm, Quebec.  Sometime around 1898, Dedace brought his family from Quebec to New York.  They came to Northside in Waterford in 1898 to work in or around the factory mills of Cohoes and Waterford.  In the United States Census of 1900, six family members are listed: Dedace, Marie Louise his wife, Marie Ann and Marie Louise his two daughters and Edmond (Edward) and Camille, his two sons.  Marie Ann will not marry remaining at home to care for her parents, especially her widowed mother.  Marie Lousie will eventually became the second wife of Paul Emile Rivet. Edmond, naturalized a US citizen in 1912 will marry in Cohoes but after he is widowed in 1926, he will return to Québec with his children. He marries again in Rimouski, Québec.  Camille Lacasse seems to have moved to New York City but returns to Cohoes to marry.  He and his bride return to New York and raise their family in Queens.  Another son, Joseph Lacasse, not listed in the 1900 census with his parents,  marries and remains in Cohoes to raise his family.

 The Lacasse Family living at 20 Cemetery Road, Northside Waterford

Note the error - Cammile is listed as a daughter instead of son 

On May 1, 1910 Marie Edna Ann Lacasse, daughter of Joseph Lacasse and Emma Marie Fortin, granddaughter of Dedace and Marie Louise Mireault was baptized in the "French" church,  St Ann's Roman Catholic Church in Northside, Waterford where the family members were communicants.  Dedace was listed as the parrain or godfather. Below are two photographs of St Anne's Church in Northside after it was converted to Waterford Wesleyan Church.

Readers unfamiliar with Northside, Waterford and Cohoes may inquire why Northside is called "Northside" when it is actually on the south side of the town of Waterford of which it is a part.  It is my understanding that the founding fathers of Cohoes always considered Northside a part of the Cohoes community even though Northside was officially in a different town and even a different county.  Cohoes is in Albany County and Northside-Waterford in Saratoga County.  Only the waters of the Mohawk River divide the communities of Cohoes and Waterford but an early bridge connected the communities.

So the family of Dedace Lacasse and Marie Louise Mireault expanded and their descendants quickly spread across North America and back to Quebec! 

Here is a sign of Northside's French Canadian Heritage!

A home in Northside, New York displays its Roots - a flag of Quebec and a US flag!

Part 2 to follow.....

Broad Street in old Waterford

It really isn't hard to recognize the main thoroughfare in Waterford if you are familiar with the territory. All the essentials are there - the town tower. The electric poles and unpaved road probably would this place this between 1890 and 1900. If anyone can contribute to better dating, please put your information in the comments.  This is the image of the town and business neighborhood my grandmother, Edith Lida Glode, and her parents Alex Glode and Angeline Allard all knew well.
Alex and Angeline were born and married in Champlain, NY where they made their living as canalers and raised the first half of their family.  Before my grandmother was born in 1890, they made Waterford their home.  So this view of Broad Street was part of their life when they were not traveling on the canal.

The photo below may be of Marie Angeline Allard, daughter of canalers, wife of a canaler and mother of canalers....the photo was kept with a few others of canalers.  If it isn't Angeline, it is just fine with me because this is the way I like to think of her and all the women who made their homes on the Champlain Canal. Their apron is on and they are ready for cleaning, cooking, navigating, and minding the children and grandchildren! Let's go work!

Postcards of the Champlain Canal: Waterford to Whitehall

Following the Champlain Canal through New York State in postcards....scenes from Waterford to Whitehall.

The canal from Lake Champlain to Waterford was officially opened in 1823. When you read the chronology of events of the Champlain canal, it seems repairs, fixes, enlargements, improvements and plugs were started the day it opened and never stopped! The postcards below are not arranged in any chronological order. If theres any order it would be from south to north.  Therefore in some images the canal looks narrow with a towpath.  In other images the canal is wide or doubled spanned. 

Waterford, NY

Waterford Lift Bridge

Waterford Covered Bridge to Lansingburg

to Mechanicville...

Sleepy Mechanicville

to Stillwater...

and Bemis Heights...

to Schuylerville...

through Ft. Edward, Sandy Hill (Hudson Falls) and Fort Ann...

along Wood Creek... notorious for its flooding and damage to the canal

to Whitehall, NY where the waters began to flow north to Québec