By Jeremiah
Canal Boats
Canal Boats Common working boats Boxy vessel boats that carried heavy cargo like coal.
The General Butler was named after Benjamin Franklin Butler. He was a governor of Massachusetts and a general in the Civil War.
General Information The General Butler was built in 1862 in Essex, New York Its design originated in 1823, the same year the Champlain Canal was opened. 86 feet long A Schooner-rigged boat which means she can sail on the lake, remove her masts and centerboard and travel through the Champlain Canal The General Butler was built during the Civil War.
The General Butler shipwreck is near the breakwater in Burlington on Lake Champlain.
Lake Champlain
The vessel rests on her keel, bow toward the breakwater.
The General Butler was 14 years old when she crashed in a terrible storm on December 8, 1876, with a load of marble blocks going to the Burlington marble Company. She sank in 40’ of water The Butler’ steering mechanism broke. She was under the command of her third owner, Captain William Montgomery, of Isle La Motte. There were five people on board. They were on route to Burlington to do Christmas shopping. Behind the breakwater was a lighthouse. Inside someone saw the ship going down. He grabbed a row boat and saved the five people.