The Palmers Return!

To celebrate the 200th anniversary year of the Champlain Canal, a piece of American history and a part of the country with intense connections to six generations of the Palmer family, I am proposing that the Palmer return to New York State in 2023.

The list of things to see, do, and experience in upstate New York is remarkable. Sure, there are family history sites related to multiple generations of family members, as well as extraordinary historic landmarks of national importance, but there are a raft of things to do including a Six Flags amusement park, water rides, boat rides on Lake George, miniature golf course, watching canal locks in operation, excellent dining and a ton of outlet stores for shopping, craft centers, and on and on. Vermont is only five or so miles away, and the scenery is amazing.

On this page I will list some of those activities with links, so as to shamelessly tempt you to join me on this trek. Europe is in 2024; this year is a chance to reconnect.

West Fort Ann — Brown Cemetery with graves of dozens (hundreds?) of relatives, including our Palmer Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Great-Great grandparents, Liberty & Anna Branch, Uncle George & Auntie Katharine, Uncle Albert & Aunt Bea, and many more — Branch/Campbell Palmer House, built in 1880 and visited by us in 1965 — Podunk, the original part of which was built by our Great-Great-Great Grandfather Johnson for his daughter Sabina and Adoniram Palmer, our Great Great Grandparents – 1820s-era schoolhouse where Grandma and Great Grandma Palmer taught

Fort Ann – More relatives interred here.

Between Fort Ann and Whitehall — View the homesite where Lovinus and Olive Palmer and their eight children lived and felled trees for transport on the Canal — Kinner Cemetery, where Lovinus and Olive Palmer (our Great-Great-Great Grandparents) are buried

Whitehall – The first of our families to arrive here, the Wilsons, came about 1770.

Pawlet, Vermont – Graves of 5th Great Grandparents Daniel and Zipporah Branch – Pawlet General Store – Great Pizza

American History to Visit

Fort Ann — View of Battle Hill and Canal Lock

Whitehall — Birthplace of the US Navy where Benedict Arnold built his fleet of ships to deter a British invasion from the north during the Revolutionary War — Skenesborough Museum and one of the original ships

Skene Manor, Whitehall and here

Fort Ticonderoga – Incredible US history spot where Daniel Branch and other family members fought – Grandpa Palmer graduated from Ticonderoga High School