George E. Braxton
Known Name(s)
George E. Braxton
Address
191 Champlain St. Burlington, VT
Establishment Type(s)
Tourist Home
Physical Status
Extant
Description
The building at 191 N. Champlain Street was constructed between 1900 and 1906 at what was then listed as 189 N. Champlain Street, Burlington. The 1906 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map documents it was a two-story, wood-frame dwelling with grocery on the first story. A one-story ell projected from the rear elevation. By 1912, the building was substantially enlarged by a rear one-story wagon shed and a pair of two-story garages. The 1919 configuration of the house shows the wagon shed was razed, replaced in part by a one-story shed. A one-story porch was added to the south elevation of the main block. The lot, which extended with an L-shaped behind 187 N. Champlain Street, included a lumber and wagon shed with an open east elevation. The main block was rehabilitated to provide tenements by 1926, with the one-story shed serving as an apartment. Further alterations, recorded on the 1942 Sanborn Maps, show the building provided two private dwellings and a one-story garage addition where the rear apartment had previously been located. The one-story porch that ran the depth of the main block on the south elevation was enlarged to two stories.
The building is covered in vinyl siding, with double-hung replacement windows and single-leaf replacement doors. The enclosed pedimented gable end has overhanging eaves supported by scrolled brackets. The two-story porch has solid balustrades with square supporting posts.
The building currently provides six apartments.
Detailed History
Mrs. George E. Braxton offered her large house, which included two dwellings and an apartment, for traveling African Americans after the death of her husband. In 1909, African American George Braxton (1881-1947) came from Georgia to Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester with the 10th Calvary, also known as the Buffalo Soldiers. The next year, the federal census recorded he was a restaurant keeper, married to Harriet E. Braxton. According to his 1918 draft card, the couple had moved to Plattsburgh, New York, where he was a cook. By 1930 Braxton was back in Burlington, living alone and divorced by October of 1932. That same month, he married Ellen Chavis (1895-unknown) of Columbus, Ohio, who was originally from North Carolina. The wedding took place at the home of the groom at 44 Walnut Street in Burlington. By 1934, they had moved to 191 N. Champlain Street. Braxton worked as a cook at various places in town, such as Henry’s Diner and the Central Terminal Restaurant. However, his death certificate in 1947 noted that he was a laborer. His obituary stated, “Mr. Braxton was well known as a devotee of ice fishing and spring and summer pike fishing.” He was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington. Ellen Braxton remained in Burlington after her husband’s death, listed as his widow in the city directories. Her home at 191 N. Champlain Street was in The Green Book from 1946 to 1950 under the name of her husband. Most likely supporting herself after the death of her husband, she ran the place as an apartment house and tourist home. Unfortunately, we know little else about her.
