Creature record / 1816

Memphré: the 1816 Georgeville sightings recorded by Ralph Merry IV

1816 · Lake Memphremagog, at and near Georgeville, Quebec, Canada

22Thinly documented Cryptid Creature 19 sources 1 videos

1816. Lake Memphremagog, stretching from Quebec south into Vermont. Settlers around Georgeville began to report something in the water. A serpent, about 30 feet long. A horse-shaped head. A neck held above the water line. Ralph Merry IV, son of the founder of Magog, wrote it all down. Four sightings. About eight people. He never saw the creature himself, but he found the accounts credible. He also recorded that the local Indigenous people would not swim in the lake. His signed document is the earliest written record of the creature the world would later call Memphré.

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Key facts

When	1816
Time of day	not recorded
Where	Lake Memphremagog, at and near Georgeville, Quebec,Canada
Duration	not recorded
Witnesses	8
Witness roles	civilians
Found
Evidence	none confirmed
Investigations	none recorded
Status	undisputed

The creature

A serpent about 30 feet long with a "horse shaped head," holding its neck above the water line. Merry wrote of sea serpents in the plural. A conflicting version describes a creature "the color of a skinned sheep" with "12 to 15 pairs of legs," swimming in the lake.

Size	about 9.1 m (about 30 feet long)

Captain Crum's Bulwagga Bay sighting, the earliest printed Champ report (related)

Context

Lake Memphremagog is a glacial lake about 40 km long. It runs from Magog, Quebec, south to Newport, Vermont. Its mean depth is 15.5 m. At its deepest, it reaches 107 m.

Sources (19, most influential first)

Memphre · Wikipedia · Wiki, blog, podcast · wiki
Témoignages et observations · memphre.com · Research organisation · org report
The Creature of Lake Memphremagog · Ville de Magog · Official document · other
The Serpent of Lake Memphremagog · QAHN (Matthew Farfan) · Research organisation · org report
About Memphre · Kingdom Games · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog