The home was built about 1864. Captain Joseph Trudell was my great, great grandfather. His wife was named Roberta and they had two daughters, Mary and Edith. This house was where Mary and her husband, Sam Serio lived. Her father, the captain, lived two blocks down from her. The name “Riverboat” comes from my family’s history and its connection to the river. Joseph Trudell was born in 1876 in Bayou DeGlaise, Louisiana. He was badly mistreated by his father, left their farm one day and walked all the way to Natchez. He had no education, but he taught himself to read and write while working along the Mississippi River shoveling coal into the boilers of the steamboats. He gradually worked himself up to deckhand and eventually became a riverboat pilot. On April 30, 1934, he earned and was issued his License to Master Steam and Motor vessels on the Mississippi River. I have this license, #29, all hand written and historic. I also have his timepiece. Since I have these items, it only seemed proper that I honor the river and his history with the name “Riverboat” for the bed and breakfast.