It's been a really good month with these 'county first' posts, and I'm happy to observe that my readership seems to be on the rise! So hello to all of my new friends, and a particular wave in the direction of Shane and the rest of the gang at the Columbia-Montour Visitors Center.
We were in Columbia County on our way to Altoona last month, and we stopped in Bloomsburg for lunch and some markers. My husband is an extremely good sport. It would have been neat if Fort Wheeler had still been there for us to see, but I still get to share its interesting history with all of you.
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| The marker stands at the intersection of Lightstreet and Paper Mill Roads, Bloomsburg |
It was built quickly, since they could tell there was no opportunity for delay, and indeed there was an attack on the settlement before the fort was completed. According to a contemporary account, a runner came with a warning about the approach, and the locals gathered what they could carry and locked themselves inside the incomplete fort. The Natives burned many local houses, but only a few made any attempt to attack the fort and they were easily turned back. The fort's defenses were sound, even without the fort being entirely finished; these defenses were described as being barricades "made with brush and stakes, the ends sharpened and locked into each other so that it was difficult to remove them and almost impossible for one to get through."
Not much seems to have been recorded about the appearance of Fort Wheeler, save that it was a stockaded fort on the banks of Fishing Creek. It had a spring on the property which provided fresh water, and there's a mention of a cemetery for fallen soldiers. As I said, the stockade was built around the house belonging to the Wheeler family; but while a lot of the old forts survive in the form of hand-drawn maps or even at least have a mention of the shape of the garrison, there seems to be no such record for Fort Wheeler.
A little more is known of its leader, Moses; he was born in New Jersey in 1757, and was living in what is now Columbia County when the Declaration of Independence was read. He joined the Pennsylvania militia and rose through the ranks. After Fort Wheeler was completed, it remained his base of operations for quite some time, and whenever Moses wasn't involved in a scouting party, he used the fort as his headquarters. Local apocrypha states that one of the reasons for this is that Isaiah Wheeler, on whose farm the fort was established, had an exceptionally pretty daughter, and Moses was in a love triangle for a little while with her and one of his scouts. Alas for Moses, she married the other guy.
I'll admit I have no idea if that story is true or not, but it's kind of fun to picture.
Less fun is the reason why Moses left Fort Wheeler. He remained stationed there until 1780, at which point he went with his father, who had also been staying at Fort Wheeler for a time, back to the family home, where they tried to rebuild what had been destroyed in attacks. But on the morning of March 29th, they were taken by surprise; Moses was taken prisoner, and his father and brother were murdered. He escaped a few days later, leading his fellow captives in a daring flight, and returned to service in the Pennsylvania militia. He later married Margaret McClure, on whose family farm he built another fort, so I continue his story in my post about Fort McClure.
As for Fort Wheeler, it does have an unusual distinction among the colonial forts in Pennsylvania, in that it was never abandoned. When it wasn't actively garrisoned by soldiers, the locals manned it themselves. It was also never captured or destroyed by enemy forces. The only reason it's not still standing is because it eventually fell victim to the ravages of time, and ultimately collapsed. As late as 1896, the fireplace was still standing, if nothing else. In 1915, the Moses Van Campen chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a stone monument commemorating its location; it was relocated in 2015 to Lightstreet Park, which is why I didn't happen to see it. I'll try to get a photo next time I get up to Bloomsburg.
Nothing remains of the fort today except for the spring which provided it with water, and - possibly - that cemetery. But where exactly the cemetery might be, or have been, I can't seem to find any indication. So if you know the answer, please leave a comment!
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
Thank you do much for your work to uncover our local history. I enjoyed reading this and I'm hoping you write more about Bloomsburg.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, cemetery is in the stand of trees near interstate 80 above forts location. Behind the new hotel
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