There's some interesting news from the PHMC, the ones who keep putting up these markers and therefore give me something to do in this blog each week. They've launched a new initiative called the PA Humanities Discovery Project, which they describe as "an effort to map, network, and celebrate Pennsylvania's wonderfully rich humanities landscape," and they're looking for informative contributions from historians, preservationists, archaeologists, and anyone else who works with Pennsylvania's heritage. To find out more, and possibly contribute your own experiences, check out their article here.
For this week's quest, we'll head back to scenic Columbia County. When I wrote about Fort Wheeler back in August, I mentioned that the story of Moses Van Campen continued in the history of Fort McClure, so let's resume telling that tale.
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| The marker stands on US 11 (Main Street), near the entrance to the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds |
James died shortly before the American Revolution began, but Mary remained on the family farm and continued to run it until the Battle of Wyoming, a bloody skirmish in 1778, which has its own marker so I'll tell you more about it later. Deciding that the frontier was too dangerous, the plucky widow packed up everything she could and put it on a raft. She then gathered her four children - James, Margaret, Presila, and Joseph (sometimes identified as Josiah) - and a friend, Mrs. Lazarus Stewart, whose husband had been killed in the battle. Together, the six of them floated down the Susquehanna River all the way to Lancaster. By all appearances, they remained there until after the end of the war, then returned home to revive the family farm.
Meanwhile, as mentioned in the Fort Wheeler post, Moses Van Campen was an accomplished officer in the Pennsylvania militia, rising through the ranks to become a major. He established Fort Wheeler and was stationed there until 1780, when he and his father returned to their family home and tried to rebuild what had been destroyed during the American Revolution. Tragically, the Van Campens were the victims of a surprise attack on the morning of March 29th; Moses was taken prisoner, while his father and brother were murdered. He managed to escape after only a few days, leading his fellow captives to freedom. By the time he returned from his ordeal, Fort Jenkins (which also has its own marker) had been destroyed, leaving a gap in the 'chain' of forts protecting that section of the frontier, so Moses set to work helping to repair the forts which had been damaged and establishing a new one on the McClure farm.
Unlike many of the other forts of which I've written, there doesn't seem to be a surviving description of Fort McClure. But also unlike those other forts, a description isn't actually needed, because Fort McClure is, at least in part, still with us. The farmhouse may have been rebuilt in or about 1820 by James and Mary's son James, who seems to have jointly owned the property with his brother Joseph/Josiah until their deaths; however, it's not clear whether the house belonging to James replaced the original house or was a second house built on the extensive McClure property. Whichever the case, the land was sold off in lots by descendants of the brothers, and the parcel of land containing the farmhouse was eventually sold to the town of Bloomsburg itself.
Since 1955, the farmhouse has served as the headquarters of the Fort McClure chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, who have owned it since 1960. Though I didn't get to visit it on my trip to Bloomsburg, the house is open for public, docent-guided tours by appointment in exchange for a donation. It's also used from April to November each year for chapter meetings and events. Can't get there anytime soon? Photos of both the exterior and interior can be viewed by visiting the Moses Van Campen website linked in my sources. The DAR is committed to the preservation of the home, which is just one of the many unique chapters in Bloomsburg's rich history.
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.
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