Fort Antes
Map of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania showing the location of Fort Antes | |
Location | Nippenose Township, Pennsylvania, USA |
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Nearest city | Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania |
Coordinates | 41°11′28″N 77°14′19″W / 41.19111°N 77.23861°W |
Area | 0.75 acres (3,000 m2) |
Built/founded | 1777 or 1778 |
PHMC dedicated | June 8, 1917 May 1, 1947 |
Fort Antes was a
John Henry Antes
John Henry Antes settled along the
Frontier Outpost
The Lenape allies of the British began conducting raids on the Pennsylvania frontier soon after the outset of the American Revolution. An attack at the mouth of Pine Creek in December 1777 and another attack further upstream, near modern Lock Haven, prompted action by Pennsylvania's militia to try to protect the frontiersmen on the West Branch Susquehanna River. Colonel Samuel Hunter ordered Colonel Antes to gather a force of men from the West Branch Valley to gather at Antes' property. The men of the militia built a stockade that was at least 12 feet (4 m) high around the Antes home.[1] The stockade enclosed approximately three quarters of an acre (3,000 m2). Colonel Antes was forced to defend an extensive frontier that was under steady attack from Native American and Tory forces that were dispatched to Pennsylvania from Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario in New York.
Two settlers who were staying near Fort Antes were killed in June 1777. A party of four men and two women had left the safety of the fort and crossed the West Branch of the Susquehanna River to milk some
All of these attacks and the lack of military help from the Pennsylvania government disheartened the settlers along the West Branch of the Susquehanna. News of impending attacks caused much worry among the settlers and the leaders of the militia. This news was provided by a friendly Native American named Job Chilloway at Fort Reed (modern Lock Haven), who had been converted to
The Big Runaway
Robert Covenhoven, who had served under
Most settlers had already gathered at Fort Antes, prior to Covenhoven's arrival, but now the fort and the settlers' homes and fields were abandoned, with livestock driven along and a few possessions floated on rafts on the river east to what is now Muncy, then further south to Fort Augusta at what is now Sunbury. Women and children rode on the rafts, while the men walked on the river bank to protect them and to drive along the livestock they had been able to save. Their abandoned property was burnt by the attackers. Some settlers reported fleeing at night, with the glow of their burning settlements lighting the sky behind them.
Fort Horn and the other Fair Play Men settlements were all destroyed. Only Fort Antes (made of hard-to-burn peeled oak logs) and the fortified Wallis House (made of stone) in
Post war years
Colonel Henry Antes was one of the first settlers to return to the West Branch Valley following the Big Runaway. He found that his mill had been destroyed, but that his home within the fort had not. Antes soon built a larger home on Antes Creek and the fort was abandoned. It gradually decayed before being dismantled. The ground was leveled and then farmed, and today there are no remnants of Fort Antes to be seen above the ground. Colonel Antes was elected the sheriff of Northumberland County in 1782, thirteen years before Lycoming County was established. John Henry Antes died on May 18, 1820, when he was 83 years old.
References
- ^ a b c d Buckalew, John M. (1896). REPORT OF THE COMMISSION TO LOCATE THE SITE OF THE FRONTIER FORTS IN PENNSYLVANIA: The Frontier Forts Within The North And West Branches of the Susquehanna River (VOLUME ONE ed.). Harrisburg, PA: Clarence M. Bush: State Printer of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
- ^ )
- ^ Work Projects Administration (First ed.). The Commissioners of Lycoming County Pennsylvania. 1939. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2007-04-24.)
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: CS1 maint: others (link - Williamsport Sun Gazette. Archived from the originalon 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- United States Geological Survey. "Fort Antes Cemetery, USGS Linden (PA) Topo Map". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2008-06-29.