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Revision as of 07:07, 29 December 2024 editCmacauley (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users23,947 edits ←Created page with '{{Short description|18th century fort in colonial Pennsylvania}} {{Infobox military installation |name=Fort Norris |location= Monroe County, Pennsylvania (near Kresgeville, Pennsylvania)<ref>[https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-06-02-0149 "From Benjamin Franklin to ——, 25 January 1756," Founders Online, National Archives, ''The Papers of Benjamin Franklin,'' vol. 6, April 1, 1755, through September 30, 1756, ed. Leonard W. Labare...'  Latest revision as of 22:35, 3 January 2025 edit undoCmacauley (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users23,947 edits →History 
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== Background == == Background ==


At the beginning of the ], Braddock's defeat at the ] left Pennsylvania without a professional military force.<ref></ref> ] chiefs ] and ] launched dozens of ] and ] raids against British colonial settlements,<ref></ref> killing and capturing hundreds of colonists and destroying settlements across western and central Pennsylvania.<ref name = "Hunter2"></ref> In late 1755, ] wrote to Governor ]: "I am of the opinion that no other means of defense than a chain of ] along or near the south side of the ] from the ] to the temporary line, can secure the lives and property of the inhabitants of this country."<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|557}}
⚫ In December 1755, a series of attacks on people in the area surrounding Stroudsburg had terrified the population, who then demanded military protection from the Pennsylvania government. On 10 December, a war party of about 200 Native American warriors attacked the Hoeth family farm and killed everyone except Mr. Hoeth and his son. The next day, warriors destroyed Broadhead's Plantation, and attacked and burned farms belonging to the Culvers, the McMichaels, the Hartmanns. A number of settlers died when they were trapped inside burning buildings. Over 300 people fled to ] and ].<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|138}}


⚫ In December 1755, a series of attacks on people in the area surrounding Stroudsburg had terrified the population, who then demanded that the Pennsylvania government provide military protection. On 10 December, a war party of about 200 Native American warriors attacked the Hoeth family farm and killed Frederick Hoeth, his wife, and seven of their eight children.<ref name = "Hunter"/>{{rp|226}} The next day, warriors destroyed Broadhead's Plantation, and attacked and burned farms belonging to the Culvers, the McMichaels, and the Hartmanns.<ref name = "Leiser"/> A number of settlers died when they were trapped inside burning buildings. Over 300 people fled to ] and ].<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|138}}
⚫ In response to these attacks, which occurred within a month of the ] and the ], prompted the Pennsylvania provincial government to construct a chain of forts across the western frontier, running from the New Jersey border, southwest to the Maryland border. Fort Hamilton in Stroudsburg and ] near ] were built in December and Fort Norris, Fort Allen and Fort Franklin were built in early 1756.<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|138}}

⚫ In response to these attacks, which occurred within a month of the ] and the ], the Pennsylvania provincial government decided to construct a chain of forts across the western frontier, running from the New Jersey border, southwest to the Maryland border. Fort Hamilton in Stroudsburg and ] near ] were built in December and Fort Norris, Fort Allen and Fort Franklin were built in early 1756.<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|138}}


== History == == History ==


].]]In January 1756, Franklin sent Jacob Orndt to assist Captain Adam Trump and Captain William Hayes in the building of Fort Norris.<ref></ref> Trump and Hayes had selected a site on land owned by Johann Philip Serfas, a local farmer. Years later Samuel Preston, a surveyor, wrote that the colonial officers "took all they had for the soldiers, and sent off empty-handed to seek their fortunes. They were gone eight years, during which time all their buildings were burned as well as fences."<ref></ref> Captain Jacob Orndt completed construction in early February,<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|138}} and became the fort's commander, with a garrison of 50 men.<ref>," Founders Online, National Archives, ''The Papers of Benjamin Franklin,'' vol. 6, April 1, 1755, through September 30, 1756, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1963, pp. 408–409.]</ref> ].]]In January 1756, Franklin sent Captain Jacob Orndt to assist Captain Adam Trump and Captain William Hayes in building Fort Norris.<ref></ref> Trump and Hayes had selected a site on land owned by Johann Philip Serfas, a local farmer. Years later Samuel Preston, a surveyor, wrote that the colonial officers "took all they had for the soldiers, and sent off empty-handed to seek their fortunes. They were gone eight years, during which time all their buildings were burned as well as fences."<ref></ref>


Construction was delayed repeatedly by lack of tools and boards, so that soldiers had to strip boards from the barns and outbuildings of local settlers, leading to numerous complaints. Although Captain Orndt completed construction in early February,<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|138}} and became the fort's commander with a garrison of 50 men,<ref></ref> Major William Parsons reported after inspecting the fort in June that "I was inform'd that this Fort took the most time of any of the Forts to get it in the Order it is. But by the roughness of it's Work one might be induced to think it had been built in a Hurry."<ref name = "Hunter"/>{{rp|222}}
⚫ Historians believe that Fort Norris was located about one mile southeast of ], just south of ], to the north of a road passing east-west towards the ] (present-day Mountain View Drive) near its intersection with Silver Spring Boulevard. A 19th-century map shows a well and a cemetery to the east of the fort.

⚫ Historians believe that Fort Norris was located about one mile southeast of ], just south of ], to the north of a road passing east towards the ] (present-day Mountain View Drive) near its intersection with Silver Spring Boulevard. A 19th-century map shows a well and a cemetery to the east of the fort.


] James Young inspected Fort Norris on 23 June 1756, and reported: ] James Young inspected Fort Norris on 23 June 1756, and reported:
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=== Command === === Command ===


Captain Orndt was considered to be a capable officer, and following the ] at Fort Allen in August 1756, Lieutenant Miller, who was held responsible, was transferred to Fort Norris, where he was to serve under his command. On 8 October 1756, Orndt was reassigned to command Fort Allen, and Captain Reynolds and the entire Fort Allen garrison were transferred to Fort Norris, while the Fort Norris garrison was sent to Fort Allen. In May 1757, Lieutenant Engels was transferred from ] to take command of Fort Norris. The garrison at that time was still 50 men.<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|138}} Captain Orndt was considered to be a capable officer,<ref name = "Marker"></ref> and following the ] at Fort Allen in August 1756, Lieutenant Anthony Miller, who was held partially responsible, was transferred to Fort Norris, where he was to serve under Orndt's command. Miller, still angry over the events at Fort Allen, objected to being placed under Orndt's command, stating that "he had as good a Commission as his Capt. and he would not submit to him."<ref name = "Hunter"></ref>{{rp|197}} On 8 October 1756, Orndt was reassigned to command Fort Allen, and Captain Reynolds and the entire Fort Allen garrison were transferred to Fort Norris, while the Fort Norris garrison was sent to Fort Allen. In May 1757, Lieutenant Andreas Engels was transferred from ] to take command of Fort Norris. The garrison at that time was still 50 men.<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|138}}


=== Abandonment, 1758 === === Abandonment, 1758 ===


The fort was still in use as of 28 February 1758, with a reduced garrison, when Major ] visited, writing that he "Sett off from hence at 10 A.M. for Lieut. Ingle's post, arrived at Lieu't Ingle's at 4 P.M., ordered a Review Immediately, & found here Lieu't Ingle and 30 good men in a very good Stockade, which he is just finishing, 15 miles from Fort Allen." Burd noted that Engels was completing some repairs to the fort, suggesting that it was expected to remain in use.<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|138}} The fort was abandoned by the end of 1758.<ref name = "Leiser"/> The fort was still in use as of 28 February 1758, with a reduced garrison, when Major ] visited, writing that he "Arrived at Lieu't Ingle's at 4 P.M., ordered a Review Immediately, & found here Lieu't Ingle and 30 good men in a very good Stockade, which he is just finishing, 15 miles from Fort Allen." Burd noted that Engels was completing some repairs to the fort, suggesting that it was expected to remain in use.<ref name = "Montgomery"/>{{rp|138}} The fort was abandoned by the end of 1758.<ref name = "Leiser"/>


== Memorialization == == Memorialization ==


A stone monument, placed in 1945 by the Monroe County Historical Association, is located east of Kresgeville, at the intersection of ] and ].<ref></ref> The inscription reads: A stone monument, placed in 1945 by the Monroe County Historical Association,<ref name = "Leiser"/> is located east of Kresgeville, at the intersection of ] and ].<ref></ref> The inscription reads:
:"Erected 1756 one mile southeast across Pohopoco Creek, one of line of frontier forts built under the direction of ] and Benjamin Franklin. Commanded successively by Captain Jacob Orndt, "an excellent officer", Capt. Reynolds and Lieut. Engell, located strategically for guarding the settlers north of the Blue Mountains during the French and Indian War."<ref></ref> :"Erected 1756 one mile southeast across Pohopoco Creek, one of a line of frontier forts built under the direction of ] and Benjamin Franklin. Commanded successively by Captain Jacob Orndt, "an excellent officer", Capt. Reynolds and Lieut. Engell, located strategically for guarding the settlers north of the Blue Mountains during the French and Indian War."<ref name = "Marker"/>


== References == == References ==
{{reflist}} {{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* Wesley Schwenk, "," Forts of the French and Indian War, accessed August 20, 2023.
*


{{Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War}} {{Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War}}

Latest revision as of 22:35, 3 January 2025

18th century fort in colonial Pennsylvania
Fort Norris
Monroe County, Pennsylvania (near Kresgeville, Pennsylvania)
Fort Norris is located in PennsylvaniaFort NorrisFort NorrisLocation of Fort Norris in Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°53′49″N 75°30′11″W / 40.89694°N 75.50306°W / 40.89694; -75.50306
TypeMilitary fort
Site history
Built1756
In use1756–1758
Battles/warsFrench and Indian War
Garrison information
Past
commanders
  • Captain Jacob Orndt
  • Captain George Reynolds
  • Lieutenant Andreas Engel
Garrison30-50 men plus officers
Pennsylvania Historical Marker
Designated1945

Fort Norris was a stockaded fort built at the orders of Benjamin Franklin in early 1756 in what is now Monroe County, Pennsylvania, following a series of attacks on local communities by Native Americans in December 1755. Construction was initiated in late January, at the same time that neighboring forts Allen, Hamilton (in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania), and Franklin were being built. The fort was named for Isaac Norris, speaker of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, who was a member of the planning committee charged with designing defenses in preparation for the French and Indian war. Located about fifteen miles east of Fort Allen, it was one in a chain of defensive posts running from the New Jersey border, southwest to the Maryland border, when attacks on settlements were frequent at the beginning of the French and Indian War. The fort never saw military action and was abandoned in late 1758.

Background

At the beginning of the French and Indian War, Braddock's defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela left Pennsylvania without a professional military force. Lenape chiefs Shingas and Captain Jacobs launched dozens of Shawnee and Delaware raids against British colonial settlements, killing and capturing hundreds of colonists and destroying settlements across western and central Pennsylvania. In late 1755, Colonel John Armstrong wrote to Governor Robert Hunter Morris: "I am of the opinion that no other means of defense than a chain of blockhouses along or near the south side of the Kittatinny Mountains from the Susquehanna to the temporary line, can secure the lives and property of the inhabitants of this country."

In December 1755, a series of attacks on people in the area surrounding Stroudsburg had terrified the population, who then demanded that the Pennsylvania government provide military protection. On 10 December, a war party of about 200 Native American warriors attacked the Hoeth family farm and killed Frederick Hoeth, his wife, and seven of their eight children. The next day, warriors destroyed Broadhead's Plantation, and attacked and burned farms belonging to the Culvers, the McMichaels, and the Hartmanns. A number of settlers died when they were trapped inside burning buildings. Over 300 people fled to Bethlehem and Easton.

In response to these attacks, which occurred within a month of the Great Cove massacre and the Gnadenhütten massacre, the Pennsylvania provincial government decided to construct a chain of forts across the western frontier, running from the New Jersey border, southwest to the Maryland border. Fort Hamilton in Stroudsburg and Fort Dupuy near Smithfield Township were built in December and Fort Norris, Fort Allen and Fort Franklin were built in early 1756.

History

Map showing the location of Fort Norris, upper right quadrant, northeast of Fort Allen.

In January 1756, Franklin sent Captain Jacob Orndt to assist Captain Adam Trump and Captain William Hayes in building Fort Norris. Trump and Hayes had selected a site on land owned by Johann Philip Serfas, a local farmer. Years later Samuel Preston, a surveyor, wrote that the colonial officers "took all they had for the soldiers, and sent off empty-handed to seek their fortunes. They were gone eight years, during which time all their buildings were burned as well as fences."

Construction was delayed repeatedly by lack of tools and boards, so that soldiers had to strip boards from the barns and outbuildings of local settlers, leading to numerous complaints. Although Captain Orndt completed construction in early February, and became the fort's commander with a garrison of 50 men, Major William Parsons reported after inspecting the fort in June that "I was inform'd that this Fort took the most time of any of the Forts to get it in the Order it is. But by the roughness of it's Work one might be induced to think it had been built in a Hurry."

Historians believe that Fort Norris was located about one mile southeast of Kresgeville, Pennsylvania, just south of Pohopoco Creek, to the north of a road passing east towards the Minisink (present-day Mountain View Drive) near its intersection with Silver Spring Boulevard. A 19th-century map shows a well and a cemetery to the east of the fort.

Commissary General James Young inspected Fort Norris on 23 June 1756, and reported:

"Came to Fort Norris, found here a Serjeant Commanding 21 men, he told me the Ensign with 12 men was gone out this morning to Range the Woods towards Fort Allen, the Cap'tn was at Philadelphia since the 16th for the peoples' pay...This Fort Stands in a Valley ab't midway between the North mountain, and the Tuscorory, 6 miles from Each on the high Road towards the Minisink, it is a Square ab't 80 ft Each way with 4 half Bastions all very Completely Staccaded, and finished and very Defenceable, the Woods are Clear 400 yds Round it, on the Bastions are two Sweevel Guns mount'd, within is a good Barrack, a Guard Room, Store Room, and kitchin also a Good Well."

Command

Captain Orndt was considered to be a capable officer, and following the mutiny at Fort Allen in August 1756, Lieutenant Anthony Miller, who was held partially responsible, was transferred to Fort Norris, where he was to serve under Orndt's command. Miller, still angry over the events at Fort Allen, objected to being placed under Orndt's command, stating that "he had as good a Commission as his Capt. and he would not submit to him." On 8 October 1756, Orndt was reassigned to command Fort Allen, and Captain Reynolds and the entire Fort Allen garrison were transferred to Fort Norris, while the Fort Norris garrison was sent to Fort Allen. In May 1757, Lieutenant Andreas Engels was transferred from Fort Franklin to take command of Fort Norris. The garrison at that time was still 50 men.

Abandonment, 1758

The fort was still in use as of 28 February 1758, with a reduced garrison, when Major James Burd visited, writing that he "Arrived at Lieu't Ingle's at 4 P.M., ordered a Review Immediately, & found here Lieu't Ingle and 30 good men in a very good Stockade, which he is just finishing, 15 miles from Fort Allen." Burd noted that Engels was completing some repairs to the fort, suggesting that it was expected to remain in use. The fort was abandoned by the end of 1758.

Memorialization

A stone monument, placed in 1945 by the Monroe County Historical Association, is located east of Kresgeville, at the intersection of US Route 209 and Pennsylvania Route 534. The inscription reads:

"Erected 1756 one mile southeast across Pohopoco Creek, one of a line of frontier forts built under the direction of James Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin. Commanded successively by Captain Jacob Orndt, "an excellent officer", Capt. Reynolds and Lieut. Engell, located strategically for guarding the settlers north of the Blue Mountains during the French and Indian War."

References

  1. "From Benjamin Franklin to ——, 25 January 1756," Founders Online, National Archives, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 6, April 1, 1755, through September 30, 1756, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1963, pp. 365–368.
  2. ^ Amy Leiser,"Monroe County’s frontier forts: Fort Norris," Monroe County Historical Association, December 12, 2012
  3. Waddell, Louis M. "Defending the Long Perimeter: Forts on the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Frontier, 1755-1765.” Pennsylvania History, 62:2(1995):171-195.
  4. ^ Thomas Lynch Montgomery, ed. Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, vol 1, Harrisburg, PA: W.S. Ray, state printer, 1916
  5. Samuel J. Newland, The Pennsylvania Militia: Defending the Commonwealth and the Nation, 1669–1870, Annville, PA, 2002
  6. Matthew C. Ward, Breaking the Backcountry: The Seven Years' War in Virginia and Pennsylvania, 1754–1765, Pittsburgh, 2003
  7. William Albert Hunter, "Victory at Kittanning", Pennsylvania History, vol. 23, no. 3, July 1956; pp 376-407
  8. ^ Hunter, William Albert. Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier: 1753–1758, (Classic Reprint). Fb&c Limited, 2018.
  9. "From Benjamin Franklin to Timothy Horsfield, 24 January 1756,” Founders Online, National Archives, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 6, April 1, 1755, through September 30, 1756, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1963, pp. 363–364.
  10. "From Benjamin Franklin to ——, 25 January 1756," Founders Online, National Archives, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 6, April 1, 1755, through September 30, 1756, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1963, pp. 365–368.
  11. "Position of Troops in Northampton County, 23 February 1756," Founders Online, National Archives, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 6, April 1, 1755, through September 30, 1756, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1963, pp. 408–409.
  12. ^ "Fort Norris," Historical Marker Project, 2024
  13. Pete Payette, "Fort Norris," Pennsylvania Forts: Northeast Pennsylvania, NorthAmericanForts.com, May 7, 2018

External links

Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War
1754
1755
1756
1757
1758
Frontier
Forts
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