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John Van Camp Homestead
John Van Camp (Moses' Great Uncle) Homestead, Built 1852, Branchburg Twp., Somerset Co., NJ (40.525970, -74.707732).
"The John Van Camp Farmstead is a notable survivor of Branchburg Township’s early domestic architecture and farm culture. There are three historic structures on the property. The house, constructed c. 1835, is a good example of a one-and-one-half-story, two-room deep house common throughout the Raritan Valley during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The interior of the house retains much of its original character including three distinctive Federal/Greek Revival mantels, door and window trim and a four-door built-in cupboard. A three bay Dutch barn was constructed in 1835 on the site. Hand-hewn timbers were employed for most of the framing members. The inscription “Built 1835” is written prominently in iron oxide paint on one of the very large main anchor beams. The third historic structure on the site, a rare wagon house, was constructed in 1842. The wagon house is framed in the Dutch manner. This farmstead documents the persistence of Dutch building traditions in rural areas of Somerset County well into the 19th century. The site is owned by Somerset County and is being restored." SOURCE: Historic Sites & Districts in Somerset County, New Jersey. Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, 2015.
This collection includes the following photos:
- Photo by D.C. Hopkins for MosesVanCampen.com.
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Detail of the D. Stanton Hammond Hunterdon Co., NJ, Land Owner Map D showing the lands of John Campbell (1,874 acres) on the lower right portion of the map. Of these 1,874 acres, 485 acres were later sold by John and Richard Hall to John Van Camp on October, 8, 1740.
Fort Wheeler
The history of Fort Wheeler is detailed in Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties Pennsylvania.
Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties Pennsylvania
by J.H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1915.
"In April, 1778, Lieut. Moses Van Campen began the building of Fort Wheeler, on the farm of Isaiah Wheeler, on the banks of Fishing creek, about three miles above the present town of Bloomsburg, on the Bloomsburg & Sullivan railroad, in Scott township, near the site of the Paper Mill. It was built of logs and surrounded by a stockade sufficiently large to accommodate the families of the neighborhood. They had hardly completed the fort before the Indians arrived and attacked it, but the defenders soon put them to flight.
Van Campen made this fort his headquarters when not engaged in scouting. One of the attractions to him was the daughter of Wheeler, for whose hand Van Campen and Col. Joseph Salmon, another scout, were rivals. Salmon finally married the girl. Van Campen's father also for a time lived near the fort.
Fort Wheeler was the only one of the long line of defenses in this section of the State that was never abandoned or destroyed by hostile hands. Time alone did the work of disintegration. Peter Melick, one of the committee of safety for Wyoming township, lived near here. The old graveyard where the soldiers were buried is still recognizable, and the spring that supplied the fort with water is still running. The land is now owned by the Creveling family. John Crawford, grandfather of Joseph Crawford, an old citizen of Orangeville, was the second child born in this section, his birth taking place inside the stockade of the fort soon after its completion, in 1778. No vestiges of the fort are now to be seen, but the site is known to most of the residents of that section.”
The commemorative stone and tablet dedicated by the Moses Van Campen Chapter DAR was relocated in 2015 by the DAR to nearby Lightstreet Park.
Included in this collection are the following photos:
- Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Fort Wheeler Marker located in Bloomsburg, PA. The marker reads, "On this site in Bloomsburg, PA in 1778, Moses Van Campen built Fort Wheeler to protect Pennsylvania's pioneer settlers from Indian attack during the American Revolution." Photo by D.C. Hopkins for MosesVanCampen.com.
- Fort Wheeler commemorative tablet dedicated by the Moses Van Campen Chapter DAR in 1915. The tablet reads, "Fort Wheeler, Built by Moses Van Campen, 1778, This tablet erected by Moses Van Campen Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Berwick, Pennsylvania, 1915." Photo by D.C. Hopkins for MosesVanCampen.com.
Fort McClure
The history of the Fort McClure is detailed in Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties Pennsylvania.
Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties Pennsylvania
by J.H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1915
"At the time of the destruction of Fort Jenkins, there was a line of forts reaching from the West Branch to the North Branch of the Susquehanna, comprising Forts Muncy, Freeland, Montgomery, Bosley's Mills, Wheeler and Jenkins. The loss of the latter fort left the right exposed to the marauders, so on Van Campen's return from captivity he stockaded the home of Mrs. James McClure, on the bank of the Susquehanna, one mile above the mouth of Fishing creek, and on the later site of the house of Douglas Hughes, below Bloomsburg. This fortification took the name of Fort McClure, and became the headquarters for stores and expeditions as long as the defense of the frontier was necessary. This fort was never seriously attacked, though the near residents often fled to it for security. It was never more than a stockade and further fortifications were not built. A residence now stands on the site. A marker has been placed here by the Fort McClure Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Bloomsburg." [page 11]
"Just before the commencement of the Revolutionary War James McClure died, but his widow cultivated the plantation until the Wyoming massacre, in 1778, when she placed all her portable possessions on a raft and floated down the Susquehanna to Lancaster, remaining there until all danger was over. With her went the widow of Capt. Lazarus Stewart, who had been killed at Wyoming. Maj. Moses Van Campen, who had married the daughter of Widow McClure, built the second fort in the county on her farm, one mile above the mouth of Fishing Creek, calling it after his respected mother-in-law." [page 104]
This collection includes the following photos:
- Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Fort McClure Marker located in Bloomsburg, PA. Photo by D.C. Hopkins for MosesVanCampen.com., 2011.
- McClure House, site of Fort McClure, Bloomsburg, PA, Home of Fort McClure Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. Photo by D.C. Hopkins for MosesVanCampen.com., 2011.
- Fort McClure commemorative stone marker and plaque dedicated by the Fort McClure Chapter DAR in 1907. The plaque reads, "This stone marks the site of Fort McClure built by Moses Van Campen 1781. Erected by Fort McClure Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution Bloomsburg Pennsylvania 1907". Photo by D.C. Hopkins for MosesVanCampen.com., 2011.