Since 1946, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) has dedicated markers to honor the people, places, and events which have contributed to and enhanced the lives of Pennsylvanians since it founding. The PHMC has dedicated two markers recognizing Moses Van Campen's contributions to protecting the early settlers of Pennsylvania.
Fort McClure PHMC Marker
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) Fort McClure Historic Marker dedicated May 08, 1948. Photo by David C. Hopkins for MosesVanCampen.com.Dedicated Saturday, May 08, 1948, this PHMC Marker is located along U.S. 11 at Fairgrounds, Bloomsburg, PA.
The history of the fort 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]
Fort Wheeler Marker
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) Fort Wheeler Historic Marker dedicated May 10, 1948. Photo by David C. Hopkins for MosesVanCampen.com.Dedicated on Monday, May 10, 1948, this PHMC Marker is located along Pa. 487, 1.2 miles NE of Bloomsburg, PA.
The history of the fort 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.”