Fort Menninger was erected at White Deer Mills, or at the time of building
the Widow Smith's mills; it was built about eighty rods from the river, on the
north bank of White Deer creek, covering the Widow Smith's mills, to which a gun
barrel boring establishment was added in 1776, and is said to have turned out a
good many of that much needed article. The fort was situated west of the mills
forming the apex of an irregular triangle of which the mills formed one base and
the small stone house, said to have been erected by the Widow Smith before the
Revolution, which is not doubted, the other; its walls are two feet thick, and
the building is in good condition, having a more modern addition to it at
present. The fort and mills were abandoned at the time of the Big Runaway in
1779, and the fort burned by the Indians July 8, 1779. In John B. Linn's Annals
of Buffalo Valley, pp. 239 and 249, we find: "In a petition to the Assembly of
this year, 1785, by Catharine Smith, sets forth that she was left a widow with
ten children with no estate to support this family except a location for three
hundred acres of land, including the mouth of White Deer creek, whereon is a
good mill seat, and a gristmill and sawmill being much wanted in this new
country at that time, she was often solicited to erect said mills, which were of
great advantage to the country, and the following summer built a boring mill,
where a great number of gun barrels were bored for the continent, and a hemp
mill. The Indian war soon after coming on, one of her sons, her greatest help,
went into the army and, it is believed, was killed, as he never returned. The
said mills soon became a frontier and, in July 1779, the Indians burned the
whole works. She returned to the ruins in 1783, and was again solicited to
rebuild the grist and saw mills, which she has, with much difficulty,
accomplished, and now ejectments are brought against her by Messrs. Claypool and
Morris, and she, being now reduced to such low circumstances as renders her
unable to support actions at law, and therefore, prays relief, &c. The
Legislature, of course, could grant no relief under the circumstances and the
petition was dismissed." She is said to have gone to Philadelphia and back
thirteen times on this business. Her house was where Doctor Danonsky now (1874)
lives, on the Henry High place, part of the old stone house being used as a
kitchen. Rolly McCorley, who recollects the mill last built by her, said it was
a small round log mill." A part of the foundation of this mill serves the same
purpose in the fine modern mill of today owned by Captain David Bly, of
Williamsport, who was born here and pointed out where, when a boy, he saw the
remains of Fort Menninger removed from. Fort Menninger was built in the spring
of 1778. Troops were stationed here a part of the time after its destruction. In
November 1779, fourteen men were stationed here, and most probably occupied the
Widow Smith's stone house.
Gen. James Potter (In Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. Viii. P. 562) under date of
Sept. 18, 1780, says: "I marched the remainder, consisting of 170 men up the
West Branch to Fort Swarts. I then went to Col. Kelly, who lay at the mouth of
White Deer creek, with 80 men."
Notes About Book:
Source: The Frontier Forts Within The North and West Branches of the Susquehanna
River Pennsylvania, BY Captain John M. Buckalew, Read Before The Wyoming
Historical And Geological, Society, October 1, 1895. Reprinted From The State
Report, 1896. E. B. Yoruy, Printer, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Notes about Online Publication: This manuscript has been ocr'd and heavily
edited. Many of the Native American words have been reproduced as clearly as
online publication will allow us, but not all are exactly the way they were in
the original work. The structure of this manuscript has been changed to allow
better online presentation.