1805, with his services at the fort no longer needed, Moses and his family relocated to New York, where he continued to hold a number of respected legal and church offices until his death at age 92. Unlike many of the other forts of which I’ve written, there doesn’t seem to be a surviving description of Fort McClure. But also un- like those other forts, a description isn’t actually needed, because Fort McClure is, at least in part, still with us. The farmhouse may have been rebuilt in or about 1820 by James and Mary’s son James, who seems to have jointly owned the property with his brother Joseph/Josiah until their deaths; however, it’s not clear whether the house belonging to James replaced the original house or was a second house built on the extensive McClure property. Whichever the case, the land was sold off in lots by de- scendants of the brothers, and the parcel of land containing the farmhouse was eventually sold to the town of Bloomsburg itself. Since 1955, the farmhouse has served as the headquarters of the Fort McClure chapter of the Daughters of the American Rev- olution, who have owned it since 1960. Though I didn’t get to visit it on my trip to Bloomsburg, the house is open for public, docent-guided tours by appointment in exchange for a dona- tion. It’s also used from April to November each year for chap- ter meetings and events. Can’t get there anytime soon? Photos of both the exterior and interior can be viewed by visiting the Moses Van Campen website linked in my sources. The DAR is committed to the preservation of the home, which is just one of the many unique chapters in Bloomsburg’s rich history.
Susquehanna River all the way to Lancaster. By all appearances, they remained there until after the end of the war, then returned home to revive the family farm. Meanwhile, as mentioned in the Fort Wheeler post, Moses Van Campen was an accomplished officer in the Pennsylvania militia, rising through the ranks to become a major. He established Fort Wheeler and was stationed there until 1780, when he and his fa- ther returned to their family home and tried to rebuild what had been destroyed during the American Revolution. Tragically, the Van Campens were the victims of a surprise attack on the morn- ing of March 29th; Moses was taken prisoner, while his father and brother were murdered. He managed to escape after only a few days, leading his fellow captives to freedom. By the time he returned from his ordeal, Fort Jenkins (which also has its own marker) had been destroyed, leaving a gap in the ‘chain’ of forts protecting that section of the frontier, so Moses set to work help- ing to repair the forts which had been damaged and establishing a new one on the McClure farm. The stockading of the McClure farm was completed in 1781. The picture below, which depicts the farm as it appeared in those days, seems to be an old postcard; I found it on AccessGene- alogy.com. Moses took up residence on the farm as its com- manding officer, which brought him in close communion with the family, and roughly two years later he married the eldest Mc- Clure daughter Margaret. Their first daughter, called Mary after her maternal grandmother, was born in 1784 and was followed by four younger sisters, Anna, Priscilla, Elizabeth, and Lavina. In
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