Two 1926 newspaper articles describing the ceremony for the unveiling of the Fort Halifax Monument near the site of Fort Halifax, Halifax Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
From the Lykens Standard, 7 May 1926:
TABLET WILL BE UNVEILED ON THE SITE OF OLD FORT HALIFAX TOMORROW AFTERNOON AT 2:00
Addresses By Judge Fox and Indian Chief Strongwolf Important Part of Program; Was Built in 1756, and Was Dismantled in 1763.
MISS HAMILTON WILL UNVEIL MARKER
It is of general interest thruout Dauphin County to learn that Fort Halifax, erected in 1756 will be suitably marked by the State.
Plans are completed to place a proper stone to mark the appropriate position of this frontier stronghold.
Fort Halifax was erected by the Provincial government between the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers, and was built at the mouth of the creek known as Armstrong’s, about a half mile above the present borough of Halifax. Nothing is left not to mark the site save a slight elevation of ground, and a well known to have been used by the garrison.
The fort was erected by Col. William Clapham, who selected the site as one of the most convenient places along the Susquehanna River, between Harrisburg and Shamokin [now Sunbury], for a magazine, on account of its good natural situation above the Juniata Falls.
Plenty of good pine timber was on the ground, and on account of this and the nearness to Shamokin he concluded to erect the fort at this point.
Two hundred logs were squared. which were about thirty feet long, and were taken to the place, and he undertook to complete the Fort in two weeks. Under guard of an officer and thirty men, he proceeded on the march with these troops up the river in a batteaux to McKee’s store.
In a letter dated June 20 [1756], Governor Morris states to Colonel Clapham “The progress already made in this fort renders it impracticable for me to comply with the Commissioners desire to contract it, at which I was surprised, as I expected every day orders to enlarge it, it being yet, in my opinion , too small. I shall leave an officer and thirty men with orders to finish it when I march from hence.” In a postscript the colonel adds: “The fort at this place without a name until your honor is pleased to confer one.” To this time the place was known as Camp Armstrong. From Philadelphia, June 25, 1756, Governor Morris writes: “The fort at Armstrong’s I would have it called Fort Halifax.”
And so was Fort Halifax given its name. Not until July 1, 1756, under direction of Colonel Clapham was work for completion started. He ordered thirty men to the fort to finish with all expedition, what was to be known as Fort Halifax.
Indian massacres at this time were a troublesome struggle among the settlers, and time after time did the red skins quietly steal on the white settlement and commit killings and burn to the ground the dwellings of the settlers.
Colonel Clapham in his orders directed that observance among the soldiers should be close; that they should not struggle in small numbers into the woods, that they should not go any great distance from the fort.
No sooner had Fort Halifax been completed when it appeared that Fort Hunter was subsequently abandoned and the garrison removed to Fort Halifax. In August 1757 residents of Paxtang presented to the Provincial Council a petition that the evacuation of Fort Hunter was to a great disadvantage to them; that Fort Halifax is not necessary to secure communication with Fort Augusta.
Petitions and communications such as these became effective and Fort Halifax was dismantled in 1763, and nothing now remains of the site.
The site was marked recently by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission and the Society of Pennsylvania Women in New York.
One the site, a time-worn stone, 12 x 4 x 2 feet, from the top of Peters Mountain, has been erected. An inscribed bronze tablet is attached, to this monolith, and thereon is inscribed:
FORT HALIFAX
One of the Chain of Frontier Defenses
Of the Province of Pennsylvania
in the French and Indian Wars
Stood 500 Feet to the West
Built 1756
By
Its Commander
COL. WILLIAM CLAPHAM
Marked by
The Pennsylvania Historical Commission and the
Society of Pennsylvania Women in New York
1926
The ceremonies of the unveiling will take place at the marker on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, just north of Halifax Borough limits along the State Highway, on the Kelker Farm, on Saturday, May 15, at 2 o’clock P.M. One of the speakers of the occasion will be Indian Chief Strongwolf, of the Ojibway tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, who will address the gathering and offer the invocation to the Great Spriit. Chief Strongwolf is a student professor at the University of Pennsylvania and is also working for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology. He is the present chief of his tribe and also Grand Chief of the American National Indian Association. Hon. John E. Fox, judge of the courts of Dauphin County, and others prominent in the Historical Commission, will also be present and take part in the exercises.
The committee of Halifax citizens associated with the Pennsylvania Historical; Commission are: Chairman, Mrs. Eliza Lomis; Vice Chairman, A. M. Smith, Clyde A. Dunkel, C. C. Baker, H. O. Chubb, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Clemson, Mrs. O. J. Cooper, Rev. N. L. Davidson, Mr. and Mrs. A. F. Enders; H. L. Fetterhoff, V. P. Fetterhoff, Mrs. P. C. Fox, J. F. Hoffman, Walter J. Loomis, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. McFadden, Rev. H. C. Mathias, John C. Miller, Mr. and Mrs. John F. Poffenberger, Mr. and Mrs. J. Russell Poffenberger, A. H. Prenzel, Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Rickert, John W. Schell, Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Shope, David G. Sweigard, Mrs. R. A. Shumaker, Mr. and Mrs. T. R. Shuman, Mrs. A. M. Smith, Mrs. Bertha Spahr, and Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Willits.
The program is in charge of Chairmen Colonel Henry W. Shoemaker, of McElhattan, and Mrs. Donald Carr, President of the Society of Pennsylvania Women in New York, and is as follows:
- Invocation to the Great Spirit….. Indian Chief Strongwolf
- Presentation of Deed of Gift for the Site of the Marker….. Henry A. Kelker Jr.
- Acceptance of the Marker….. The Chairman of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission
- Unveiling of the Marker….. Miss Florence Wallace Hamilton
- Historical Addresses….. A. Boyd Hamilton; Albert Cook Myers, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission
- Address….. Hon. John E. Fox, Judge of the Courts of Dauphin County
- Address….. Indian Chief Strongwolf
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And, from the Lykens Standard, 21 May 1926:
UNVEIL MARKER NEAR LOCATION OF FORT HALIFAX
Pioneers of Upper Dauphin County who were dependent for protection upon Fort Halifax, the connecting link between Harris Ferry and Fort Augusta, during early Colonial days, were honored Saturday when a marker was unveiled near the site of the fort. Fort Halifax played an important part in the early settlement of this county, especially during the French and Indian War from 1756 to 1763. A garrison was stationed there to protect supply trains going to Fort Augusta, which is not Sunbury, and also to patrol the mountain district to Manada Gap.
The marker, which consists of a large boulder brought from peters Mountain and a bronze tablet, is situated along the highway a short distance north of Halifax and is within 500 feet of the site of the fort.
Strongwolf Speaks Out
Strongwolf, a Ojibway Indian and a graduate of the Carlisle Indian School and World War veteran, was a speaker. He made a plea for the development of a real Christian brotherhood, so that future wars could be averted. An Indian chief from Wisconsin in full regalia opened the exercises.
Unveils Tablet
The tablet was unveiled by Florence Wallace Hamilton, of Harrisburg, a descendant of the early military families who were prominent in organizing the chain of defense forts. Boy Scouts from the city formed the escort and blasts from their bugles greeted the unveiling.
Henry A. Kelker Jr., owner of the farm where the marker is situated gave the deed for the ground which was accepted by Dr. Albert Cook Myers, Secretary of the State Historical Commission, and Mrs. Donald Carr, New York, president of the Society of Pennsylvania Women in New York, which is aiding in the marking of historic sites.
A history of the fort, the events leading up to its establishment, and the part played in defending the countryside from raids by the Indians was given by A. Boyd Hamilton, of Harrisburg. Records in the State Library were quoted to substantiate the establishment of the fort.
Dr. Thomas Lynch Montgomery, former State librarian and curator of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and Captain F. A. Godcharles, historian of the Susquehanna, were other speakers. Bishop James Henry Darlington, of the Harrisburg Diocese of the Episcopal Church, pronounced the benediction.
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Photo from 2019. News article from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.
[Indians]