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Allen County, Indiana Genealogy
Forts of Fort Wayne
Jump to sections on this page: Maumee Towns, 1794 Fort Wayne, French Forts 1 & 2, Last French Fort, Fort Wayne Forts 3, 4, & 5, Historic Fort Wayne, Historic Fort Wayne Markers, Old Fort Park, Old Fort Place, Replica Historic Fort Wayne.
"Construction of Forts against Indians" Description: Anonymous author suggests the best type of fortification to defend against the Native Americans and describes a square or pentagon shaped fort with two-story blockhouses and a ditch around it. The author also considers making room for traders' houses and stores and suggests a location for ammunition storage.
Date: [1785-1786?], Subject: Fortification--Northwest, Old Source Collection. Northwest Territory Collection, 1721-1825 at the Indiana Historical Society.
1913, February 8 - Full page newspaper article shows map of three rivers and Some Historic Places in the City of Fort Wayne Over Which Flags of Four Nations Have Floated and continued on page 11 column 1 Some Historic Places in The City of Fort Wayne. Clipped from The Fort Wayne Sentinel 08 Feb 1913, Saturday, page 9. Clipped by StanFollisFW on 18 Feb 2022.
Kekionga, Miamitown, Three Rivers, The Portage and Fort Wayne are names given by the Indians, the French, the British, and finally the Americans. See our page Indians - Native Americans of Allen County, Indiana.
Five forts were built all located within a square mile of the center of the current city of Fort Wayne. The current fort is a replica of the 1815 "Whistler's Fort." The reason for the first fort was to protect the fur trade.
THE LOCATION OF THE FORTS. "The exact spot, or, rather the very bounds of the fort grounds are not, at this distant...
Posted by Military History of Fort Wayne on Thursday, December 30, 2021December 30, 2021 post by the Military History of Fort Wayne on Facebook:
THE LOCATION OF THE FORTS.
"The exact spot, or, rather the very bounds of the fort grounds are not, at this distant period, to be ascertained; but enough is certainly known to advise the interested that the ground selected for this [Wayne's] fort is that which is designated on the city of Fort Wayne as lots 11, 12 and 13, within Taber's addition, laid out 15th April, 1835, being at the northwest corner of Clay and Berry streets, near where Clay street crosses the canal [Nickel Plate railroad tracks] at the Maumee bridge [then at Main street] just below the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's. [Lot 11 is now occupied by the new building of the Western Newspaper Union, erected in 1916. Calvin K. Rieman states that when his father purchased this lot in the seventies and commenced an excavation on the property, he dug out the fragment of a pole, set deep in the ground, which the late Franklin P. Randall believed to be the flagpole of Wayne's original fort. Mr. Dawson, writing in 1872, says that this stump of a pole was doubtless the remnant of one of the liberty poles erected by the whigs in honor of General Harrison in the summer of 1840, when "this place, as others in the west, ran up so many poles that the traveler approaching the town was reminded of the spars of shipping in some harbor."] This [Wayne's] fort was of log construction, well located but not very safe. The location commanded the Maumee for half a mile below the junction, and the mouth of the St. Joseph and the St. Mary's. It was small, and, not serving the purpose, was torn down about 1804 [really in 1800] and a new one built on what is now lot 40, in the addition named above [Taber's] by Colonel [Thomas] Hunt. [Lot 40 is almost identical with Old Fort park. It seems very probable that the troops occupied the original fort during the period of construction of the second fort, so there were two American forts standing at the same time, [separated by perhaps three hundred feet of space.] This was taken down in 1817 [really in 1815-1816] by Major Whistler and rebuilt in a most substantial manner. From the best information, it seems to have enclosed an area about 150 fee square in pickets ten feet high, and set in the ground, with a block house at the Southeast and Northwest corners, two stories high. The second floor projected and formed a bastion in each where the guns were rigged; that on the southeast commanding the south and east sides of the fort, and that on the northwest the north and west sides. The officers' quarters, commissary department and other buildings located in the different sides, formed a part of the walls, and in the center stood the different sides, formed a part of the walls, and in the center stood the liberty pole on which was placed a metal American eagle, and over that floated the Stars and Stripes of the United States.
"The plaza, in the enclosure was smooth and gravelly. The roofs of the houses all declined within the enclosure after the shed fashion, and to prevent the enemy from setting it on fire, and, if fired, to protect the men in putting it out; and the water which fell was led in nicely made wooden troughs, just below the surface of the ground, to the flagstaff, and from thence led by a sluiceway to the Maumee.
"It is thought it left out a small portion of the old ground [that is, when Major Whistler rebuilt the fort he did not include all of the ground covered by the fort as built by Colonel Hunt], for it is definitely known that the southwest corner of the new fort was exactly at the corner of lot 40, the pickets running south of east, toward John Brown's blacksmith shop, and near where the shop now stands [1858], and where was one of the forts [blockhouses]. The east side ran to a point on the north bank of the canal, then west to the second fort and then [south] to the place of beginning.
"The stone curbing of the old well may yet be seen [1858] in the edge of the south bank of the canal and near the northwest corner of the fort. [In June, 1847, the Fort Wayne city council paid Dennis Dumean $1.50 for "filling up well at old fort"]. The canal cut off the north end of the fort, by which the pickets were removed, and this ancient relic invaded about 1833.
"Commencing at the north and at the upper side of the fort was a fine wagon track that ran obliquely down the bank, landing near lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, Taber's addition, and just below and about the south end of the present bridge over the St. Mary's at that place. [The bridge, at that time, 1858. crossed the St. Mary's at Lafayette street. The lots mentioned compose the unoccupied south bank of the St. Mary's running east from the Spy Run bridge. This was known for many years as the pirogue landing.]
"The fort itself was one of the most substantially built in the west. Attached to it was the commanding officers' garden of about one acre, which was on the west, including what are now lots 35, 36, 37 and 38, Taber's addition. * * * The company's garden extended to the west of that of the commanding officer, and ended about where the Hedekin house now is [Barr street], embracing, perhaps, lots 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 26, 27, 28 and 29, County addition, and was most highly cultivated.
"The road ran about where the canal does now [right-of-way of the Nickel Plate railroad], from what is now the northeast corner of Columbia and Barr streets, eastward to the fort.
"To the south of the fort, where F. P. Randall, Esq., now lives [northwest corner of Lafayette and Berry streets), lots 35, 26 and 37, County addition, and lots 11, 12 and 13, Taber's addition, was a graveyard, where were buried many persons—officers, citizens and soldiers, who had theretofore died. [It will be observed that this graveyard included the area occupied by Wayne's fort.] * * * Another place of burial was that now occupied by the Times building [1858] and block contiguous—northeast corner of Columbia and Clinton streets, where many whites, children and Indians were from time to time buried—the bones of whom have been lifted as workmen have dug for foundations for building."
A later observation by the same writer is as follows: "The timbers [for the rebuilt fort] were cut by the troops on the grounds now [1858] held and occupied by H. B. Taylor, James Embry, Samuel Hanna, and that between here and there on the east of town. It was hauled by the aid of oxen, ropes used instead of chains, and raised by the troops into officers' quarters, commissary departments, blockhouses, etc. The pickets were 12½ feet long and were put in sets of six, with a cross-piece two feet from the top, let in and spiked, and a trench dug 2½ feet deep, into which they were raised. A part of the old was taken down at a time and replaced by the new. It was in this year [1815] that a small log house was built in what is now Barr street, near the corner of that and Columbia, and was located within range of the fort, that it might be razed if it were attacked by the enemy. This primitive building was afterward set out of the street and stood for a long time as a part of Washington hall [Ewing's Tavern], facing Barr street."
The late George W. Brackenridge thus described the appearance of the fort in 1830:
"Timbers of the old fort were standing in 1830. They were about a foot square, eight or ten feet high, pointed at the top. The stump of the flagpole was also in front of the two blockhouses which occupied the high ground at the east end of Main street, north side—both built of hewed logs. These buildings were two stories high, consisting of two large rooms below, same above, both lengthwise north and south. The one farthest from the street was taken down when the canal was dug. The other stood many years afterward, occupied by tenants. A blockhouse for storing arms and ammunition with an all-round over-jet second story, stood about seventy-five feet west of the two aforementioned."
Writing of 1838, John W. Dawson says: [ Page 235 Pictorial History ]
"A common road ran down along the canal and across the old fort ground, between the old well and the only building of the fort then standing. This building stood on the vacant ground [now Old Fort Park]; it was two-story, and had been changed from a shed to a conical roof. It had been used originally for officers' quarters. A broken pole stood in the center of the parade ground, on which the Federal flag had been originally hoisted. The pickets which had enclosed the ground had nearly all been removed, yet the line where they stood was marked. A post at the gateway at the southwest corner of the stockade on the alley between Berry and Wayne street, was standing. These pickets and the logs which had composed the other buildings within the pickets, had all been removed by the people for building purposes."
The last of the buildings was torn down in 1852. Early in that year enough of the original stockades and buildings remained to arouse a vigorous but ineffectual protest against their final destruction. In that year Dr. G. W. Bowen, writing in the Laurel Wreath, a local publication, gave utterance to his sentiments in verse. The title of the poem was, "Spare Wayne's Fort." The opening stanza follows:
Why tear it down and spare it not?
Are other days so soon forgot?
Are other scenes no more to be
Brought back to sweet, blessed memory?
And must those walls that served so well
To shield at night from savage foe
That daring band, be leveled low?
The silent truth forbid to tell!Source:
The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River Volume 1 by Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs, Publication date: 1917 on Archive.org
French Forts - 1 & 2
Fort Wayne’s first fort was built as a dream of the French, and especially the renowned 17th century explorer Robert Sieur de La Salle, to create a wilderness empire that arced through the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River valley from Quebec to New Orleans. Is the first sentence of the
First Fort of the Fort by Tom Castaldi, local historian posted October 9, 2014 on History Center Notes & Queries blog. Fort Miami (Indiana) at Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Site of Fort Miamis Indiana. Fort Wayne
by Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection
Publication date 1963 on Archive.org
A Fort Miamis marker installed in 2000 by the Indiana Historical Bureau and Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Indiana at Guldin Park shown bottom right, near Van Buren Street Bridge, SW corner, and St. Mary's River boat ramp at Michaels Avenue. See also Google map Street View. This Marker replaces the First White Settlement Marker shown in the 1963 Monuments and Plaques Markers in City Parks book. The marker Site of Fort Miamis is no longer standing shown on left. It was installed in 1948 by the Indiana Historical Bureau and stated: First white settlement in Indiana; fortified by French by 1712. Located among the Miami Indians. Burned in 1747 and rebuilt on St. Joseph River
from Indiana Historical Markers. There was also an 1983 DAR marker shown in a Google map photo.
Indiana Historical Bureau photo
On Side one:
French built a palisaded fort on this strategic site in 1722; named Fort Saint Philippe des Miamis. One of three French forts built in what is now Indiana to protect French fur trade from encroaching English. First of five forts built over time within a square mile of the center of present-day Fort Wayne.
Side two:
Nearby confluence of St. Mary's and St. Joseph's rivers forms Maumee River, a strategic central part of the waterways system connecting Great Lakes regions with Mississippi River Valley. Using a portage between Maumee and Wabash rivers, travelers could journey nearly 2,500 miles by water from French Canada to Louisiana.
A December 14, 2019 post by the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology on Facebook stated: Check out these eighteenth century artifacts (including three trade beads in the top row) recovered from archaeological investigations regarding the first French fort (Fort St. Philippe des Miamis) in Fort Wayne. You can read more about this interesting project, which received federal financial assistance from the Historic Preservation Fund, in the 2009 Indiana Archaeology (Volume 4, Number 1) Journal article beginning on page 108 at Archaeology Publications at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
The article on page 108 is titled: ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF FORT ST. PHILIPPE DES MIAMIS (1722) AND THE FIRST AMERICAN FORT (1794) IN FORT WAYNE, INDIANA Christopher R. Andres, Dorothea McCullough, Michael Strezewski, and Robert G. McCullough Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Archaeological Survey (IPFW-AS) Fort Wayne, IN.
Last French Fort
An October 16, 2022 post on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook shared an October 15, 2015 post by Hofer and Davis, Inc. Land Surveyors on Facebook showing a newspaper ad Do You Know That Fort Wayne Was Once a French Fort!
with a map showing 1750 Post Miami stating: For Throwback Thursday, we thought you all might enjoy the first in a series run around late April of 1937 as advertising for Wolf and Dessauer (Iconic Fort Wayne Department Store) in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. As noted the information was gathered from author B.J. Griswold's "History of Fort Wayne". This is Number One in a 10 part series, so keep an eye out next Thursday for Number 2. As a sidebar, these were undated, so we researched dates from pieces of articles which appear on the flip side.
Number 2 of the 10 part series was April 1937 on The Tragic History of Ensign Robert Holmes. posted October 22, 2015 by Hofer and Davis, Inc. Land Surveyors on Facebook and again October 22, 2022 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook. It also says Wolf & Dessauer had the first delivery truck in Fort Wayne. The Murder of Holmes
is discussed on page 60 of The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River by Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs, Publication date 1917 on Archive.org.
Maumee Towns
Miamis, Shawnees, and Delawares camps shown in View of the Maumee Towns Destroyed by General Harmar October 1790 Map of Kekionga, before its destruction, drawn by Ebenezer Denny ,1761-1822, Osprey Publishing as File:Map of Kekionga.jpg from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. See our page Indians - Native Americans of Allen County, Indiana.
1795 Old Miami Town is north across the Maumee River from Fort Wayne is shown in File:Fort Wayne 1795.jpg on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia above. A larger zoomable 1795 map is at Indiana Fort Wayne : ms. map of Fort Wayne said to have been made on July 18, 1795, for General Anthony Wayne at The Library of Congress. Notes states: "Fort Wayne ... the first American post, built in 1794 and named for Anthony Wayne after his victory at Fallen Timbers, was located across the St. Marys from the old Miami village of Kekionga and the remains of old Fort Miami, at the present intersection of Clay and Berry streets"--Ency. of Historic Forts, p. 281-282. Read page 280: Encyclopedia of historic forts : the military, pioneer, and trading posts of the United States by Roberts, Robert B Publication date 1988 on Archive.org. See our page General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Fort Wayne Fort which includes the 1795 map on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Fort Wayne Forts 3, 4, & 5
1794 Fort Wayne
THE FIRST FORT--We know there is confusion about Fort Wayne, and we'd like to clear it up. Historic Fort Wayne is a...
Posted by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne Organization, Inc on Thursday, December 30, 2021Thursday, December 30, 2021 post by the General "Mad" Anthony Wayne Organization, Inc on Facebook:
THE FIRST FORT--We know there is confusion about Fort Wayne, and we'd like to clear it up. Historic Fort Wayne is a wonderful recreation of the fort rebuilt in 1815-1816 by Major John Whistler, the Fort's Commandant. The first fort was ordered by General Wayne in 1794, on the high ground overlooking the confluence of the Saint Mary's and Saint Joseph Rivers, and the Miami Tribe's "town" of Kekionga; it was dedicated on October 22, 1794, the day after the General left. A marker at the corner of what is now the intersection of Berry Street and Clay Street, seen in the photo below, shows the location of that original fort. That version of the fort was hastily built, leading to it being reconstructed four years later. Colonel Joseph Hunt began the rebuild with a second fort at the Three Rivers in 1798, two years after the General's death. It was built on the site just east, and slightly south, of FWFD Fire Station #1, downtown on Main Street. So, the Historic Fort Wayne on Spy Run is a replica of and modeled after Whistler's fort, the third fort built in the area to honor early settlers and soldiers.
October 22, 2018 post by Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook:
On October 22, 1794, Fort Wayne was dedicated.
Following General Anthony Wayne's victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, the Legion of the United States under Wayne's command moved into present-day Indiana. Wayne selected a site for a fort at the Miami town of Kekionga.
The site was strategically and militarily located at the confluence of the St. Joseph, Saint Mary's, and Maumee Rivers. Wayne sought to exert American influence and control in the region over the claims of indigenous peoples and the British. Major John F. Hamtramck was placed in command of 100 soldiers stationed at the fort.
Learn more about Fort Wayne here: Anthony Wayne’s fort by ARCH ( Architecture and Community Heritage) which includes a location map from page 138 of Griswold's Pictorial History of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The image shows "A Reproduction of the Only Existing Original Drawing of Old Fort Wayne Made by Major Whistler in 1816" on page 156 in Griswold's book.
John F. Hamtramck, at Fort Wayne two page letter at the New York Public Library Digital Collections
More easily read as a flip book.
Following the arrival of the Legion of the United States at the Confluence of the Three Rivers in September 1794,...
Posted by The History Center on Tuesday, October 22, 2019Tuesday, October 22, 2019 post by The History Center on Facebook:
Following the arrival of the Legion of the United States at the Confluence of the Three Rivers in September 1794, General Anthony Wayne ordered the first American fortification in present day Allen County built across the river from the Miami Indian village of Kekionga, now the northwest corner of Berry and Clay Streets. Exactly 225 years ago today, on October 22, 1794 the completed fort was dedicated with a military parade and the firing of 15 cannon rounds representing the 15 states of the union. The date was selected because it marked the four year anniversary of the defeat of American forces under the command of General Josiah Harmar by the Miami under the command of Chief Little Turtle at the Battle of Kekionga. Following the ceremonies, Wayne departed, leaving the fort under the command of Colonel John Francis Hamtramck, who chose the name “Fort Wayne” in honor of his military commander. Today we celebrate the 225th anniversary of the dedication of Fort Wayne! #sociallyhistory
- Anthony Wayne’s fort by Tom Castaldi, local historian on ARCH ( Architecture and Community Heritage).
- Whistler and the Last Two American Forts at the Three Rivers by Tom Castaldi, local historian published June 26, 2014 in the History Center Notes & Queries blog.
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May 19, 2016 post by the Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook:
The man who helped build Fort Wayne is related to the famous "Whistler's Mother."
Learn how with our new Blogging Hoosier History post: Whistler’s Mother… Actually, Grandfather by Tom Castaldi, local historian published May 19, 2016 on Indiana Historical Bureau blog.
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Was the artist or his parents in Fort Wayne?
The last paragraph of Blogging Hoosier History states: After the Battle of Fallen Timbers, John Whistler and his wife resided in the garrison at Fort Wayne, and here, in 1800, George Washington Whistler was born, one of fifteen children. George became “Whistler’s Father” the father of James Abbott McNeill Whistler whose renowned oil on canvas, “Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother,” is known to the world as “Whistler’s Mother.” [ accessed January 26, 2024 ]
James McNeill Whistler under Heritage states: James Abbott Whistler was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on July 10, 1834, [4][5][6] the first child of Anna McNeill Whistler and George Washington Whistler. Accessed January 26, 2024 on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
George Washington Whistler (May 19, 1800 – April 7, 1849) was a prominent American civil engineer best known for building steam locomotives and railroads.[2] He is credited with introducing the steam whistle to American locomotives.[3] Did he name it
whistle
from his name Whistler? Accessed January 26, 2024 on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.Born in 1800, George Washington Whistler was a West Point graduate. A soldier, draftsman, engineer and builder with a knack for constructing railroads, he is credited with bringing the steam whistle to American locomotives. So wide was his renown in 1842— about the time of this little painting—that Czar Nicholas I hired him to build the Moscow-St. Petersburg railway. George Washington Whistler died there doing so, much too young, in 1849.
Copied from Getting to Know Whistler’s Father Whistler’s mother is a superstar. But the painter’s dad has languished in obscurity—until now, Jeff MacGregor, June 2014 on Smithsonian Magazine.The local Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society promotes their society with the video Listen for the Whistle. See our Railroad page.
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December 30, 2021 post by the General "Mad" Anthony Wayne Organization, Inc on Facebook:
Does the name "Whistler" sound familiar? Major John Whistler was Commandant of Fort Wayne at the time the third fort was built in 1815-1816. The fort that Whistler had built was the last in the Three Rivers Region, and on April 19, 1819, was abandoned by the U.S. Army. The name "Whistler" may sound familiar because Major John Whistler was the father of George Washington Whistler, and the grandfather of James Abbott McNeill Whistler whose oil painting on canvas became known to the world as "Whistler's Mother". (Image courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria.)
[ If
Whistler's mother
is the mother of the artist and he was a grandson of the Commandant, this means she was the daughter-in-law of the Commandant since she was the wife of the son of Commandant Major John Whistler ] -
January 26, 2024 post by A Daily Dose of History on Facebook:
James McNeil Whistler submitted his painting titled “Arrangement in Grey and Black” to the Royal Academy of Art, seeking to have it exhibited at the 104th Exhibition of the Academy in London in 1872. The Academy was not impressed, however, and had decided to reject the painting, before relenting and grudgingly accepting it after the director of the National Gallery, Sir William Boxall, threatened to resign if Whistler’s painting was not included in the exhibition.
Unwilling to display a portrait titled an “arrangement,” the Academy added an explanatory subtitle and displayed it (in the back of the gallery) as “Arrangement in Gray and Black: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother.” Of course it is known today as “Whistler’s Mother,” one of history’s most famous paintings.
Whistler was living in London when he created the painting, having moved to Europe to pursue a career as an artist after being expelled from West Point. According to Whistler, after a model he had hired failed to show up for an appointment, he asked his 67-year-old mother to stand in for her. With no intention of doing so, he ended up creating one of the iconic representations of motherhood.
In 1891 Whistler pawned the painting, and it was purchased by a Paris museum. Today it is displayed at the Musée d’Orsay. It is widely considered to be the most famous painting by an American artist held by a museum outside of the United States.
- Map Fort Wayne in 1815 page 176 in the book The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River by Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs, Publication date 1917.
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On this day in 1803 (April 13, 1803) John Johnston and his wife, Rachel Hoping Robinson Johnston, lost $414.50 when the...
Posted by Johnston Farm & Indian Agency on Saturday, April 13, 2024Saturday, April 13, 2024 post by the Johnston Farm & Indian Agency on Facebook:
On this day in 1803 (April 13, 1803) John Johnston and his wife, Rachel Hoping Robinson Johnston, lost $414.50 when the Factor’s house at Fort Wayne was burnt down along with much of the nearby Factory or government warehouse. Several Indians were arrested. The one who set fire to it admitted the act had been committed at the instigation of Canadian or British traders who resented the US government's interference with established trade in the area.
Color photo is of the restored fort, which can be visited today.
https://www.fortwayneparks.org/index.php?? #piquaohio #Piqua #historichouses
#19thcenturyhistory #historichouse #19thcenturyhistorynerd #miamicoutyohio #oldfortwayne
The last fort built here was constructed in 1816 by Maj. John Whistler about where Cinema Center stands now on East Berry Street. Today’s replica, built in 1976, is a copy of Whistler’s design.
From Nonprofit makes history at old fort Builds on revival begun 9 years ago March 3, 2013 by Dan Stockman of The Journal Gazette newspaper.-
October 22, 2015 post by the Indiana Bicentennial Commission on Facebook:
Happy Birthday to the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana!
Fort Wayne was officially dedicated on October 22, 1794. Construction began on the new fort named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne at the confluence of the St. Joseph, Saint Mary's, and Maumee Rivers.
You can learn more about General Wayne and the history of Fort Wayne by checking out Historic Fort Wayne. You can also read Richard Battin's fascinating article "Gen. Anthony Wayne helped the nation grow west" here: Gen. Anthony Wayne helped the nation grow west
- John Johnston - Letter from Fort Wayne, September 30, 1804 posted September 30, 2015 on Johnston Farm & Indian Agency on Facebook.
- The Old Fort - 1816: Frontier Fort to Statehood at The Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
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May 17, 2013 post by the original Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana page on Facebook:
The History Center has a wonderful collection of historical images. Because the society was founded in 1921, it acquired many invaluable artifacts from the children and grandchildren of Fort Wayne's earliest pioneers. Its photographic collection is full of treasures, and one item in particular of special value is a daguerreotype of a blockhouse from the old 1816-era fort, actually one of two daguerreotypes of it in the collection.
In the fall of 1852, Charles C. Stevens stopped by the crumbling building and photographed his friends seated in front. Located on Main Street near the present site of Fire Station No. 1, the old fort had been abandoned by the U. S. Army garrison in 1819. During the ensuing years several families lived in the structures, including, it is said, some Irish immigrants, but the structures soon became derelict. By the 1850s, little of the fort was left. The pallisades were long gone, and scavengers had taken for souvenirs many of the original timbers. Local residents used other pieces apparently as building mateirals and beams in local houses, including the Merchant Huxford house on Spy Run Avenue, which is still standing.
[ text and photo was copied from A Daguerreotype of the Fort by John Beatty posted October 28, 2010 on the History Center Notes & Queries blog. Is also shown as a drawing in the pictorial history book below. ]
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RUINS OF THE LAST BLOCKHOUSE OF OLD FORT WAYNE, IN 1852.
As far as the writer has been able to learn, the original daguerreotype from which the above pen drawing was made is the only existing photographic picture of any of the buildings which formed a part of old Fort Wayne. The daguerreotype Is owned by Mrs. Adam Link, of Fort Wayne, who says of It:
"The picture was made by Charles Stevens, of Kennebunk Port, Maine, who was here as the guest of his cousin. Mrs. O. L. Starkey, my mother, who was then Miss Hannah Fairfield. On the day the picture was made, 'Charley' Munson (later prominent in the affairs of the county, but then a mere lad) was driving his cow to the pasture In 'the old apple orchard," in the present Lakeside. My mother and several others joined him for a walk. When they reached the ruined blockhouse, Mr. Stevens made the picture. The man at the top Is John Fairfield, my uncle. The others, from left to right, are Amanda Henderson (Mrs. Bloomhuff) Addle Fairfield (Mrs. H. .T. Ash). Priscilla Fairfield (Mrs. A. S. Hall), Hannah Fairfield (Mrs. O. L. Starkey), and 'Charley' Munson."
Miss Lizzie Johnson Says: "I am certain this building was torn down in 1852. On returning from a vacation in the summer of that year, we found everybody saying: 'They've torn down the old fort.'"
B. G. Anderson says of this building: "When we children came to Fort Wayne In 1846, with my father, Calvin Anderson, first landlord of the Hedekin house, this log building was still in good repair and was occupied by two Irish families. The Carroll family and Mr. Donovon, with his children. Tim, Mich and Ellen, were the last to make their homes In the historic structure. The building faced the east, overlooking the Maumee."
John H. Jacobs, of Spy Run avenue, also remembers this building well, as It was standing when he came to Fort Wayne. At the present time, there Is a general feeling of deep regret that the fort was allowed to go into decay. The older residents explain the matter by the statement that the course of the Wabash and Erie canal required the destruction of one of the blockhouses and a palisade section, and that In the later years the ruined, dilapidated buildings became the rendezvous of undesirable citizens. The last building, shown in the Illustration, was torn down by John Fairfield In 1852. Some of the wood was made into walking sticks which are preserved as relics.
The discussion referenced the Old Apple Orchard discussed in our Apple Tree article.
See our Huxford House section on possible old fort remnant timbers.
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Page 235 of The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River Volume 1 by Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs, Publication date: 1917 on Archive.org.
The late George W. Brackenridge thus described the appearance of the fort in 1830 :
"Timbers of the old fort were standing in 1830. They were about a foot square, eight or ten feet high, pointed at the top. The stump of the flagpole was also in front of the two blockhouses which occupied the high ground at the east end of Main street, north side — both built of hewed logs. These buildings were two stories high, consisting of two large rooms below, same above, both lengthwise north and south. The one farthest from the street was taken down when the canal was dug. The other stood many years afterward, occupied by tenants. A blockhouse for storing arms and ammunition with an all-round over-jet second story, stood about seventyfive feet west of the two aforementioned."
Writing of 1838, John W. Dawson says :
"A common road ran down along the canal and across the old fort ground, between the old well and the only building of the fort then standing. This building stood on the vacant ground [now Old Fort Park] ; it was two-story, and had been changed from a shed to a conical roof. It had been used originally for officers' quarters. A broken pole stood in the center of the parade ground, on which the Federal flag had been originally hoisted. The pickets which had enclosed the ground had nearly all been removed, yet the line where they stood was marked. A post at the gateway at the southwest corner of the stockade on the alley between Berry and Wayne
street, was standing. These pickets and the logs which had composed the other buildings within the pickets, had all been removed by the people for building purposes."
The last of the buildings was torn down in 1852. Early in that year enough of the original stockades and buildings remained to arouse a vigorous but ineffectual protest against their final destruction. In that year Dr. G. W. Bowen, writing in the Laurel Wreath, a local publication, gave utterance to his sentiments in verse. The title of the poem was, "Spare Wayne's Fort." The opening stanza follows :
Why tear it down and spare it not?
Are other days so soon forgot?
Are other scenes no more to be
Brought back to sweet, blessed memory?
And must those walls that served so well
To shield at night from savage foe
That daring band, be leveled low?
The silent truth forbid to tell ! - See Fort Wayne Facts on City of Fort Wayne.
- Gen. Anthony Wayne helped the nation grow west by Richard Battin published January 24, 1994 in archives of The News-Sentinel newspaperincludes a reading list of books.
- October 30, 2013 - Fort Wayne is the answer on the Jeopardy television show
A log stockade made by a certain mad revolutionary war general in 1794 gave this city his name
. See October 30, 2013 photo on Visit Fort Wayne Tweet on Twitter and Mitch Harper Tweet.Cool! RT @EricDoot "What is Fort Wayne?" The Summit City hits true Daily Double status Wednesday night on @Jeopardy! pic.twitter.com/IVLbsUIaSN
— Visit Fort Wayne (@VisitFortWayne) October 31, 2013
Historic Fort Wayne Markers
Old Fort Wayne Well
Old Fort Wayne Well with photos is at The Historical Marker Datatbase HMdb.org situated on the site of the second and third military fortifications that were named Fort Wayne, a block north of the historical marker for the first Fort Wayne (Stop #10). The Old Fort Well was dedicated September 12, 1960 on what was the location of Old Fort Park. Photo OLD FORT WALL (RESTORED). OLD FORT PARK, EAST MAIN STREET AT CLAY STREET. DEDICATED SEPTEMBER 12, 1960. MONUMENTS, PLAQUES, MARKERS IN CITY PARKS. at the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library.
Old Fort Park
Page 225, NOTES ON CHAPTER XVII. (3) Me-te-a died in Fort Wayne in 1827. The late Louis Peltier made the casket in which the body was buried. Peltier, who was born within the walls of the old fort, in 1815, conceived brush to grain the coffin.' " the idea of his life work while assisting to remove the skeletons of the fort soldiers from the military cemetery which was situated in the region of the "junction of the present Berry and Clay streets. This was while Mr. Peltier still was in his teens, and was engaged in learning the carpenter and cabinet- making trade with James Wilcox, whose shop was also the first under-taking establishment in Fort Wayne. In the beginning the undertaker was also the coffinmaker. The first person whose body Louis Peltier made the burial casket was Chief Me-te-a, whose tragic death was the result of taking - poison while conversing with friends in the silversmith shop of "Father" Be- quette. From the January (1880) issue of "The Casket," an undertakers' Jour-nal Published at Rochester, N. Y., the following interesting additional Infor-mation is taken:
"The coffine was of poplar and, as staing material was scarce at that time, Dr. Cushman furnished Venetian red. 'To gain the dark colr', said Mr. Petier, 'we burned oat straw and then secured General Tipton's whitewash brush to grain the coffin.'"
Soon after the burial of Me-te-a, Dr. Lewis G. Thompson had the body ex-humed in order to make an examination of the remains. "A noise was heard." says the late John W. Dawson, "which the company thought to be Indians: and. as they knew the savages were greatly hostile to such disinterments, they were at once panic stricken, and, quickly blowing out their lights, fled to the brush to await the denouement. False as the alarm proved to be. they were nevertheless suspicious of the nearness of danger. So, returning to the grave, they re-buried the body."
From The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River by Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs, Publication date: 1917 on Archive.org.
1913 postcard Scene in Old Fort Park
The first city park, Old Fort Park, was established in 1863 when the city purchased a fractional lot No. 40, Taber's addition from Harry Seymour for $800, and Henry Williams placed an iron fence around the lot and erected a flag pole.
Photos and discussion about early parks in a May 17, 2022 post by The History Center on Facebook. The Wabash & Erie Canal built in the 1830s, was replaced in the 1850s with railroad tracks that ran along the north side of the park. The downtown Main Street Firestation # 1 is just west of this location.
Last remant is the wishing well at Fire Station # 1 on Main Street. Read Fort Wayne’s First Park by Tom Castaldi published May 8, 2014 in History Center Notes & Queries blog. See photo and discussion of old cannon at the park posted November 28, 2017 on Fort Wayne Food Tours on Facebook whose dedication was in 1900 mentioned on page 542 of Griswold's 1917 Pictorial. In the 1875 September 8 Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel is a short article hoping the city council will put the old fort property in good order by cleaning out the old well General Wayne ordered dug, as well as restoring a model of the fort, then landscaping and maintaing the property. No longer online, need to make a copy! Google map Street View shows current location on East Main Street at Clay Street. There are several photos at the Allen County Community Album such as the Old Fort Park, 1941, Spanish Cannon original site - Clay and Main (Old Fort Park), Spanish Cannon in Old Fort Park, Railroads, Fort Wayne IN: looking west from Old Fort Park, showing Union Pacific car, piles of culverts inside, Railroads, Fort WayneIN: looking west from Clay Street next ot Old Fort Park, showing tracks, cars, switch , and plaque of the old fort along the river on Old Fort Wayne on pedestal in Harman Park that held statue of Anthony Wayne - 1973 . Several recent photos of the wishing well were posted August 6, 2017 and the 1941 photo of the park was discussed March 31, 2019 on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook. A couple ACPL photos posted February 19, 2024 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook
Old Fort Place
Was the block between Lafayette and Clay Street that began disappearing with the Nickel Plate Elevation in early 1950s. Photo and discussion November 19, 2017 on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook.
Historic Fort Wayne
Extracts from the diary of one of his captains were published in the Fort Wayne Gazette eighty years ago.
Merchant-Huxford House (520 Tennessee Ave.) is threatened with vacancy and decay. The house was the home of one of Fort Wayne's early mayors and legendarily contains timbers from the last fort in Fort Wayne.
from Endangered structures, Archie winners named published November 15, 2012 in The Journal Gazette newspaper but no longer online.- At the headwaters of the Maumee : a history of the forts of Fort Wayne, by Paul Woehrmann ; with an introd. by Richard C. Knopf, Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Society, 1971
- 1981 photos posted March 19, 2017 on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook.
- Indiana at 200 (5): Land of Three Rivers brief history of forts of Fort Wayne by Andrea Neal published August 12, 2013 on Indiana Policy.org.
- 2013, February 21 the old fort photos by Ashley Letourneau Photography blog
- The early history of Fort Wayne SUMMIT CITY HISTORY NOTES by Richard Battin published October 19, 1993 in The News-Sentinel newspaper.
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June 1, 2016 post by Historic Fort Wayne on Facebook:
1816: Frontier Fort to Statehood
June 11-12
A view of Fort Wayne in 1816
Major Francis Smith Belton (1791 - 1861) was a U.S. Army officer who served in a number of campaigns starting with the War of 1812. He had a fiery temperament and was twice convicted by court-martial. At least one case involved a dispute with a fellow officer. Both times he was reinstated to service.
In December 1816, while serving in NYC as a staff brevet major in the Dragoons, he was assigned as assistant inspector general to the post in Detroit. He arrived at Detroit on January 18, 1817 and spent the year based there but traveling to inspect the various Army posts reporting to Detroit. This picture is one of a series of five sketches he apparently made during this journey. The Fort Wayne view bears the date of 1816 and may either be an error or from an earlier unrecorded journey.
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For Wall of Fame Wednesday we share the inside cover of the 1967 "HISTORIC FORT WAYNE IN PICTURES" a Coloring Book. Stop...
Posted by Hofer and Davis,Inc. LAND SURVEYORS on Wednesday, March 27, 2019Wednesday, March 27, 2019 post by Hofer and Davis,Inc. LAND SURVEYORS on Facebook:
For Wall of Fame Wednesday we share the inside cover of the 1967 "HISTORIC FORT WAYNE IN PICTURES" a Coloring Book. Stop by at 1910 Saint Joe Center Road Suite 51 to see this...and sooooo much more! We'll even get your picture and add it to our album!
They posted many of the Coloring Book posts.
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January 8, 2020 post by Hofer and Davis, Inc. Land Surveyors on Facebook:
For "Wall of Fame" Wednesday we share another page from the 1967 coloring book HISTORIC FORT WAYNE IN PICTURES by the ALLEN COUNTY - FORT WAYNE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
[ Although the Indians had lived in peace and friendship with the French, the arrival of the English marked the beginning of troubled times. The English newcomers realized the importance of winning the Indians to their side if they were to gain contorl of the land around the threee rvers. The Indians were given guns and amunition and many deserted their French friends to aid the British. Thus it was that the French Post Miami was burned by the Indians in 1747. ]
- The fort at the three rivers (1968) - Snow, Dorothea J., 1909-, "A project of Pi Chapter, Psi Iota Xi Sorority and the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society in cooperation with the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County."
- Fort Wayne, the frontier post - Roberts, Bessie K, reprint of her Historical Fort Wayne, 1682-1933 (1933)
- Outpost in the Wilderness: Fort Wayne, 1706-1828 by Charles Poinsatte, Allen County, Fort Wayne Historical Society, 1976 read online at the Gutenberg Project.
- There is a book Five Forts by John Ankenbruck, 1972, The News Publishing Co., Fort Wayne, Indiana 48601.
- Historic Fort Wayne has a YouTube channel
- March 23, 2017 a post by Historic Fort Wayne on Facebook posted a television screen shot:
Big Bang Theory held their version of March Madness, with a ‘Elite Eight’ bracket for best Fort. Looks like we lost out to Fort Knox. Fort Cozy McBlanket won. How is your bracket doing?
- Fort Wayne History at Visit Fort Wayne.
- Fort Wayne on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
- Forts of Fort Wayne on Wikipedia
- Fort Wayne on FortWiki.com
- City of Fort Wayne wins All America City in 2009 for 3rd time, is in Hall of Fame for 1982 and 1998 sponsored by the National Civic League
- City of Fort Wayne celebrates April 12, 2008 as the million dollar winner in ABC's
- Learn about the Past at Fort Wayne’s Old Fort by Kayleen Reusser published April 11, 2015 on The Indiana Insider Blog.
- Model in 1976 punch out and assemble. Photos posted April 20, 2017 on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook.
- Kekionga on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
- Test Your Knowledge of the Fort Wayne Old Fort! posted by Louisa D. on July 29, 2016 the Visit Fort Wayneblog.
- The Old Council Housewas a large two-story log building built in 1804 for hosting the Native leaders by Tom Castaldi published January 30, 2014 and again June 12, 2014 in the History Center Notes & Queries blog.
- Video posted April 9, 2017 by Tom Mauger on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook
- Colonial America on the Frontier 1775 - 1783: Reenacting in Fort Wayne, Indiana by Historical Ken published August 7, 2017 on PassionForThePast blog.
- July 30, 2022 discussion about the forts and General Anthony Wayne on Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne Private Facebook Group