After breakfast, on the morning of our arrival at Whitehall, I rode to Fort Anne August 3, 1848 Village, eleven miles south, accompanied by the editor of the "Democrat,"' whose inland attentions and free communications of valuable knowledge concerning historical localities in the vicinity contributed much to the pleasure and instruction of the journey thither.
It is a pleasant little village, situated upon a gently undulating plain near the junction of Wood Creek and East Creek, and exhibited a charming picture of quiet and prosperity There I found a venerable kinsman, nearly eighty years of age, who, in the vigor of manhood, fifty years ago, purchased an extensive tract of land in this then almost unbroken wilderness.
His dwelling, store-house, and barns occupy the site of Fort Anne, the only traces of which are the stumps of the strong pine pickets with which it was stockaded. It was built by the English, under General Nicholson, in 1757, two years after the construction of Fort Edward. It was a small fortress, and was never the scene of any fierce hostility. Although ninety years had elapsed since its pickets were set in the ground, what remained of them
* D. S. Murray, Esq.
** William A. Moore, Esq., president of the Whitehall Bank.
*** This view is from the bridge which crosses Wood Creek, looking south. The distant building on the right is the dwelling of Mr. Moore. Nearer is his store-house, and on the left are his out-houses. The stumps of the pickets may be traced in a circular line from his dwelling along the road to the crook in the fence, and so on to the barns and in their yards.
Putnam and Rogers near Fort Anne.—Ambush of French and Indians. —Desperate Battle.—Perilous Situation of Putnam.
exhibited but slight tokens of decay, and the odor of turpentine was almost as strong and fresh when one was split as if it had been planted but a year ago.