Was the blockhouse built in 1722 still standing in 1788? This post will explore the question.
The original Clyde Blockhouse was built in 1722, and was only intended to be used for a few years. The lonely outpost, deep in the wilderness, would have only received repairs until about 1725, when much of the fur trade shifted to Oswego. After that, it is unlikely that the post would have been maintained.
The next phase of Blockhouse history occurred during the French & Indian War, when Sir William Johnson built a fort at or near the site in 1756. An Iroquois village was settled at or near the new fort, likely around the same time. The new fort was designed to have two blockhouses, and is believed to have been located on the west side of the mouth of Blockhouse Creek. It is not known if the 1722 blockhouse still stood in 1756 and, if it did, whether it was incorporated into the new fort. We are not even certain where the 1722 blockhouse stood. It was presumably erected along the Indian trail, which appears to have followed the toe of Tank Hill (Rees Hill) and crossed the Clyde River at a point immediately east of Blockhouse Creek.
A number of trade axes were recovered from the site on the west side of Blockhouse Creek during railroad construction in the 1850's, and written histories during the 19th Century generally placed the ruins of the blockhouse west of Blockhouse Creek. In about 1820, locals dug at the site in search of buried treasure. There is really no mention of a different location anywhere in the local history. Possibly due to a typographical error, more recent descriptions have placed the blockhouse east of Blockhouse Creek, and that is where the replica structure was built in 1975-76. Whether the 1722 blockhouse survived to be seen as late as the 1800's depends on how it was built, when it may have been repaired, as well as economic and diplomatic considerations.
The English built Fort Hunter in the Mohawk Valley in 1711. The five Dutch carpenters sent by Governor Hunter were directed to:
"build a Fort one hundred and fifty foot square the curtains made with Loggs of a foot square laid one upon another and pined together till they reach a height of twelve foot; at each corner a block-house twenty four foot square. Two storyes high, duble loopholes the rofe to be covered with boards and then shingled, the under most part or ground room to be nine foot high the upper eight foot, both well floured with boards, the logs of ye block house to be nine inches square and bedsteads and benches in each blockhouse for twenty men and in each blockhouse a chemney towards ye inside of ye said fort with scaffolds five foot wide along each curtain from one blockhouse to another. . ."
By 1720, Fort Hunter needed repair, being described by Governor Burnet as "quite decayed".
The 1722 blockhouse at Clyde was used regularly only until about 1727. During that time, it would have received regular maintenance. But, afterward it is unlikely to have received any maintenance up until the French and Indian War. Could the Clyde Blockhouse have had to survived roughly 30 years in the wilderness with no repair? A map of the area from about 1750 shows the Indian trail crossing the Clyde River, at the very site of the blockhouse, but does not show a blockhouse at the site. The lack of a structure shown on the map is not proof it wasn't there, but it's omission may indicate it was in a ramshackle condition.
Though it may seem improbable, it is not impossible that the 1722 blockhouse could survive a generation in the wilderness. There are a number of examples of wooden blockhouses that have stood the test of time, though most date to a much later period. There are two very old, original blockhouses that exist in the U.S. and Canada that are worth examining: Fort Halifax (Maine), built in 1754 and; Fort Edward (Nova Scotia), built in 1750. In each case, only a single blockhouse now stands at the site of a larger fortification.
The Fort Halifax blockhouse was built of hewn logs with dovetailed and pegged joints, and is approximately 20 feet square at the foundation and 27 feet square on the overhanging second story. The first floor walls are broken by a doorway and windows on the north and another window on the west; there are rifle ports in all four second floor walls and larger openings for cannon on the south, east, and north. The eastern and northern openings are positioned to provide enfilading fire along the palisade, which abutted the blockhouse at the center of those walls. A doorway in the east wall of the second floor probably gave access to a walkway along the palisade. Slots in the floor of the overhang allowed troops in the blockhouse to fire directly down on attackers.
The Fort Edward blockhouse was constructed of squared pine logs, nine inches high and six inches thick, laid horizontally. The blockhouse was relatively small, measuring 18 feet square in the lower story. The upper story overhung the lower by 17 inches on all sides. The timbers at the corners were simply halved and nailed together. This was an unusual method, and may have been used because this blockhouse was prefabricated and transported to the site by ship. Single loopholes were located 4-1/2 feet above the floor; there were 23 such rifle ports in the lower story and 24 in the upper. Eleven-inch wide boards that ran along the perimeter of the upper story could be removed to allow the defenders to fire down at attackers. The upper story also contained four cannon ports, one per side.
Sir William Johnson's instructions for the Seneca's fort, built only 14 miles from Clyde and immediately before, are not too different from those issued by Governor Hunter in 1711. Johnson ordered the fort to be:
"one hundred & fifty feet square, the Logs to be either Pine or Oak sixteen feet long, four feet of which to be set in the ground well rammed and pounded two sides of each log to be square so as they may stand close to each other proper Loop holes to be cut at four feet distance the height from the Ground to be left to the Indians, two good Block Houses to be built at either Gate of the opposite Corners each Block House to be 24 feet square below the upper part above the beams to project a foot so as men may fire down upon the enemy. You are to floor the Block Houses Shingle the Roofs & build a good sentry Box on the top of each house & two strong gates of oak Plank of three Inches thick to be set up in the properest places with strong Iron Hinges."
There is no description given of the size of the 1722 blockhouse at Clyde, although one person stated that it was "about 12 by 18, without chimney, with split logs for a floor." In about 1798, a man named Oliver Culver excavated the burned foundation logs of the Fort Schuyler blockhouse at Irondequoit Bay. This building had been erected in 1721, by the same men who built the original Clyde Blockhouse. The Fort Schuyler blockhouse was described as an oblong structure (i.e. rectangular) and of considerable size. It is therefore possible that the 1722 Clyde Blockhouse was rectangular, as described. Having served the Iroquois as a trading post for many years, the structure may have remained long after other parts of the fort were destroyed.
If the 1722 blockhouse was actually incorporated into the 1756 fort at Sodoms (Clyde), it would have been repaired as necessary. It is then possible to see how it could have stood until the Revolution.
The ruins of an identical fort with blockhouses, at Canadesaga (Geneva), were destroyed by American forces in 1779. The Clyde Blockhouse was used by British Loyalists and would have received at least some rudimentary repairs. Though it is thought to have been found by scouts from the Sullivan Expedition, there is no record that it was destroyed at that time.
After the Revolution, members of the Lessee Company squatted at the Blockhouse and probably kept it in repair until it was attacked by NYS Militia in 1788. During the fighting, the venerable blockhouse was burned. The ruins were plainly visible for years afterward, and gave Clyde the name "Block-House".
It is therefore possible that the ruins seen by early settlers were the original, 1722 blockhouse. And, it may well have been about 12 feet by 18 feet in size. If not, we can be quite certain that it was a 24' square structure, built in 1756.
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