A very valuable map of the Province of New York, by Claude Joseph Sauthier, drawn for Major-general William Tryon in 1779, is found in "The Documentary History of New York," showing the Mohawk Valley grants, old forts, etc. Fort Paris, Dec. 19, 1776, Captain Christian Getman's Rangers, Tryon County militia, were stationed at Stone Arabia, and were ordered, when not ranging, to cut timber for building a fort, under direction of Isaac Paris, Esq. (Mr. Paris was in Provincial Congress and later in State Senate.) It was a palisaded enclosure of stone and block-houses for a garrison of from two to three hundred (200-300) men. Begun in December, 1776, it was completed in the spring of 1777. It was situated on a most beautiful plain three or four miles north-east of Fort Plain, one-half a mile north of Stone Arabia churches, twelve (12) rods from the road. North of it water would run into the Sacondaga, and thence into upper waters of the Hudson; south into Mohawk waters. It is easily reached from Palatine Bridge, and is nearly one thousand feet above sea-level. In the fall of 1779, Colonel Fred. Fisher (Visscher), of Third Regiment, Tryon County militia, was at Fort Paris. May 12, 1780, Colonel Jacob Klock, Second Regiment of Tryon County men, was there. June 24, 1780, General Robert Van Rensselaer, of Second Brigade of Albany militia, was ordered to Fort Paris. July 26, 1780, he left there (perhaps, however, to return), to assist the Canajoharie men at Fort Schuyler. When John Brown took command there I do not know. The conclusion of the matter of Oct. 19, 1780 was battle of Klock's Field or Fox's Mills. On that day and the 18th Sir John Johnson laid waste the whole of Stone Arabia district after burning Caughnawaga. Brown's defeat in the morning of October 19 did not, however, involve Fort Paris, which was held by Major Root. Although immediate relief of the fort and pursuit of Johnson were essential, Van Rensselaer did not cross the Mohawk until afternoon, crossing at Fort Plain. The enemy was entrenched on the north side of the river, about St. Johnsville, near a stockade or block-house at Klock's. Fort House, a small block-house, was the exact place where just before night a "smart brush" occurred between the British and the Americans under Colonel Dubois. Colonel Dubois took a position above Johnson, on the heights of the north side, to prevent his passage up the river. Colonel Harper, with the Oneida Indians, was on the south side of the river, nearly opposite. General Van The enemy camped on land of the late Judge Jacob G. Klock, I suppose, colonel of Second Regiment, Tryon County militia, and, "soon after the moon appeared," moved to a fording-place just above a well-known citizen's (Nathan Christie) residence, and retreated on the south side of the Mohawk, passing Oneida Castle, and pushing westward for Canaseraga on Chittenango Creek, near Lake Oneida. |