Fort Allen

Fort Allen (also known as "Truby's Blockhouse") was a blockhouse or military structure that was built in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County in the Province of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania did not get statehood until 1787) by Colonel Christopher Truby. Fort Allen was a local safe place that held ammunition, guns, and housed militia in case of emergency. The threat at the time was Native American attacks, as many German settlers petitioned to the colonial government to erect protection. Between the years of 1773-1774, Lord Dunmore’s War reigned through the Ohio Valley Region and Northern Virginia and sparked many tensions between settlers and Native American tribes. Fort Allen was one of the many blockhouses that was constructed in the area. For example, just south of Fort Allen is Marchand’s blockhouse in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Marchand’s blockhouse stood for a more well-rounded use for education, religion, and protection for the locals. The house was kept by the Marchand family until 1865 as the new owners overtime preserved the 18th century style to this day. Unlike Marchand’s blockhouse, Fort Allen was demolished at an unknown point of time and what only remains in its presence is St. John's United Church of Christ Cemetery, Fort Allen Elementary, and a historical marker that was installed in its honor on July 14, 1947. On top of that, the area of Hempfield Township is also named after Fort Allen in remembrance. 

Fort Allen, the fort that has nothing left behind except a stone monument. The story of Fort Alllen begins in 1774, constructed right before the American Revolution. The fort was constructed for the protection of German pioneer settlers of Westmoreland County in fear of Native American attacks of Lord Dunmore’s War. Many people do not know of Lord Dunmore’s War, as it is squeezed in between the time period after the French and Indian War and right before the American Revolution. In most high school level courses and in general public history they tend to highlight only major conflicts in America. Fort Allen was also known as “Truby’s Blockhouse” as Colonel Christopher Truby or Trubee was the man that commanded the construction of the site and in charge of the local militia. More than 800 settlers petitioned for state aid protection from the nearby Native American attacks that hit close to home in Pittsburgh and parts of northern Virginia. A blockhouse can be defined as, “They were built into palisade walls on frontier forts, positioned alone on top of hills, used as look-out posts, and anywhere Soldiers needed a tough building for defense.” (U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center) In other words, blockhouses stored ammunition and provided adequate protection for the local militia to use in case of emergencies. Another similar blockhouse that stood not too far away was Marchand’s Blockhouse in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The comparison between the two is that Fort Allen was really a “Fort” whereas Marchand’s Blockhouse was just a fortified house. However, within that house lived Dr. Marchand, he was a physician of rare ability and held a good reputation within the community. He used part of his fortified house for a school, and for religious services on the Sabbath day. On top of that, he used the house for his medical practice and fortified his house in case of Native American attacks like Fort Allen. Today, people can still visit and live at Marchand’s Blockhouse on 11110 Old Trail Road. 

To simply define the war of Lord Dunmore’s War, it was mostly a land dispute between the British and the Iroquois Confederacy. The treaty that was signed, Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1768, surrendered land of the Iroquois south of the Ohio River to the British. However, other Native American tribes like the Shawnee, Delaware, and Mingo refused to give up their land to the “white-man” and took pride over their accestrial hunting land and fought back. This led to a string of battles over a year throughout the Ohio Valley Region; West Virginia, southwest Pennsylvania, and Ohio. In a second dispute, Royal Governor of Virginia John Murray, Fourth Earl of Dunmore, commissioned Dr. John Connolly to seize control of Pittsburgh. In January 1774, Connolly occupied the abandoned Fort Pitt and renamed it Fort Dunmore. He also ordered the forming of a militia to enforce Virginia law. Making Pittsburgh a part of Virginia at one point of time. He was shortly thereafter arrested and jailed at Hannah’s Town, Westmoreland County. He was released until his trial in April, and when he returned with 200 militia men, he forcibly seized control of Pittsburgh in accordance with Virginia’s charter and for the safety of the frontier. With the raised tension from Pittsburgh and the all around battles between the Natives and the frontiersmen of Virginia we then get such places like Fort Allen. 

To look at the other point of view, German pioneers of Westmorland County were not the only people in fear, Native Americans were too. These lands that were given up by the Iroquois were important sacred ground where these Native Americans thrived. At the time, Native Americans were tired of the “Manifest Destiny-filled” white-man pushing them further west. Their only hope was to fight back. The main events that occurred to the Native Americans was the Yellow Creek Massacre and the Battle of Point Pleasant. On April 30, 1774, in present day Hancock County, West Virginia a group of settlers murdered five Mingo Indians. Among those killed were members of Logan’s family. Logan, a Cayuga Indian leader, responded by raiding settlements on the frontier, causing settlers to abandon their homes. This was not even a battle, it was a massacre, in response Logan took actions into his own hands. In the point of view of a British settler hearing this story without piecing together what may have happened to Logan’s family. British settlers would assume to be scared of the “Savage Redman ''. In connection with Fort Allen, to hear these stories as a German pioneer in southwest Pennsylvania, one would also want to build a fort to protect from Native Americans. In the coming months, on Oct. 10, 1774, the battle of Point Pleasant was fought. This was the only major battle fought during Lord Dunmore’s War. Dunmore put together an army of 2,700 Virgian militia, he then led by himself and was assisted by Colonel Andrew Lewis. Dunmore and Lewis planned to cross the Ohio River independently to surround, or flank, the Shawnee. Eventually the Shawnee were pushed back to Camp Charlotte in present day Chillicothe, Ohio. They then were forced to cede the lands south of the Ohio River to the British. To circle back to Logan, when peace was reached, Logan refused to attend. Instead, he sent a response, known as “Logan’s Lament or Logan’s Speech” (New York: W. W. Norton, 1954). Thomas Jefferson read his letter and spoke for him to the state of Virginia . He depicted the tragedy of what happened to Logan and his family. Thomas Jefferson justified Logan’s revenge and how no Europeans have any pity for him.

To reiterate, Fort Allen sits nothing but a concrete monument and a PA historical marker. To this day it is uncertain of the causes of the destruction of Fort Allen. Around the area of the fort sits St. John's United Church of Christ and Cemetery and “Fort Allen Elementary” which gives a sort of remembrance to the fort.

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Kellogg, Louise Phelps. "Dunmore's War." Dictionary of American History, edited by Stanley I. Kutler, 3rd ed., vol. 3, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003, p. 95. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3401801291/GVRL?u=latr54402&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=7d73d35c. Accessed 26 Sept. 2022. 

Weiser-Alexande, Kathy. “Fort Allen, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.” Legends of America, Legends of America, 2020, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/fort-allen-pennsylvania/. 

VAN ATTA, ROBERT B. “Hempfield's Fort Allen Originally Built for Settlers' Protection.” Trib Live, 10 Apr. 2005, https://archive.triblive.com/news/hempfields-fort-allen-originally-built-for-settlers-protection/. 

Cupp, Bob. “Dr. David Marchand’s House.” Norwin Historical Society, Dec. 2021, https://www.norwinhistoricalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021-22-Winter-Newsletter.pdf. Accessed 26 Sept. 2022. 

Jefferson, Thomas, and William Peden. Notes on the State of Virginia. Edited with an Introd. and Notes by William Peden. W. W. Norton, 1955. 

“Pa.gov.” Pennsylvania Historical Marker Search, 2022, http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/apps/historical-markers.html. 

Lowrie, Kat. “Harrold's Reformed Lutheran Cemetery.” Westmoreland County PAGenWeb Archives - Tombstone Photos, 2010, http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/westmoreland/tsimages/harrold-luth-backup.htm#top.