William L. Kidder’s Defending Fort Stanwix

A Story of the New York Frontier in the American Revolution

Author William L. Kidder

We recently connected with Willam L. Kidder, author of Defending Fort Stanwix: A Story of the New York Frontier in the American Revolution. William L. Kidder earned his BA and MA at Allegheny College, served four years in the US Navy, and taught history for forty years including more than three decades at the Hun School of Princeton. He has been a volunteer historian, interpreter, and draft horse teamster at the Howell Living History Farm in Hopewell, New Jersey for over 35 years. He is also very active with several other local historic sites and historical societies and is the author of Crossroads of the Revolution: Trenton, 1774-1783, Ten Crucial Days, Revolutionary Princeton, The Revolutionary World of a Free Black Man: Jacob Francis, 1754-1836, and Belgian Draft Horse Chester: A Story of Friendship.

Defending Fort Stanwix details what colonial and military life looked like at Fort Stanwix through the eyes of those that lived in and around the “fort that never surrendered” and how it played a pivotal role during the American Revolution. “Defending Fort Stanwix relates the stories of local men and women, both white and Indigenous, who helped with the fort’s defense before, during, and after the siege and showcases an exciting, overlooked story of bravery and cooperation on New York’s frontier during the American Revolution.” (Cornell University Press)

After reading Defending Fort Stanwix, we asked the author some questions about his latest book that focuses on the siege at the fort as well as life in the Mohawk Valley Region during the American Revolution.

What was the initial impetus behind writing the book & exploring the story of Fort Stanwix?

That is a great question because those who know me and my previous work think of me as telling the stories of turn of the 20th century farming in New Jersey and the Revolutionary War in the state. Those interests grew out of my work as a high school history teacher in New Jersey. Even though I have written extensively on New Jersey history, I am not a native of the state. In ninth grade, just after my family moved to New Jersey, my history teacher got me interested in the Saratoga Campaign and assigned me to do a project on it. It fascinated me so that I kept my eyes and ears open for more information after my project was completed. Then, several years later I learned from my uncle, my father’s brother, that we had an ancestor who had served in a New York regiment during the Revolution and one of his duties had been to serve in the garrison at Fort Stanwix. That knowledge gave me even more desire to learn as much as I could about the fort and the siege. My parents took the family during a vacation to visit the reconstructed fort in Rome, New York and between exploring the fort and buying several booklets in the gift shop dealing with the siege and the archaeology involved in the reconstruction of the fort this experience just made me want to know more and more. One problem was that my ancestor, Peter Scriber, did not leave any writings about his experiences and he never applied for a veteran’s pension although he lived into his late nineties. A local artist painted a portrait of him in his eighties and that added to my interest when the local historical society near where he lived let me know about it and visit the owner, another descendant. I knew the only way I could develop an understanding of what he experienced would be to research the stories of other men who did leave writings.

Peter Scriber had his portrait painted in Catskill by a local artist named Alburtis Dell Orient Browere. The artist was better known for landscapes, and this may be his only surviving portrait. The painting shows Peter in old age and was probably done about 1840. I photographed the original painting in June 1995 at the home of Ruth Jones Lindsay, another descendant, near Catskill, New York.

During my forty years as a history teacher, I was able to find some time during vacations to visit several sites where I could do research into primary sources and by the time I retired the internet had become a great source of material. I can say with confidence that my research extended for more than forty years. When, I retired and for various reasons I got involved in New Jersey research projects I had to put Fort Stanwix on hold, but not completely, and developed my writing skills doing about nine books relating to New Jersey history. Then, about two years ago I decided not to let anything else delay putting together the story of the siege.

For those of us that would like to learn more about our family’s history do you have any words of encouragement—where should we start?

There are several very good websites that have both resources and instructions. One is Ancestry.com and another is AmericanAncestors.org (Formerly the New England Historic Genealogical Society). Both are subscription services but are well worth it. In any event, the first very important step is to find out what family members already know (or think they know), what papers, diaries, letters, photos, etc. members of the family might have stored somewhere.

How does the story help us understand the civil war nature of the Revolution in the Mohawk Valley?

The population of the Mohawk Valley was quite diverse in terms of ethnic background and other factors. This was true for the settlers of European ancestry as well as the indigenous residents. Long before the siege, the population had split between those who supported British rule versus those who at first wanted more rights and then independence. The Haudenosaunee confederation which had been formed to unify the six nations had seen the Oneida Nation move to support for the Patriots while the Mohawk Nation and others supported the British. Other splits were not just between ethnic groups but among communities and families. Due to the way in which the two opposing forces developed leading up to the siege, both attackers and defenders included men with Mohawk Valley heritage and who very well knew each other. It was a clear example of the civil war nature of the conflict even though many secondary sources I saw treated it as a British versus colonist contest, more like a war between nations.

This is such an important point. It’s so easy for our perspective of this period to be focused on battle strategies and lose sight of how communities and families were torn apart. In David L. Preston’s The texture of contact: European and Indian settler communities on the Iroquoian borderlands, 1720-1780 he states, “The Revolution provoked not one but three civil wars: within the British empire between the colonies and home government, within each of the thirteen colonies between rebels, loyalists, and the disaffected, and within certain Indian nations. The war ripped apart families, friendships, churches, and communities all across America. The ancient unity of the Iroquois Confederacy was also fractured, as Iroquois fought against Iroquois. There was nothing inevitable about the Revolution and the violent direction it took.” How did you see this in your research of the people at Fort Stanwix?

First, let me say that David Preston is a great historian and his statement about the civil war nature of the Revolution is excellent. The accuracy of the concept hit home daily during my years of research on people involved with Fort Stanwix and the siege. It is important to know that I was not surprised since virtually all my research on the Revolution for my several earlier books also made it clear. It is also something that affected my family. My ancestor, Peter Scriber, who was at Fort Stanwix came from a split family. His father and brother moved to Canada during in the war because of their desire to stay under British rule.

Next week, we’ll continue our conversation with William L. Kidder and learn about his greatest challenges telling the story of Fort Stanwix in addition to some of his greatest rewards. Many thanks to Larry for taking the time to share his work and passion for history. Defending Fort Stanwix: A Story of the New York Frontier in the American Revolution is available at Cornell University Press.