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 Rensselaer after all this forward
movement and the slight attack, did not hold his position, but fell
back three miles down the river.
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.