Page 342.-September 8, 1786. JOHANNIS FORT, Precinct of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, to my wife Rebekah, bedding and her wearing apparel; Also the improvement of the equal undivided half of the farm on which I now live; Also the proportion of the profit of the grist mill, she paying one half of the necessary expense while she remains my widow; Also the use of the residue of my personal estate; at her death or marriage, the same to be divided between my two sons, Abraham and John T. , or their heirs; to my eldest son, Abraham, my large Dutch Bible for his birthright; Also one lot of land which I purchased of Marcus VanBonsell; Also the lot which I purchased of Robert Roseboon and others; Also the lot I purchased of Johannis Lansing; Also the equal undivided half of a certain lot (which I purchased in company with William Jacokes, late of Poughkeepsie Precinct, deceased) of Oliver Delancee; Also my two black slaves, Foot and Sip, to him, his heirs forever; to my eldest daughter, Elizabeth, wife of James Bussing, £100, to be paid to her equally by my two sons, or heirs, one year after my decease; to my daughter, Hannah wife of Aaron Low £100, to be paid two years after my decease equally by my two sons; to my daughter Deborah, wife of Casparus Westervelt, £100, to be paid three years after my decease equally by my town sons; to my daughter Franantije, wife of Andrew Low, £100, to be paid four years after my decease equally by my two sons; to my daughter Aleda, £100, to be paid five years after my decease by my two sons; to my son, John T. , all the residue of my real estate; Also four horses, one yoke of oxen, three cows, bedding and furniture, to him, his heirs forever; Also my two black slaves, Teurc and Frank. I appoint my son Abraham, Casparus Westervelt, Samuel Mathers, executors.

Witnesses, Benjamin Westervelt, farmer; Gilead Hunt, Jonathan Elderkin, farmer. Proved October 16, 1786

Poughkeepsie Journal - Wed. 14 August 1822

DIED

In this town on Friday last, in the seventy third year of his age, Major Abraham FORT, an old and respectable inhabitant of this town and a patriot of the revolution - His loss will be deeply regretted by many and especially by the aged partner of his life, and a large family of affectionate children - The tears the desires, and the prayers of affection cannot however preserve life, nor can they bring back the dead - Obedience to the admonition, "Prepare to follow," is the best tribute we can pay to the departed and the wisest improvement we can make of such solemn dispensations.

(Copied by E. J. Twining)

(Note: A question mark in parentheses indicates that I was unable to read the microfilmed newspaper with certainty.)

From "Auburn Daily Advertiser," Monday, Oct. 4, 1875, page 3, col. 2- -

FORT- - Died in Aurora, at his residence, on the 2d inst. (Note: "The 2d inst." means on the 2d of the current month, therefore on Oct. 2.) Mr. Peter Fort, in his 92d year. The relatives and friends of the family are respectfully invited to attend his funeral from his late residence on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 5th, 1875, at 3 o'clock.

In the quiet and beautiful village of Aurora on Cayuga lake, away from the noise and turmoil of city life, and indeed comparatively unknown, save by name, to the rising generation there, has lived this aged gentleman for nearly forty years. His life has been a quiet one during that period, but before that time was varied and filled with interesting reminiscences, among the most important of which was being a soldier in the battle of New Orleans. Believing it would be of interest to the general reader, last winter during the excitement in Louisiana between Gen. Sheridan and the Legislature, the writer sought from and obtained a series of interviews with Mr. Fort, and had partly prepared his autobiography, the completion of which was prevented by pressing business engagements. His death having just occurred, it seems a fitting occasion to present it to the public.

REMINISCENCES BY PETER FORT - MY ANCESTORS

My family came originally from France and belonged to the Huguenots, who were driven from that country to Holland. The original name was LeFort, but when they went to Holland it was changed to Fort. Three brothers came over to America and settled, one at Esopus, now Kingston, one at Schodack, and one in Georgia. My father was descended from the one who settled in Esopus, and was a farmer in Poughkeepsie with 275 acres of very fine land. His name was Major Abram Fort, and he was a soldier in the war for independence.

MY BIRTH

I was born Nov. 27th, 1783, in the town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, N.Y., and shall consequently have completed my 92d year if I live until Nov. 27th, 1875. I was one of eleven children, having two brothers and eight sisters, all of whom have passed away, and I am alone in the world, having neither father nor mother, brother nor sister, uncle nor aunt, wife nor children.

EARLY RECOLLECTIONS

I well remember the first steamboat, the "Clermont," as she came up the Hudson river, as I saw it from the field while working on the farm. Long before it came in sight we could hear it, and it sounded like a mill grinding, and indeed we thought at first that one had become detached from the shore and floated away with the tide. The wheels had no covers or paddle boxes, and made a great noise. I was well acquainted with Gov. Clinton from boyhood, who came from Poughkeepsie, and also knew many prominent citizens there, among whom were Paul Schenck, who was a federalist, Valentine Baker and Henry Alex. Livingston.

The political parties in my boyhood were republicans and federalists. I resided in Poughkeepsie until 1799, when being in my sixteenth year, I went to New York to seek my fortune, going down the river in a sailing vessel, taking between two and three days for the journey. I engaged as a clerk in the grocery store of Bailey & Fort, afterwards Fort & Swarthout, in Front street, near Coenties slip, and was with them from 1799 to 1808, when they sold out, and my brother John A. Fort of the firm, removed to New Orleans. DeWitt Clinton was mayor of New York while I lived there.

LIFE IN NEW ORLEANS

In October, 1808, being 25 years old, I left New York in a sailing vessel bound for New Orleans, where I was to enter the wholesale grocery store of my brother John, then of the firm of Fort & Gerard (?). Never shall I forget my feelings as I stood in the stern of the brig Melanthe (?), and determined that I should not return until I was in better circumstances than when I left. I gazed fondly upon the city and the last object I saw there was the tall spire of some church, and we sailed down the bay through the Narrows, and viewed Staten Island, Long Island and then out to sea. After a pleasant voyage of 39 days, we reached New Orleans Nov. 16th., passing beautiful orange groves and Forts St. Mary and St. Leon, in going up the Mississippi. At that time the inhabitants of the city were a mixed population, composed mostly of French and Spanish. The Americans had no churches there - all French Catholic, the St. Louis cathedral being the oldest, and still used and under French management. When I first went to New Orleans in 1808 you could go to church on Sabbath morning, a horse race or cock fight in the afternoon, and theatre, ball or church in the evening, just as you chose. In 1810, I was admitted to the firm of Fort & Co., wholesale grocers and forwarders, and had charge of much of the business, and at one time loaded alone the ship Oliver Ellsworth, for Liverpool, with cotton and a freight list of $18,000. My brother and I were the first to close our store on Sunday, and on the first Monday morning after, our customers flocked in to know what had happened. We started a distillery in 1810, and manufactured the first New Orleans rum that was made there, and besides supplying the city, sent much to New York.

BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS

It was in 1814 that I joined Captain Beal's Company of rifles, an independent organization composed of 63 men. We were under the immediate orders of Gen. Jackson, being a volunteer company, and without pay, and I am the only survivor of the number . History has made famous the three several battles in which we were engaged. The incidents are as clear and vivid before me as though they occurred but yesterday - the daily drill, the addresses of Jackson to the troops, the cannonading, the roar of musketry, the shrieks of the wounded and dying are frequently re-enacted before me.

I well remember the appearance of "Old Hickory" as we called him. He was six feet and one inch high, remarkably straight and spare, and weighed about 145 pounds, yet few could endure more fatigue, going at one time for five days and four nights without sleep and constantly employed. His dark eyes with arched brows and slightly projecting, possessed a marked expression, but when from any cause excited they sparkled with peculiar lustre and penetration. He was pleasing in his manners and commanding in his address and his countenance was marked with firmness and decision. I well remember the great difficulties under which he labored, and the trouble which he had with the Louisiana legislature, which was far worse than that of Gen. Sheridan, for Jackson not only turned the legislature out of doors, but he arrested and de______ (Note: Illegible word.) one of the members with the judge who interposed for his relief, in which he was sustained (?) by the people at large. He was, however, fined afterwards $1,000 by the judge, which he paid, and the people raised the amount for him, but as he would not accept it was disposed of for (Note: Some lines were omitted here by the person who filmed the newspaper.)

My brother and partner, John A. Fort, was on Gen. Jackson's staff, with rank of Colonel, and was an intimate friend of his until his death in 1828 (?), and would have had a fine position under Jackson had he been living at the time he was president.

Much has been said in prose and song about the famous cotton bales for breastworks during the siege of New Orleans. I am sorry to dissipate so nice a story, but it has been very much exaggerated. Our cotton bales were about seventy-five in number, piled ten bales thick and three bales high, and nearest the river, the balance of the breastworks being of mud thrown up from ditches back of them and extending a long distance. The Americans had 13 killed, the British 2, 600, and among the number the commander, Sir Edward Packenham. The British battle-cry was "Booty and Beauty," as their soldiers had been promised by the commanding general the privileges of plunder and outraging female innocence in case they captured the town. How well do I remember our return to the city, and the open-armed welcome which we received at the hands of our citizens, followed by fetes and illuminations all over the United States. The legislatures of many states voted him their approbation and thanks for what he had done, and congress directed a gold medal to be presented to him commemorative of this event. Addresses from numerous societies and meetings of people were framed expressive of their great regard, and proclaiming him the deliverer of and second savior of his country.

MY TRAVELS

I left New Orleans in 1815, just after the war, and went to New York, completely broken down in health, and in 1820 returned by sea to the Crescent City for a visit, but never again made it my home. In 1821 I undertook a great journey overland from New York to New Orleans in company with my brother and his wife, her two young brothers and a hired man. We had a carriage with four horses, and I with my horse and gig and a regular western saddle horse which we purchased in Ohio. We went in that way as far as Louisville, where my brother took a flatboat down the Ohio river, taking the carriage and gig with them, and one young brother. Our hired man and myself were left behind to ride three horses and the there to follow after all the way to our destination. (Note by EJT: Presumably the other young brother rode one of the horses, too.) We went the best and easiest route from here. In passing through the Indian nation in the present state of Mississippi, I felt much safer than I did among the frontier men. The Indians knew it, and said the pale faces would commit depredations of every sort, and charge it to them. From Columbus south we went through the woods on a military road cut by Gen. Jackson. We frequently rode two or three days and passed only one Indian hut. The road was only an Indian trail just wide enough for a horse, and our three loose horses followed after.

Gen. Jackson, when fighting the Indians, had built bridges of logs over the stream, but they had decayed and we attempted to cross one, but one of our horses fell through, and after that we forded the streams. In Mississippi we passed through canebrakes which grow very densely, so that you can see but a short distance into them. Our hired man thought, on turning a short bend, that he saw a bear or Indian, and turned quickly back, putting spurs to his horse, and I was obliged to take the lead. My brother hired this man in Philadelphia. He was a stage driver and drove in the line of stages that ran between Philadelphia and Baltimore, as this was before the days of railroads. We were from August 30th to October 9th reaching Louisville from New York, Nashville October 18th, Florence October 24th, Columbus October 28th, and reached New Orleans Nov. 10 1821, being about two and a half months making the journey, not very rapid traveling you may say, but we thought then we were doing pretty well.

I remained in New Orleans until April 10, 1822, and left again by sea on the brig Phoebe Ann, and during a fog, had a collision with the brig Vaine (?), and we left our vessel in a sinking condition, and reached the Balize (?), where I waited until the 20th, when I took the ship Rebecca, bound for Providence, Rhode Island, which place I reached May 4, 1822.

From that time, I led a cosmopolitan life, traveling much and living in Salisbury, Conn., in New York, Albany, Schenectady and Geneva. I kept my horse and gig, and was seven years searching for a home, until in 1838, being in my fifty-fifth year, I found it in Aurora.

I became acquainted with Gen. Ward who kept the hotel in this place, and after looking around for a day or two purchased the place owned and built by Mr. Chas. Shepherd, a lawyer here. My lot on the west side of the road once contained a house in which Rev. Theo. Cuyler, of Brooklyn, was born, but I moved it to the back of my house and made a barn of it where it now is, and filled up the old cellar.

I have made several trips from Aurora to New York and Connecticut and return in my gig, but of late years have led a quiet life, and now seldom go out of doors, and in winter do not go downstairs.

REFLECTIONS AND ADVICE

I have always attended the polls regularly and have voted for the following Presidents; Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Van Buren, Polk, Pierce and Buchanan.

I was never married nor never connected myself with any church, although my people all belonged to the Dutch Reformed. In the winter I would read much, but my memory was not very retentive, and I would remember it better twenty, thirty or forty years after, than when I read it first. My advice to all young men to is read the bible in their youth, and read it attentively and the more they study it, the more interesting it will become, and the easier will they remember it in their old age. God has permitted me for some reason to live to a great age, and I have endeavored to carry my principles into every day life, and I have striven to serve and worship him according to the dictates of my own conscience.

CONCLUSION

The above is in substance the result of many pleasant conversations with this aged gentleman last winter. Just six weeks ago, Mr. Fort was walking out with his nephew who left him for a few moments, and going around to the front of the house alone he fell on the stump of a locust tree and broke his hip bone off close up in the socket. His great age rendered recovery impossible and he has lingered in much suffering ever since until 5 a.m. Saturday Oct. 2d, when the pale messenger summoned him and his spirit left its tenement of clay, for bright realms in Heaven above.

- C. H. A.