The activity of the French, in their efforts to enlist the Indians of the Province to take up the hatchet against the English, was felt at this post, as letters written by Captain McKee to Edward Shippen and others reveal. At this time the Province had decided to erect a great fortress at the forks of the Susquehanna, which was subsequently built and named Fort Augusta. Colonel William Clapham was commissioned early in April, 1756, to recruit a regiment of 400 men for this purpose. Governor Morris advised Colonel Clapham, April 7, that he had directed a rendezvous to be established at Fort Hunter and advised the colonel to use it for the safe storage of supplies and stocks which he would require in his expedition farther up the river. June 11, 1756, Colonel Clapham stationed twenty-four troops there, under command of a Mr. Johnson, and directed him to “escort provisions, from there to McKee’s store.” November 3 the garrison consisted of “2 sargants and 34 Private Men.” March 14, 1757, at a conference on the defense of the Province, held at Philadelphia, it was decided that 400 men should be kept at Fort Augusta; 100 should constitute the garrison at Fort Halifax, and that Fort Hunter should be demolished, only fifty being retained there temporarily until the removal of the magazine which was to take place as soon as possible. The long frontier of the Blue Mountain, between the Susquehanna and Delaware was to be defended by Colonel Conrad Weiser’s battalion, and the forts reduced to three in number. This caused consternation among the settlers near Fort Hunter and they appealed to the Provincial authorities. Commissary Young, the Reverend John Elder and others appeared in person August 25 in Philadelphia, and strongly urged the retention of the garrison at this important place. Their appeal was effective. Fort Hunter was not demolished but strengthened. Indians appeared within twenty rods of Fort Hunter, October, 1757. William Martin was killed and scalped while picking chestnuts. Colonel James Patterson was in command of the garrison in January, 1758. From that time until the Pontiac Conspiracy in 1763, there was not much activity about Fort Hunter, when it again became the rendezvous of Provincial troops. After peace was declared Fort Hunter slowly but surely passed out of existence until the last log was rotted and disappeared and the old fort only existed as an historical memory. ---------- Founder of Stumpstown Murdered Ten Indians, January 10, 1768 About a dozen years ago the members of the Lebanon County Historical Society enjoyed three evenings of entertainment when that able and clever historian, Dr. E. Grumbine, of Mt. Zion, gave a history of interesting events, traditions and anecdotes of early Fredericksburg, known for many years as Stumpstown.