Fort Plain Museum & Historical Park

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Fort Plain/Fort Plank
Setting the stage for "THE BIG DEBATE"

The story of Fort Plain/Fort Rensselaer has been well documented through the years. Many of the remaining facts that have eluded researchers are now coming together giving us a clear picture of the Fort Plain/Fort Rensselaer story.

Our one remaining critic, Ken Johnson has for some time now maintained that Fort Plain and Fort Plank were both names for the same place. In spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Ken’s position has remained unchanged. Research conducted by Fort Plain Museum Trustee, Wayne Lenig has proved beyond any shadow of a doubt the Fort Plain/Fort Rensselaer story.

Mr. Lenig’s research and subsequent findings are available in a booklet entitled “Revolutionary War Fort Plain, A Closer Look”.

In Defense of The Facts, annotated by Wayne Lenig, a rebuttal to Ken Johnson's salvo.

What the Pension Applications Say about Fort Plank and Fort Plain.

In addition, both James F. Morrison & AJ Berry concur with Wayne Lenig, that Fort Plain and Fort Plank were not one fort but TWO forts. Below is a partial list with links to some of the pensions which mention the TWO forts in the same sentence. You may read for yourself and decide! The pension applications are from eyewitness depositions by the men who served during the Revolutionary War, and they sound very sure they marched to both of the forts. Many more of these pensions are available on the pension site by Morrison and Berry.

If you wish to purchase one of the Don't Shoot pension books you can find links on this site to do so.
http://time-traveling-granny.com/books.html

Four of the pension books have been published. Morrison checks the men's service by viewing the muster rolls, payrolls, documents from the New York State Library in Albany, and regimental records, which are all "original source material" to be sure the information is absolutely correct. An example of why this is important is just because a man said he served in the "Taking of Cornwallis" and the Battle of Johnstown doesn't make it true. The latter statement is impossible because Virginia and Johnstown are a long way apart when one is marching on foot. Any orgininal source material needs to be cross-checked with several other original source materials, always.

In the case of Fort Plank/Fort Plain, there are enough statements in the solid mass of depositions which state there was a Fort Plain and a Fort Plank.

The pensions which have the endnotes are the ones Morrison has researched and those are the ones included in the Don't Shoot books. The pension applications in the above list which have been corrected and end noted are marked with **. If you wish to see the original hand written documents, you can inquire at the museum, there is a digital copy of the above pensions available. AJ Berry

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e-mail: fortplainmuseum@yahoo.com

Snail Mail: 389 Canal St. or PO 324 Fort Plain, NY 13339
Located: West of Fort Plain, New York, on Route 5 S

Phone: (518) 993-2527

Home About Us Discovering Fort Plain Donation Events Membership Newsletters
Movie Clips Postcards & Photos Search Volunteer THE BIG DEBATE
History-Happened-Here!