In which I stumble upon Fort McIntosh

Last week I was in Beaver, the county seat of Beaver County Pennsylvania to copy something in the Court House. I was coming into Beaver Falls and let me tell you - this was not as easy as everybody made it sound! After getting completely turned around and finally on the right road, I started to notice signs to "Fort McIntosh."

I was very excited because I knew exactly who built this Fort, even if I didn't remember that it was on the Beaver River in Beaver County. After a successful photocopying venture, I decided I would eat my lunch at the Fort. Luckily, it was not far way and there were benches, though a bit damp due to the recent rain. The Fort is now a small park with monuments, benches and picnic tables at the far end. In front of the fort, as in the 18th century, is the Beaver River. Behind the Fort, instead of the forest which I'm sure was there in 1778, there is now a row of lovely houses.

I read about General Lachlan McIntosh while researching my Ph.D. dissertation. Lachlan was from the community of Scottish Highlanders at Darien, Georgia. Though McIntosh himself was born in Badenoch, a great many of those who settled at Darien were from Moy & Dalarossie parish. Later in his life, Lachlan spent much time in Charleston, SC where he became friends with Henry Laurens.

General McIntosh and his men, mostly from Pennsylvania and Georgia, came to this site in 1778 and eventually marched into Ohio where they built Fort Laurens on the Tuscarawas Rivers.

My notes on General McIntosh are not extensive. At first what interested me about him is that he marched through what became Columbiana County, OH and had ties to the region of the Highlands which later sent many emigrants to Scotch Settlement beginning in 1801. Ultimately, I used McIntosh as an example of a Scot who was not a Loyalist during the American Revolution - they are there, if you look for them..



For more on Lachlan McIntosh read Lachlan McIntosh and the Politics of Revolutionary Georgia by Harvey Jackson. I did note that it was easy to read and interesting. I also wrote that the factions in Georgia seemed so petty, that I was surprised they made it into and then out of the American Revolution. The portrait of McIntosh on the cover of Jackson's book was by Charles Wilson Peale.