TodayArchaeologists confident in Fort Morris find
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Paul Marr, standing at left, and Steve Warfel discuss the site of what is believed to be a root cellar at the archaeological site on Burd Street. Greg Williams, a Gettysburg College student, is excavating the pit. The circular hold behind Marr and Warfel is the site of an oven. Dale Heberlig/The Sentinel
Patty Hay, a Shippensburg University student who is the volunteer coordinator at the archaeological site, holds a Fort Morris commemorative T-shirt. The inscription on the dark area says “support the fort!” Dale Heberlig/The Sentinel
Jan Rose, left, Katie McCouristan and Paula Knerr, right, work near the excavated site of a foundation wall at the archaeological site on Burd Street. Dale Heberlig/The Sentinel
This excavated site is probably an oven; animal bones and baked clay were found in the area. The spot is part of an archaeological dig on Burd Street in Shippensburg; volunteers are seeking the site of Fort Morris, a French and Indian War stockade. Dale Heberlig/The Sentinel
A closer look at the foundation wall at the archaeological site in Shippensburg, where volunteers and archaeologists believe they may have found the site of the French and Indian War-era Fort Morris. The white spots are pins marking the excavation's grid. Dale Heberlig/The Sentinel
A foundation, a stone-and-clay oven, a root cellar and signs of rats that raided foodstuffs convince Steve Warfel that he and a dedicated band of volunteer archaeologists have nailed down the site of Fort Morris.
The recent finds leave no room for doubt that the dig sponsored by the Shippensburg Historical Society has unearthed remnants of the French and Indian War stockade that sheltered Shippensburg’s Colonial pioneers.
Warfel, former Pennsylvania state archaeologist, says those finds, along with the overwhelming number of artifacts — including coins, musket balls, flints and musket parts — “clinches it” for him.
“We haven’t found the stockade,” Warfel admits, “probably because we’re not on the exact spot. But 30 musket balls, a dozen flints, hundreds of pottery shards, buttons, cuff links and coins tell me this is definitely the fort site. The volume of artifacts says this is not just a frontier homestead. These are things you find at a fort site. This clinches it for me.”
The search for signs of the stockade continue, however, diggers are carving a trench from the main excavation site in the direction of Burd Street, hoping to intersect with soil that shows evidence of the stockade.
The dig site is limited by the street in front and houses on both sides.
Evidence
The exact location of Fort Morris has been in dispute for decades.
British General John Forbes wrote of the stockade in 1758, describing its dimensions and making note of nine buildings and an oven situated within the palisades.
A half century ago a marker on the other side of Shippensburg on West King Street claimed Fort Morris sat there.
Shippensburg history enthusiast Hayes Eschenmann wrote a book, declaring Fort Morris stood in still another part of town, near Walnut Street and Ridge Avenue. Ground X-rays dismissed that claim.
A marker still stands near the dig site on East Burd Street, identifying the location as the site of Fort Franklin.
Warfel says the foundation wall found at the dig is evidence of a structure with a cellar. Diggers have unearthed the floor of the cellar that’s imbedded with flat stones, Warfel says to mitigate the muddiness of a basement.
The area inside the wall was littered with artifacts, he says, the result of the cellar being filled later with nearby earth.
Burnt clay, wood charcoal and animal bones were found in “great concentration” at the oven site where remnants of a stone wall are present. Warfel says the depression beneath the oven was likely a fire pit.
The rat holes located between the oven and the root cellar are another find that have some historical reference. Warfel says rats would logically be drawn to food sources. Furthermore, he cites written records that say the rat population at Fort Morris was more troublesome than at Fort Loudon west of Chambersburg.
Digging at the site is slated to continue through July 16. Cleaning and processing of the artifacts is to begin July 20 at a Shippensburg University lab.
Display, writing planned
Warfel says he will maintain the collection through the winter months, completing a thorough inventory and a detailed report.
The artifacts, along with Warfel’s report, will ultimately go on display at the Shippensburg Historical Society sometime in the spring.
Warfel says a book is also a strong likelihood — probably a collaboration that would include input from Warfel; Dave Ferry, who now owns the property where the dig was done; SU history professor Steve Burg; Shippensburg Historical Society President John McCorriston; and SU geography professor Paul Marr.
Papers written by McCorriston and Marr triggered the exploratory dig last summer that launched this summer’s work.
Unknown to each other, McCorriston and Marr wrote their papers based on different information that came to the same conclusion — that Shippensburg’s Fort Morris stood somewhere near present day Burd Street.
Both men know there will always be doubters. Still, Marr says, he sticks with his original conclusion.
“Based on the number of artifacts, I don’t think there’s much room for doubt that we’ve found the fort,” he says. “What would seal the deal for me is if, based on what we’ve found, we could predict where something else is, then find it.”
McCorriston points to evidence like the 73-caliber musket balls that were fired in 75-caliber Brown Bess muskets that British soldiers used and the enormous amount of British pottery and china like that which British army officers would tote along on their missions.
“The British were here,” McCorriston says, “but I would love to find a palisade wall.”
