Author: John Francis Mitchell III
John Henry Antes was born 5 October 1736 in Frederick Township, Philadelphia(now Montgomery County) Pennsylvania, the son of Johann Heinrich Antes and Christiana Elisabetha Dewees.

He was married twice and had a total of thirteen children. On May 11, 1756 he married Anna Maria Paul. Following her death in March, 1767, he married Sophia Snyder on December 8, 1767.

About the year 1772 John Henry Antes located in the Nippenose Valley of Northumberland County(now Lycoming County) PA. He was appointed Justice of the Peace on July 29, 1775,

On January 24, 1776, he was commissioned Captain of a Company of 58 enlisted men in the Second Battalion.On April 19, 1776 he was commissioned Captain of Foot and participated with William Plunket in the raid against the Connecticut settlers at Wyoming, PA. On May 21, 1777, John Henry Antes was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the Fourth Battalion of the Northumberland County Militia by the Supreme Executive Council of Philadelphia. Lt Col Antes was placed in charge of the field operations on what was then the Pennsylvania frontier. About 1777 he built a log stockade known as Antes Fort. It was here that his military operations were headquartered. The village of Antes Fort, near Jersey Shore PA, draws its name from the fort stockade that Lt Colonel Antes had built.

The “Great Runaway” occurred in 1778. For the settlers and soldiers safety Colonel Samuel Hunter ordered John Henry Antes and his people to vacate the fort. After the “great Runaway” had subsided Lt Colonel Antes returned to the Nippenose Valley area. A few years later he built a “log mansion” that stood for many years.

On October 18, 1782, and again in 1783, John Henry Antes was appointed Sheriff of Northumberland County PA(then comprising about twenty two present day counties).

Lt Colonel Antes purchased considerable land in the Nippenose Valley region. The remaining years of his life were spent in Nippenose Township, Lycoming County PA. He died 13 July 1820 in his 84th year. He is buried at Antes Fort Cemetery which is not far from where he lived.

Two of his brothers also served in the Revolutionary War. Philip Frederick Antes(1730-1801) was Colonel of the Sixth Battalion of the Philadelphia County Militia and in 1779 moved to Northumberland, PA, after General Howe placed a price of 200 pounds on his head. William Antes(1731-1810) was sub-lieutenant of Philadelphia County and in charge of the confiscated estates of the Tories. William Antes was a gunsmith and after the war settled in the Genessee country of New York State. John Henry Antes' son in law Philip Barnhart(1757-1844) who married his daughter, Elizabeth Antes(1761-1845), also served in the Revolutionary War as a private with the Philadelphia County Militia.