PENN, William, founder of
Pennsylvania, born in London, England, 14 October, 1644; died in Ruscombe,
Berkshire, 30 July, 1718. He was descended from an ancient family that had lived
in Buckinghamshire for many generations. A branch settled in Wiltshire, near
Mintyre, and from this was descended Admiral William Penn, the father of the
founder, who was born in Bristol in 1621. He joined a vessel early in life under
his father's command, and became a captain before he was twenty years of age. In
1643 he married Margaret Jasper, daughter of a rich merchant of Rotterdam, and
then settled in London. After a year of fashionable life he returned to active
service, and was given command of the "Fellowship." With
unusual rapidity he attained the ranks of rear-admiral and vice-admiral of
Ireland, and in 1652 he was vice-admiral of England. He served as general in the
first Dutch war, and in 1664 he was chosen great captain-commander under the
Duke of York, afterward James II., and was knighted. He died at his home in
Wanstead, Essex, on 16 September, 1670. (See "Memorials of the Professional
Life of Admiral Sir William Penn," by Granville Penn, London, 1833.)
His son, William, was born in London just prior to the admiral's departure
for the Irish seas" indeed, he had already started down the Thames when the
news of his son's birth reached him, and he hastily left his vessel and returned
home. The family resided in Essex during the father's absence, and from his
mother the boy acquired his strong religious faith. He was sent to a free
grammar-school in Chigwell, thence in 1656 to a private school on Tower street,
London, and during the residence of the family in Ireland he studied under a
private tutor. Three years later he went to Christ church college, Oxford, where
among his companions were Robert Spencer and John Locke. He soon acquired
reputation as a hard student, a skilful oarsman, and an adventurous sportsman.
His reading at this time was solid and extensive, and his acquisition of
knowledge was assisted by an exceptional memory. He had an excellent; knowledge
of history and theology, had read the chief writers of Greece and Italy in their
native tongues, and possessed a thorough knowledge of French, German, Dutch, and
Italian.
After the restoration of the Stuarts, Thomas Lee, a follower of George Fox
(q. v.), began to preach in Oxford against the threatened restoration of what he
considered popish usages, such as the wearing of gowns, and soon numbered
William Penn among his followers. Penn's absence from service was noticed, and
with others he was brought up before the college authorities and fined. This
roused the young nonconformists to open rebellion. They paraded the streets,
refused to wear the gown, and tore away the vestment from those that did so. In
all of these actions Penn was conspicuous, and he was expelled from the
university. His father, seriously offended, at first showed great severity, but
soon relented, and sent Penn to France, where he was presented to Louis XIV.,
and became a frequent and welcome guest at court. He mingled with the
fashionable world, and bid fair to forget his Quaker fancies.
In order to complete his education he placed himself under the tuition of
Moses Amyrault, one of the ablest scholars of France and a member of the
Reformed church. He remained at Saumur, and then traveled through France and
Italy with Lord Robert Spencer, also meeting Algernon Sidney, to whom he became
greatly attached. In 1644 he was recalled to England by his father, and taken to
court, where he impressed the king by his behavior, and became a general
favorite. His name was entered as a law-student at Lincoln's Inn, and for a time
he also served on his father's staff, and was sent with dispatches from the
fleet to the king.
In 1665 the plague appeared in London, and the fear of death revived the
religious fervor of the young law-student. He was sent to Ireland to superintend
two estates that belonged to the family in the County Cork, and arrived in
Dublin in the autumn of 1665 with letters to the Duke of Ormond, who was then
viceroy. He was warmly received and gave himself up entirely to pleasure. During
the insurrection of soldiers at Carrickfergus he served with credit as aide to
Lord Arran, who was charged with the subjection of the mutineers, and he became
so interested that he caused his portrait to be painted in armor in memory of
the experience. The vignette shows him in this costume and is of value, being
the only known likeness of him that was painted during his lifetime.
He now desired to join the army, and it was proposed to his father that he
should have command of a company of foot; but this the admiral refused. Penn
then turned his attention to the family interests, and secured possession of
Shangarry castle and estate for his father. While managing the newly acquired
property, he heard by accident that his old Oxford acquaintance, Thomas Lee, was
about to preach in Cork. Curiosity led him to the place of worship, and after
listening to the sermon, unable to withstand its influence, he accepted the
tenets of Quakerism. He then attended the meetings with regularity, and on 3
September, 1667, was made prisoner with the entire congregation and taken before
the mayor of Cork on a charge of riot. The magistrate offered to release him,
provided he would promise to keep the peace; but he refused, and was sent to
jail. He wrote to the lord-president of Munster, giving an account of his arrest
and detention, and an order was issued for his immediate discharge. Thereafter
he identified himself completely with the Quakers in everything except dress,
but it was not until the following year (1668) that he felt himself called to
the ministry.
His father was advised of his conduct, and at once recalled him to England.
After remonstrating with his son, the admiral expressed his willingness to
tolerate everything, provided that he would uncover himself in the presence of
his father, the king, and the Duke of York. Asking time for the consideration of
this proposition, Penn retired to his room, and, after an hour of prayer and
meditation, returned to his father with the declaration that such a course would
be impossible. The admiral, indignant at the persistent obstinacy of his son,
turned him out of the house, but friends cared for him, while his mother
interceded in his behalf and kept him supplied with money. A few months later he
was permitted to return home, but his father refused to see him Meanwhile he
preached and wrote in favor of his belief, publishing "Truth Exalted, in
a short but sure Testimony against all those religious Faiths and Worships that
have been formed and followed in the darkness of Apostasy; and for that Glorious
Light which is now risen and shines forth in the Life and Doctrine of the
despised Quakers as the alone good old way of Life and Salvation. Presented to
Princes, Priests, and People, that they may repent, believe, and obey. By
William Penn, whom Divine Love constrains in an holy contempt to trample on
Egypt's glory, not fearing the King's wrath, having beheld the Majesty of Him
who is invisible" (1668).
This was followed by a number of tracts on similar topics, which with his
other writings were collected and published by Joseph Besse (2 vols., London,
1726). At this time he also obtained a promise from the Duke of Buckingham that
the latter would bring a bill into parliament to do justice to the Quakers; but
the commons refused to consider the measure. Penn then became involved in a
controversy with Thomas Vincent, a Presbyterian clergyman, who had openly
reviled the Quakers from his pulpit. Vincent, satisfied with having disclosed
his side of the argument, failed to call a second meeting, in consequence of
which Penn issued "The Sandy Foundation Shaken," an attack upon
"those generally believed and applauded doctrines of one God subsisting
in three distinct and separate persons" of the impossibility of God's
pardoning sinners without a plenary satisfaction" and of the
justification of impure persons by an imputative righteousness." This
work caused great excitement by its bold opposition to the doctrine of the
Trinity. Through the influence of the bishop of London and other high
dignitaries of the church he was imprisoned in the Tower for more than eight
months.
During this time he wrote his principal and most popular theological work. "No
Cross, no Crown; a Discourse showing the Nature and Discipline of the Holy Cross
of Christ" (1688), which was soon followed by his "Innocency
with her Open Face," a brief and vigorous reply to several answers to
his "Sandy Foundation Shaken." These works increased the public
interest in him, and his release was ordered through the influence of the Duke
of York. He then went to Ireland on business, and while he was there he
succeeded in effecting the release of imprisoned Quakers through his influence
with old friends at court. On his return he became reconciled with his father,
and thereafter lived on good terms with him.
Early in 1670 Penn again fell into trouble by preaching in the street in
violation of the Conventicle act. He was promptly arrested with Captain William
Mead and taken before the lord-mayor, who sent them to the Old Bailey. In the
remarkable trial that followed, the jury, who were kept for two days and nights
without food, fire, or water, brought in a verdict of not guilty, for which each
juryman was fined forty marks and sent to Newgate, while Penn and Mead were also
fined and imprisoned for contempt in wearing their hats in presence of the
court. They appealed to the court of common pleas, where the decision of the
lower court was reversed, and the great principle of English law was
established, that it is the right of the jury to judge of the evidence
independently of the dictation or direction of the court.
On being liberated, Penn at once returned to the bedside of his father, who
died in the course of a few days, bequeathing to his son a property of £1,500 a
year. Penn was again arrested in March, 1671, for preaching in a meeting-house
in London, and committed to the Tower. He was tried under the Conventicle act,
but acquitted for want of testimony, and on his refusing to take the oath of
allegiance, owing to conscientious scruples about swearing, was sentenced to
Newgate for six months. He spent his time there in writing "The Great
Case of Liberty of Conscience," "Truth rescued from Imposture,""A Postscript to 'Truth Exalted, '" and "An Apology for
the Quakers."
At the expiration of his imprisonment he spent a short time in Holland and
Germany, where he was active in making converts, but he soon returned to
England, and early in the spring of 1672 he married Guliehna Maria, a daughter
of Sir William Springett. At first, he resided in Rickmansworth, in
Hertfordshire, and then he settled in Dorminghurst, in Sussex. During the
ensuing few years he devoted much time to itinerant preaching, and published
about twenty-six controversial works, some of which displayed great ability, and
two political volumes, a "Treatise on Oaths" (1672) and "England's
Present Interest Considered" (1672). He also had a controversy with
Thomas Hicks, a Baptist preacher, in London, and published his "Reason
against Railing and Truth against Fiction," and " The
Counterfeit Christian Detected."
In 1674 a dispute arose between John Fenwick, agent and trustee of Edward
Byllinge, concerning the proprietary rights in the Quaker colonies of New
Jersey. The matter was referred to William Penn for arbitration, and he decided
in favor of Byllinge, who, becoming involved and unable to meet the demands that
were made upon him, surrendered his property to his creditors. The latter
appointed two trustees, and he himself selected Penn as a third to care for his
interests. Penn showed great zeal in the work of colonization, and soon several
vessels laden with emigrants were on their way to the New World. He then turned
his attention to the congregations on the continent, and visited Holland and
various parts of Germany, where he advocated colonization. On his return to
England he continued to send emigrants to this country, and several additional
ship-loads of settlers left England, making a total of more than 800 families.
His acquaintance with Algernon Sidney, formed many years earlier on the
continent, was now renewed, and Sidney became a frequent guest at Dorminghurst.
In the elections in which Sidney was a candidate for Guildford and Bramber,
respectively, Penn was one of his most active supporters. Although he was
elected on both occasions, Sidney was not permitted to take his seat, and Penn,
indignant at the treatment of his friend, and in consequence of other incidents,
proposed to the king's council to receive a certain amount of territory on the
Atlantic seaboard and in the interior of the country in lieu of money that was
due his father, aggregating about £16,000. After numerous delays and various
modifications of the original petition, on 24 February, 1681, Charles II. signed
a charter that constituted Penn absolute proprietor of the territory in question
in consideration of two beaver-skins to be given annually to the king. The name
of New Wales was proposed by Penn for the province; but this being objected to,
he suggested Sylvania, to which the king prefixed Penn, in honor of the great
admiral. Direct appeal to the king and a proffer of twenty guineas to his
secretary to have the name changed was unsuccessful. A liberal scheme of
government and laws was drawn up by Penn, aided by Algernon Sidney.
Organizations for emigration were established in England and on the continent,
and negotiations were entered into with Penn for the sale of lands.
In 1682 he sent out Captain William Markham with instructions to take
possession of the province, to search out a convenient spot of ground on which
to erect a governor's mansion, and to cultivate a friendly feeling with the
Indians. In September, 1682, he himself set out from London on the "
Welcome," and he reached Newcastle on the Delaware late in October,
taking formal possession of the territory on the day after his arrival. The
province was divided into counties, which were subdivided into building-lots,
and the land was put up for sale at four pence an acre. He then selected, but
not without some dissension, as a site for his capital the neck of land that
lies at the junction of Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, which he purchased from
the Swedes, and to which he gave the name of Philadelphia. Penn's landing was
made at Dock creek, where the "Blue Anchor" tavern was built,
beyond which the first ten houses, known as "Budd's Long Row,"
were erected. This place at once grew with wonderful rapidity, and within a year
a hundred houses had been built. Meanwhile, (luring October, 1682, his famous
treaty with the Indians was made. On the banks of the Delaware, at Shackamaxon
(afterward Kensington, and now a part of the city), stood a great elm, where in
earlier times the Indians had assembled on important occasions, and the name of
the place signified, in the Indian language, the "locality of
kings." Here representatives of the Delawares, Mingoes, and other
Susquehanna tribes made with the Quakers a treaty of peace and friendship which,
according to Voltaire, "was never sworn to and never broken."
The influence of Penn was so great among the Indians that to be a follower of
his was at all times a passport to their protection and hospitality. George
Bancroft says that "while every other colony in the New World was
visited in turn by the horrors of Indian warfare, no drop of Quaker blood was
ever shed by a red man in Pennsylvania."
Penn then devoted himself to his duties as governor, and made treaties with
other Indian tribes, and as long as any of the aborigines remained in
Pennsylvania or its neighborhood their traditions bore testimony to the justice
and benevolence of "Mignon," as the Delawares called him, or of
"Onus," as he was styled by the Iroquois, he then visited New
York and New Jersey, and after the meeting of the general assembly of the
province' at Newcastle in May, 1684, he entrusted the government to a council,
and in August sailed for England, leaving a prosperous colony of 7,000 persons.
In his farewell he writes: "And thou. Philadelphia, the virgin
settlement of this province, named before thou wast born, what love, what care,
what service, and what travail hath there been to bring thee forth and preserve
thee from such as would abuse and defile thee! My soul prays to God for thee,
that thou mayest stand in the day of trial, that thy children may be blessed of
the Lord, and thy people saved by his power."
On his return to England he first sought to have the boundary-line between
Maryland and Pennsylvania properly adjusted, but Charles II was then very near
his end, and definite action could not be procured. Penn's patron and the friend
of his father, the Duke of York, succeeded to the throne as James II, on 6
February, 1685, and soon after his accession set at liberty about 1,200 Quakers
that had been imprisoned for their religious opinions. Shortly afterward the
boundary difficulty was considered, and the disputed territory was divided into
two equal parts, one of which was transferred to Lord Baltimore, and the other
returned to the crown.
Penn took up his residence at Kensington, and thereafter, until the king went
into exile, he was at court almost daily. His chief object was to persuade the
king to introduce into parliament a general act that should permit perfect
freedom of opinion in every part of his dominions. His influence with James was
well known, and every man with a real grievance found in him a counselor and
friend. Through his efforts a pardon was granted to John
Locke, who was then residing at the Hague; but Locke refused to accept it,
claiming that he had done no wrong. Penn's success with the king being reported,
it naturally made enemies for him, and it was circulated that he had
matriculated at a Jesuit seminary, had taken holy orders in Rome, and officiated
regularly at mass in the private chapel at Whitehall. Among other attacks on his
character are those that were revived by Lord Macaulay in his "History
of England."
Macaulay has accused him of acting as an agent of the rapacious maids of
honor of the royal court to extort money for pardon from the relatives of some
young girls at Taunton who were implicated in Monmouth's rebellion, and also
accused him of an attempt to persuade Dr. John Hough, president of Magdalen
college, Oxford, to accede to the wishes of King James in a matter where
compliance would have involved a violation of his official oath by holding out
to him the bait of a bishopric. Neither of these charges can be sustained by any
direct evidence, and, moreover, abundant material exists tending to prove their
falsity. (See the preface to Hepworth Dixon's" William Penn, an
Historical Biography founded on Family and State Papers," London,
1856.)
Penn was sent by James to visit William of Orange, whom he endeavored to
convert to his views of universal toleration, and, after visiting in Holland, he
traveled through Rhineland, where he circulated reports of the success of his
colony. In April, 168'7, the king issued a proclamation declaring liberty of
conscience to all, and removing tests and penalties, which was largely the
result of Penn's influence. Penn was the only one of James's court that remained
in London after his flight, and he was called before the lords of council, who,
finding nothing against him, save that he was a friend of James, required of him
bonds for his appearance on the first day of the following term, when he was
declared free of every charge that had been made against him. Subsequently a
letter from the exiled James, requesting him to come to France, was intercepted,
and he was again brought before the council in presence of King William. After a
long examination, in which Penn declared his friendship for James though he did
not approve of the latter's policy, and said he could not prevent the exile from
writing to him, he was discharged.
Later, on several occasions, he was arrested on the charge of being
implicated in various plots, but invariably was discharged for lack of evidence.
In 1692 he was deprived of his government, and his province was annexed to the
colony of New York. On 23 February, 1694, his wife died, and he bore testimony
to her virtuous life and Christian death in "An Account of the Blessed
End of my Dear Wife, Gulielma Maria Penn." In January, 1696, he married
Hannah Callowhill, of Bristol, a Quaker lady, with whom he had long been
acquainted. Meanwhile, in August, 1694, an order in council was made restoring
to him his government. He then sent out William Markham as his deputy; but the
arbitrary behavior of the latter made trouble, so that Penn, on 9 September,
1699, with his wife and daughter Letitia, sailed on the "Canterbury"
for Pennsylvania. On their arrival at Philadelphia, the governor and his family
went to lodge at Edward Shippen's, where they remained about a month. Penn then
went to reside in what is known as the Slate-roof house, on Second street,
between Chestnut and Walnut, at the south-cast corner of Norris's alley, shown
in the accompanying illustration.
Here was born, about two months after they landed, his son John, the only one
of his children that was a native of this country, who was therefore called
"the American."
Difficulties that had existed prior to his arrival regarding the government
of the province now disappeared, and peace and order soon prevailed throughout
the colony. He gave his attention to various reforms, and especially to the
amelioration of the condition of the Indians and Negroes. In 1701 a treaty was
made with the Potomac Indians, and also one with the Five Nations, establishing
commercial transactions between the natives and the colonists through authorized
representatives.
Information that a bill had been introduced in the house of lords converting
all of the proprietary governments into crown colonies led to his return to
England, but on his arrival the project that caused his leaving the colony had
been dropped. Soon afterward he sent his son William to Philadelphia to
represent him, but the latter so disgraced his father by his notorious conduct
that he was sent home. Other troubles followed, including a false claim against
him by his steward, rather than pay which he allowed himself to be committed to
the Fleet prison in 1708. Later he became so reduced that he proposed to sell
the colony to Queen Anne for £20,000, and, failing in this, had endeavored to
secure the promise of a salary of £600 annually as governor, His health,
seriously injured by his confinement in the Fleet, now grew worse, and, finding
that the country air Of Berkshire agreed best with him, he settled in Ruscombe.
Early in 1712 he was stricken with paralysis, and other shocks followed that
so affected him that much of the time he was deprived of his memory and of the
power of motion. In this condition ha lingered for six years, sustained and
aided by his wife, who managed his business affairs for him. He was buried in
Jordan's burying-ground, in Buckinghamshire, by the side of his first wife and
Springett, his first-born and favorite son. An effort was made to have the
remains of William Penn brought to Philadelphia, to rest there beneath some
imposing monument. The little graveyard in Buckinghamshire was discovered, but "no
monumental marble, or even simple headstone, marks the spot where the founder of
Pennsylvania found at last that rest and freedom from the persecution he had
experienced in his lifetime."
In the original plan of Philadelphia, Penn placed a square of ten acres at
the intersection of Broad and High (now Market) streets, but in the course of
time the park was absorbed for building purposes, until only Penn square
remained, on which the Philadelphia public buildings have long been in process
of construction. These buildings were completed in 1892, and on the summit of
the dome there is to be placed a colossal bronze statue of Penn, thirty-six feet
high. It was designed by Alexander Caulder, and will weigh thirty tons. The
figure is in a speaking attitude, and the left hand is represented as holding
the original charter of the city of Philadelphia. As the statue is intended to
personate him in his relation to the city rather than to the state, this was
deemed the most appropriate symbol.
In 1726 appeared "A Collection of the Works of William Penn, to which
is prefixed a Journal of his Life, with many Original Letters and Papers not
before Published" (2 vols., London), and in 1771 there were published "Select
Works of William Penn, to which is prefixed a Journal of his Life";
also, in 1782, his "Select Works with a Life" were issued in
five volumes, and again in 1825 in three volumes. See "Vie de Guillaume
Penn," by Jean Marsillac (Paris, 1791; translated into German by Carl
J. Friedrich, Strasburg, 1793) ; Thomas Clarkson's "Memoirs of the Public
and Private Life of William Penn" (London, 1813); Mason L. Weems's
"Life of William Penn" (Philadelphia. 1822) ; the " Life" by
Joseph Barker (London, 1852); and George E. Ellis, in Sparks's "American
Biography" (2d series, vol. xii., Boston, 1847); Samuel M. Janney,
"Life and Select Correspondence of William Penn " (Philadelphia, 1852)
: William Hepworth Dixon's " William Penn, an Historical Biography founded
on Family and State Papers" (new ed., London, 1856); "Inquiry into the
Evidence of the Charges brought by Lord Nacaulay against William Penn," by
James Paget (Edinburgh, 1858); and "William Penn," by Robert J.
Burdette (New York, 1882). For a full account of William Penn's writings and of
those which relate to him, see Joseph Smith's "Catalogue of Friends'
Books," vol. ii., pp. 282-326.
--His second wife, Hannah Penn, died
in 1733, was the daughter of Thomas Callowhill, a Bristol merchant. She
accompanied her husband to Pennsylvania in 1699, and lived in great style, both
in Philadelphia and in Pennsbury Manor, a beautiful estate situated in Bucks
county, on the river Delaware. After Penn's death, during the minority of her
children, as sole executrix, she assumed the management of the colonial affairs,
performing this difficult task with rare tact and business capacity. Her deputy
in Pennsylvania from 1718 till 1727 was Sir William Keith (q. v.).
--The founder of Pennsylvania had several children that died in his
lifetime.--His eldest surviving son, William Penn, born about 1676; died in
Liege in 1720, came to the colony with Lieutenant-Governor Evans, arriving 2
February, 1704, and was made a member of the provincial council on the 8th. As
such he joined in a declaration that a clause in his father's instructions
suspending the operation of laws passed by the lieutenant-governor until the proprietor's
pleasure be known was illegal and void. He raised a militia company, but, being
presented before the corporation of the city of Philadelphia, the chief men in
which were unfriendly to his father, for disorder at a tavern, he took offence
and returned to England. He was an unsuccessful candidate for parliament. On his
mother's side he was related to the wife of Lord Fairfax, and engaged with him
and others in a project to recover sunken treasure. By various means he added to
his father's financial embarrassment, and he was obliged to sell the manor of
Williamstadt, which had been laid out for him at the founding of the
colony.
The estate of Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland, which had descended from
Admiral Penn, and certain other property, being deemed a handsome provision for
him, all but 40,000 acres of the American estate were left to the founder's
children by his second wife after payment of his debts, the powers of government
being devised to the Earl of Oxford and Earl Powlett to sell; but the
heir-at-law contested this, and issued a fresh commission to the
lieutenant-governor, in which he declared himself a member of the Church of
England. By advice of the assembly, the commission was not proclaimed.
Subsequently an order from the regents of Great Brit-am was obtained continuing
the lieutenant-governor in office. This William Penn left three children.
--His eldest son, SPRINGETT Penn,
born in England; died in Dublin, Ireland, 8 February, 1731, succeeded to his
father's claims, and was by many persons considered the rightful
governor-in-chief. Sir William Keith, the lieutenant-governor, caused a large
tract of land on the frontier to be laid out for him, and called Springettsbury
Manor. In 1725, with the widow and executrix of the founder, he nominated
Patrick Gordon as Keith's successor, and obtained confirmation of the
appointment by the crown. The will of the founder was established by decree of
the court of exchequer in 1727, and a compromise between the two branches of the
family was in process of adjustment at his death.
--Springett's brother and heir, William
Penn, born in 1703 ; died in Shanagarry, Ireland, 6 February, 1746,
executed for £5,500 a release to John, Thomas, and Richard Penn, dated 23
September, 1731. He returned to the Society of Friends on marrying Christiana,
daughter of Alexander Forbes, a merchant in London, on 7 December, 1732. After
her death he married Ann Vaux, 13 December, 1736, by whom he had an only son,
who died without issue, whereupon Christiana Guliehna, wife of Peter Gaskell and
daughter of William and Christiana Penn, became the heiress at common law of the
founder.
--William the founder's eldest son by his second wife, John
Penn, called " the American," born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, 29 February, 1700; died in England in October, 1746, by his
mother's appointment received half of the proprietaryship, and was confirmed in
the enjoyment of it by the paying of the mortgage, by the annulling of the
agreement to sell the powers of government, by compromise with the elder branch
of the family, by the establishment of a provisional boundary-line with
Maryland, and by Indian treaties that opened all the region required for
settlements. John Penn came to Pennsylvania in September, 1734, but returned to
England the following year. During his stay he attended the meetings of the
provincial council. He appears to have been the only descendant of William Penn
in the male line that remained a Quaker. He died without issue, leaving his
rights in the province and lower counties to his brother Thomas
Penn, born in England in 1702; died there, 21 March, 1775.
Thomas had originally only one sixth of the proprietaryship, but it was
increased to a fourth by the death of a younger brother in infancy. To manage
the estate he came to the colony in 1732 with power of attorney from John and
Richard, and on his arrival took a seat in the council. He remained until
August, 1741. Subsequently there was a long struggle between the proprietaries
and the assembly of Pennsylvania, chiefly as to the taxation of the Penn
estates. In 1764 the assembly petitioned the king to assume the government, but
the crown let the powers remain with the proprietaries.
Mason and Dixon's line, run in 1767 and confirmed in 1769, ended the boundary
dispute with Maryland, and the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768 extinguished the
Indian claim to the whole region of the Alleghanies from New York to Virginia,
so that Thomas Penn, with his colleague holding a fourth interest, was the
feudal lord of more than 25,000,000 acres, nearly a quarter of a million people,
and the largest town in the American colonies. When he was about fifty years old
he married Lady Juliana, daughter of the first Earl of Pomfret.
--Thomas's son, John Penn, born
in England, 23 February, 1760; died in Stoke Pogis, 21 June, 1834, succeeded to
his father's interests, but, with his cousin, lost the proprietaryship and
governorship by the American Revolution. Penn was a graduate of Cambridge, and
for some time governor of the island of Portland, where he built Pennsylvania
castle. He was a member of parliament in 1802. He published a tragedy, some
pamphlets, and a volume of poems, and received the degree of LL.D. from
Cambridge in 1811.
-His brother, Granville Penn, born 9 December, 1761; died in Stoke Pogis, 28
September, 1844, was for some time clerk in the war department, and reputed to
be the most learned layman in England. He was the author of various works, among
them a "Life of Admiral Sir William Penn," his
great-grandfather. He visited Pennsylvania. He left several sons, all of whom
died without issue, so that the pension paid by the British government descended
to the family of his sister, Sophia Margaret, who married William Stuart,
archbishop of Armagh
.--William the founder's third son by his second wife, Richard
Penn, born about 1710; died in England in 1771, was also a
proprietary and titular governor of Pennsylvania and the counties of New Castle,
Kent, and Sussex on Delaware river. He married Hannah, daughter of John Lardner,
and had two sons. The eldest, JohnPenn,
lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania, born in London, 14 July, 1729 ; died in
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 9 February, 1795, married clandestinely while he was
at school, but was separated from his wife by his uncle, Thomas Penn, and went
to the continent, finishing his education at the university in Geneva. He was
then sent to Pennsylvania, and on 6 February, 1753, became a member of the
provincial council, with the rank of first member thereof, and succession to its
presidency in case of a vacancy in the office of lieutenant-governor. He was one
of the commissioners to the congress at Albany in 1754. He left the colony after
Braddock's defeat, but seven years afterward
returned as lieutenant-govern-or, arriving on 30 October, 1763. The first year
of his term witnessed a state of affairs that threatened the existence of civil
government. The assembly, controlled by the Quakers, failed to satisfy the
Scotch-Irish on the frontier, who saw large sums of money, lavished in presents
to Indians while they lay destitute from an Indian war.
In December, 1763, the more desperate of the young men about Paxton banded
together, destroyed a peaceable Indian village at Conestoga, and scalped all
whom they found at home. The remainder of the tribe were placed by the
authorities in the Lancaster work-house for protection, while a proclamation was
issued for the arrest of the murderers; but few days later a troop of horsemen
broke rote the building and massacred its inmates. Penn issued a proclamation
offering a reward for the capture of the murderers; but this had no effect. A
battalion of regular soldiers was ordered to Lancaster, and, by the united
efforts of all citizens, a bold front was presented when the " Paxton
boys" appeared at Germantown oil their way to murder the Bethlehem
Indians, who had been housed in the barracks in the Northern Liberties. This
outbreak had barely subsided before the young governor was embroiled with the
assembly on an offshoot of the old quarrel as to the taxation of proprietary
lands. This brought about the petition to change the government from proprietary
to royal. Upon the repeal of the stamp-act he congratulated the assembly, and
gave a fete at "Lansdowne," his country-seat, now within
Fairmount park. He declined to be patron of the Philosophical society because it
had chosen Benjamin Franklin for its
president.
The happiest event of Penn's administration was the treaty with the Indians
at Fort Stanwix in 1768. On the death of his father he embarked for England on 4
May, 1771, leaving the government to the council; but in August, 1773, he
returned to Pennsylvania as governor in his own right and by deputation from his
uncle. In respect to the Revolutionary contest, he attempted to steer a middle
course. He was opposed to taxation
without representation, but his first overt act might have caused the
ministry to replace the proprietary by a royal government. In February, 1775, he
besought the assembly to send a petition from their own body seeking redress of
grievances. On 30 June of that year the assembly, without troubling Penn for his
consent, provided for arming the province, and appointed a committee of safety,
which thenceforth was supreme in Pennsylvania ; but Penn's council continued to
meet until the following September. Within a month after the Declaration
of Independence a constitutional convention met, and vested the government
of Pennsylvania in a supreme executive council, choosing its own president and
the officers of state. Penn offered no other resistance than refusal to
recognize the new authority. Nevertheless, when Howe's
army was expected in Philadelphia, it was thought inexpedient to leave such
important instruments in British hands as a regularly commissioned governor and
chief justice; so Chew and himself were arrested, 12 August, 1777, on the
recommendation of congress, but they were released on 15 May, 1778.
On 28 June, 1779, the legislature of Pennsylvania transferred to the state
the property in the soil, restricted the possessions of the Penns to such
manors, or tenths, as had been set apart for them prior to the Declaration of
Independence, and also their purchases from private parties, and abolished
quit-rents except within the manors. It voted in remuneration for this the sum
of £130,000 to the heirs and devisees of Thomas and Richard Penn, to be paid
three years after the establishment of peace. In addition, the British
government created an annuity of £4,000, which has only recently been commuted.
John Penn's branch of the family was entitled to a fourth of these sums, and the
estates in Philadelphia and elsewhere were considerable; so that he was enabled
to live comfortably the rest of his life at " Lansdowne." or at
his city residence. He was buried under the floor of Christ church,
Philadelphia, but his remains were afterward removed to England.
--Another son of the founder by his second wife, Richard
Penn, lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania, born in England in 1735;
died in Richmond, Surrey, England, 27 May, 1811, spent some time at St. John's
college, Cambridge, and was intended for the legal profession, but relinquished
that study. He accompanied his brother to Pennsylvania in 1763, and was
qualified as a councilor on 12 January, 1764. After an absence of two years in
England he was appointed by his uncle and brother lieutenant-governor of
Pennsylvania, and arriving the second time in Philadelphia on 16 October, 1771,
made himself the most popular of his family. All his dealings with the
provincial assembly were very friendly. Armor, in his " Lives of the
Governors," says: "He was especially attentive to the
commercial interests of the colony, and during his administration a degree of
unexampled prosperity prevailed." He had a dispute with his brother
concerning his father's will, and for some time after the arrival of John, by
whom he was superseded in the governorship in August, 1773, Richard did not meet
him, but the two were finally reconciled. Richard Penn's feelings were enlisted
against the oppressive acts of the British government.
Both Penns longed for concessions, but Richard's situation being more
independent, he could afford to be more demonstrative. He entertained the
members of the Continental congress at his house, George
Washington being among his guests. He left Philadelphia in the summer of
1775, carrying with him the second petition of congress to the king. On 7
November, 1775, its consideration being the order of the day in the house of
lords, the Duke of Richmond, observing Mr. Penn below the bar, moved that he be
examined, to authenticate it. Accordingly, after some discussion, he was sworn
on the 10th, and testified to the ability and willingness of his colony to
resist the home government. He was member of the British parliament from 1796 to
1806, but became very poor. He visited Philadelphia in 1808. By his wife, Mary
Masters, a Pennsylvania heiress, he had several children, who died without
issue.--
