Individual Details
William Penn
(13 Oct 1644 - 29 Jul 1717)
Best Known As: The Quaker who founded Philadelphia
In A.D. 1681, Penn received his charter, and was made Proprietary and governor of the province of Pennsylvania.
"Let every house be placed, if the person pleases, in the middle of its plat, as to the breadthway of it, so that there may be ground on each side for gardens or orchards, or fields, that it may be a greene country towne, which will never be burnt & always wholesome." William Penn's Instructions to his Commissioners, William Crispin, John Bezar, & Nathaniel Allen, dated 30th of Sept., A.D. 1681
He printed the charter, with an account of the country, and gave terms of sale of the land, which read very queerly at this day, when the price of a lot in Chestnut Street, after the passage of two successful centuries, more than equals the amount paid for the whole province. One hundred acres could then be bought for forty shillings sterling, cash, and "one shilling per annum forever," according to the English custom of the day of holding one's hand over what he had sold, and claiming a small ground rent, even if it were only a few barleycorns or bushels of wheat, or a red rose. The troublesome quit-rent was a part of the first purchase, and could not be completely extinguished in the new transfer. Penn is said to have held his title from the King by a small yearly rent, and so a like rent from the purchasers to him was needful to make the titles valid. Penn's obligation to the King seems to have been nominal, unless mines of silver or gold were discovered, when one-fifth must be reserved. Blackstone defines a quit-rent as a payment by which the tenant is quieted, or quit, from other service. In the Latin it is quietus reditus. Penn himself held by feudal tenure, which implies a duty or service in return. Allodial tenure is freehold, free of rent or service to any paramount lord. Such are the good tenures of the latter times in Pennsylvania. There was an ancient idea that all land was vested in the sovereign, and the term "the King's highway" is a remnant of the thought.
Penn wished no person having ten thousand, or more, acres to have over a thousand acres in one place, unless within the space of three years he would place a family on every thousand acres. He ordered that in clearing ground one acre of trees should be left for every five acres cleared, and mulberry and oak trees were to be preserved for the silk industry and for shipping.
Penn instructed his three commissioners to be "just and courteous to all," and not to offend the Indians, but to let the red men "know that you are come to sit down lovingly among them."
The Indians were to have good and honest wares in return for their furs, and were not to be abused. Any wrongdoing to them was to be punished with the same penalty as if a white planter had been injured. If an Indian did an injury, the person injured might not take the law into his own hands, but must refer the matter to the Governor, or his deputy, or to a magistrate, who should treat with the Indian king for a satisfaction for the complainant. Differences between planters and Indians were to be settled by twelve men, six being Indians and six whites. In this respect he acted as the Swedes had done in their kind treatment of the savages.
Penn died on the thirtieth of July, A.D. 1717, in his seventy-fourth year. Besse says, "His soul, prepared for a more glorious habitation, forsook the decayed tabernacle, which was committed to the earth on the :fifth of the Sixth month (August) following, at Jordan's, in Buckinghamshire, where his former wife and several of his family had been before interred." A multitude of Friends and others attended the funeral, which was a very solemn one, as Story describes it, and the family, with the widow, lamented with many tears the loss of one of the best of men. The meetings of men and women Friends in America conveyed their condolence to the bereaved widow, and their testimony was grateful to her feelings. The Pennsylvania Indians sent her a message of sympathy and a present of "materials to form a garment of skins for traveling through a thorny wilderness," expressing by a symbol their sense of the troubles which lay before her, and their wish that she might safely pass through them.
FOURTH WILL, NEW CASTLE, 30 8br 1701 Newcastle on Delaware, 30 8br 1701 Because it is appointed for all men once to dye, and yt their days are in the hand of ye Almighty their Creator, I think fitt upon this present voyage to make my last will testament, which is as follows: Since my estate, both in England and Ireland, are either entailed or incumbred, my wil is, that whch is saleable, be sould for payment of my just Debts, and all my household stuff, plate, and linen, not given or disposed of to my children by their relations, and if there should be any overplus, that it goe equally to my son William and daughter Laetitia, as to my estate in Europe, be it Land, houses, or moveables, except my gold chain and meddall. sch I give to my son William; and except such estate as I had with or since I Married this wife, ffor my estate in America, it is also encumbered, but not with the tenth part of true value thereof--I mean of the Province of Pennsylvania and counties annexed--when that incumbrance is discharged, I give my son William all my sayd Province and Territorys, to him and his Heirs forever as proprietary and Govern. But out of or rather in the sayd soyle thereof, I give to my Daughter, Laetitia Penn, one hundred thousand acres, seaventy of sch out of or rather the sayd province, and ten thousand acres out of or rather in each of the Lower Countys of the territorys. I also give to my son John one hundred and fifty thousand acres, of wch one hundred thousand in the Province, and fifty thousand acres in the Lower Countys; and I also bequeath to him my tenth or Proprietary ship of Salem tenth or County in West New Jersey, to my sayd son John and his heirs forever, with all rents, Proffits, and Interests therein. I also will that the Childe my De: wife, Hannah Penn, now goes with, shall have one hundred thousand acres if a boy, a seaventy thousand if a Girle, in the Province aforesd: all which Land so given shall lye between Susquehanagh River and Delaware River, and to be taken up within twelve months after my death. If my encumbrances can be discharged in yt time, or so soon as they are: but so as that the sayd Lands be not above = 80 = miles above a due west line, to be drawn from Philadelphia to Susquehanah River, and to be layd out in ye way of townships, and to pay to my son William one silver shilling for every township of five thousand acres when taken up forever, in lieu of all demands and services, hereby requiring my sayd son William to erect all of any part of ye aforesayd Lands into mannors, with due powers over their own Tennants, according to my sayd children's respective agreements with them, when they or any for them require the same. Addendum and comments by Horace D. Satcher hsatcher@mindspring.com "..I give to my Servts, John and Mary Sach...[this is as written in the book I have taken this from] three hundred acres between them; to James Logan one thousand acres, and my blacks their freedom, as under my hand already; and to ould Sam 100 acres....." John and Mary Sach... are John SATCHER (SOTCHER or SACHAR) and wife Mary LOFTIS steward of Pennsbury Manor from 1701 until around 1710 (some variations of actual departure date.) They are mentioned in later correspondence of William and Hannah Penn as well as correspondence of James Logan. "...& my blacks their freedom, as under my hand already...." The note reads: "This is the only one of WP's extant wills that contain such a provision. Neither his will of 1705 nor his last will of 1712 repeated this resolution, and, though WP freed some slaves during his lifetime, others passed to his heirs at his death." See: The Papers of William Penn, Volume Four 1701-1718 Editors, Craig W. Horle - Alixon Duncan Hirsch - Marianne S Wobeck - Joy Wiltenburg. General Editors Richard S. Dunn - Mary Maples Dunn University of Pennsylvania Press 1987
In A.D. 1681, Penn received his charter, and was made Proprietary and governor of the province of Pennsylvania.
"Let every house be placed, if the person pleases, in the middle of its plat, as to the breadthway of it, so that there may be ground on each side for gardens or orchards, or fields, that it may be a greene country towne, which will never be burnt & always wholesome." William Penn's Instructions to his Commissioners, William Crispin, John Bezar, & Nathaniel Allen, dated 30th of Sept., A.D. 1681
He printed the charter, with an account of the country, and gave terms of sale of the land, which read very queerly at this day, when the price of a lot in Chestnut Street, after the passage of two successful centuries, more than equals the amount paid for the whole province. One hundred acres could then be bought for forty shillings sterling, cash, and "one shilling per annum forever," according to the English custom of the day of holding one's hand over what he had sold, and claiming a small ground rent, even if it were only a few barleycorns or bushels of wheat, or a red rose. The troublesome quit-rent was a part of the first purchase, and could not be completely extinguished in the new transfer. Penn is said to have held his title from the King by a small yearly rent, and so a like rent from the purchasers to him was needful to make the titles valid. Penn's obligation to the King seems to have been nominal, unless mines of silver or gold were discovered, when one-fifth must be reserved. Blackstone defines a quit-rent as a payment by which the tenant is quieted, or quit, from other service. In the Latin it is quietus reditus. Penn himself held by feudal tenure, which implies a duty or service in return. Allodial tenure is freehold, free of rent or service to any paramount lord. Such are the good tenures of the latter times in Pennsylvania. There was an ancient idea that all land was vested in the sovereign, and the term "the King's highway" is a remnant of the thought.
Penn wished no person having ten thousand, or more, acres to have over a thousand acres in one place, unless within the space of three years he would place a family on every thousand acres. He ordered that in clearing ground one acre of trees should be left for every five acres cleared, and mulberry and oak trees were to be preserved for the silk industry and for shipping.
Penn instructed his three commissioners to be "just and courteous to all," and not to offend the Indians, but to let the red men "know that you are come to sit down lovingly among them."
The Indians were to have good and honest wares in return for their furs, and were not to be abused. Any wrongdoing to them was to be punished with the same penalty as if a white planter had been injured. If an Indian did an injury, the person injured might not take the law into his own hands, but must refer the matter to the Governor, or his deputy, or to a magistrate, who should treat with the Indian king for a satisfaction for the complainant. Differences between planters and Indians were to be settled by twelve men, six being Indians and six whites. In this respect he acted as the Swedes had done in their kind treatment of the savages.
Penn died on the thirtieth of July, A.D. 1717, in his seventy-fourth year. Besse says, "His soul, prepared for a more glorious habitation, forsook the decayed tabernacle, which was committed to the earth on the :fifth of the Sixth month (August) following, at Jordan's, in Buckinghamshire, where his former wife and several of his family had been before interred." A multitude of Friends and others attended the funeral, which was a very solemn one, as Story describes it, and the family, with the widow, lamented with many tears the loss of one of the best of men. The meetings of men and women Friends in America conveyed their condolence to the bereaved widow, and their testimony was grateful to her feelings. The Pennsylvania Indians sent her a message of sympathy and a present of "materials to form a garment of skins for traveling through a thorny wilderness," expressing by a symbol their sense of the troubles which lay before her, and their wish that she might safely pass through them.
FOURTH WILL, NEW CASTLE, 30 8br 1701 Newcastle on Delaware, 30 8br 1701 Because it is appointed for all men once to dye, and yt their days are in the hand of ye Almighty their Creator, I think fitt upon this present voyage to make my last will testament, which is as follows: Since my estate, both in England and Ireland, are either entailed or incumbred, my wil is, that whch is saleable, be sould for payment of my just Debts, and all my household stuff, plate, and linen, not given or disposed of to my children by their relations, and if there should be any overplus, that it goe equally to my son William and daughter Laetitia, as to my estate in Europe, be it Land, houses, or moveables, except my gold chain and meddall. sch I give to my son William; and except such estate as I had with or since I Married this wife, ffor my estate in America, it is also encumbered, but not with the tenth part of true value thereof--I mean of the Province of Pennsylvania and counties annexed--when that incumbrance is discharged, I give my son William all my sayd Province and Territorys, to him and his Heirs forever as proprietary and Govern. But out of or rather in the sayd soyle thereof, I give to my Daughter, Laetitia Penn, one hundred thousand acres, seaventy of sch out of or rather the sayd province, and ten thousand acres out of or rather in each of the Lower Countys of the territorys. I also give to my son John one hundred and fifty thousand acres, of wch one hundred thousand in the Province, and fifty thousand acres in the Lower Countys; and I also bequeath to him my tenth or Proprietary ship of Salem tenth or County in West New Jersey, to my sayd son John and his heirs forever, with all rents, Proffits, and Interests therein. I also will that the Childe my De: wife, Hannah Penn, now goes with, shall have one hundred thousand acres if a boy, a seaventy thousand if a Girle, in the Province aforesd: all which Land so given shall lye between Susquehanagh River and Delaware River, and to be taken up within twelve months after my death. If my encumbrances can be discharged in yt time, or so soon as they are: but so as that the sayd Lands be not above = 80 = miles above a due west line, to be drawn from Philadelphia to Susquehanah River, and to be layd out in ye way of townships, and to pay to my son William one silver shilling for every township of five thousand acres when taken up forever, in lieu of all demands and services, hereby requiring my sayd son William to erect all of any part of ye aforesayd Lands into mannors, with due powers over their own Tennants, according to my sayd children's respective agreements with them, when they or any for them require the same. Addendum and comments by Horace D. Satcher hsatcher@mindspring.com "..I give to my Servts, John and Mary Sach...[this is as written in the book I have taken this from] three hundred acres between them; to James Logan one thousand acres, and my blacks their freedom, as under my hand already; and to ould Sam 100 acres....." John and Mary Sach... are John SATCHER (SOTCHER or SACHAR) and wife Mary LOFTIS steward of Pennsbury Manor from 1701 until around 1710 (some variations of actual departure date.) They are mentioned in later correspondence of William and Hannah Penn as well as correspondence of James Logan. "...& my blacks their freedom, as under my hand already...." The note reads: "This is the only one of WP's extant wills that contain such a provision. Neither his will of 1705 nor his last will of 1712 repeated this resolution, and, though WP freed some slaves during his lifetime, others passed to his heirs at his death." See: The Papers of William Penn, Volume Four 1701-1718 Editors, Craig W. Horle - Alixon Duncan Hirsch - Marianne S Wobeck - Joy Wiltenburg. General Editors Richard S. Dunn - Mary Maples Dunn University of Pennsylvania Press 1987
Events
| Birth | 13 Oct 1644 | Tower Hill,London,England |  | ||
| Christen | 23 Oct 1644 | Allhallows Church, Barking, London | |||
| Marriage | 4 Apr 1672 | Calfrant Grange, England - Gulielma Maria Springett | | ||
| Marriage | 11 Nov 1695 | Bristol, Gloucestershire, England - Hannah Callowhill | | ||
| Death | 29 Jul 1717 | Jordan,Buckinghamshire,England | |
Families
| Spouse | Gulielma Maria Springett (1641 - 1693) |
| Child | Letitia Penn (1683 - 1746) |
| Child | Guielma Maria Penn (1685 - 1689) |
| Child | Springett Penn (1674 - ) |
| Child | William Penn (1674 - 1720) |
| Child | Mary Penn ( - ) |
| Child | Hannah Penn (1703 - 1706) |
| Spouse | Hannah Callowhill ( - 1726) |
| Child | Thomas Penn (1695 - 1775) |
| Child | John Penn (1698 - 1746) |
| Child | Richard Penn (1703 - ) |
| Child | Margaret Penn (1704 - 1750) |
| Child | Dennis Penn (1705 - 1707) |
| Father | William Penn Sr. (1621 - 1670) |
| Mother | Margaret Jasper (1624 - 1682) |
| Sibling | Margaret Penn (1645 - ) |
| Sibling | Richard Penn (1647 - 1673) |
| Sibling | Mary Penn (1648 - ) |
Endnotes
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