William Penn
William Penn (14 October 1644 – 30 July 1718) was an English-born Colonial writer and religous leader who founded the Province of Pennsylvania, which would later become the American state of Pennsylvania. The democratic principles that he set forth served as an inspiration for the United States Constitution. Ahead of his time, Penn also published a plan for a United States of Europe, "European Dyet, Parliament or Estates."[1]
Thomas Jefferson called Penn "the greatest law-giver the world has produced." Penn was an avid Quaker and pacifist.
Contents
Life
Early life
In 1666 Penn joined the radical religious group the Society of Friends, for him a life-changing decision. Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell is a controversial figure in English history, but one policy change we can applaud is his government’s tolerance of other Christian sects in England during their decade of rule. Apart from Catholics, the Commonwealth allowed people to openly promote other biblical interpretations. This included George Fox, a charismatic speaker and founder of a group later called Quakers. Penn’s decision to join Fox shocked his upper class family. Penn risked his social position, political connections, and financial prospects by choosing this path. Family friend Samuel Pepys wrote that Penn had "become a Quaker, or some such melancoly thing." Under Charles II, dissenters were persecuted and jailed, but Penn would defend his faith with all his talent and energy for the rest of his life.
Partial timeline
- 1696: Penn married Hannah Callowhill; he was 52, and she was 26. They had seven children, and four reached adulthood: John (1700-1746), Thomas (1702-1775), Margaret (1704-1751), and Richard (1706-1771).
- 1699: Penn sailed to Pennsylvania with Hannah, daughter Letitia, and several servants.
- 1700: Penn's son John is born in Philadelphia in January, only a month after they arrived. The family spent the winter living in the Slate Roof House in the city. When the Delaware River thawed they moved out to Pennsbury Manor.
- 1701: Penn’s family spent their second summer at Pennsbury. In the fall, they sailed back to England to ensure Penn retained control of the colony. Though they planned to return, this would be the last time they saw Pennsylvania. Penn drafted the Charter of Privileges before leaving the colony. Penn initially did not want to pass such a charter, relented in response to complaints from colonial leadership prior to his second (and what would become his final) departure for England. Over the course of his 15 years absence between 1684 and 1699, his colony had been left to fend for itself without the ability to govern itself effectively. The Charter would give unprecedented controls to the people of Pennsylvania. 50 years later, in 1751 Philadelphia’s residents celebrated the anniversary of this document by ordering a bell to be made for the State House tower. It was not made well, and had to be recast, but it rang out for many public announcements during the next few decades, including an important declaration of independence from England in 1776. It was later named the Liberty Bell.
- 1703: Delaware separated from Pennsylvania to become an independent colony. Penn remained Delaware’s Proprietor.
- 1704: Penn offered to turn Pennsylvania back over to the Crown.
- 1708: Penn's poor management of his Irish estates landed him in debtor's prison for several months. This followed a six-year court battle with the heirs of Philip Ford, his former steward in Ireland.
Penn in Germany (1671 - 1677)
Between 1671 and 1677 William Penn made trips to Germany on behalf of the Quaker faith. In Philadelphia, German lawyer, poet and scholar Francis Daniel Pastorius negotiated the purchase of 15,000 acres (61 km²) from his friend William Penn, the proprietor of the colony, and laid out the settlement of Germantown. This German Settlement was symbolic in two ways: it was a specifically German-speaking ward, and it comprised religious dissenters. Pennsylvania has remained the heartland for various branches of Anabaptists: Old Order Mennonites, Ephrata Cloisters, Brethren, and Amish. Pennsylvania also became home for many Lutheran refugees from Catholic provinces (e.g., Salzburg), as well as for German Catholics who also had been discriminated against in their home country.
The German Society of Pennsylvania was established in 1764 and is still functioning today from its headquarters in Philadelphia.
Death
Penn had wished to settle in Philadelphia himself, but financial problems forced him back to England in 1701. His financial advisor, Philip Ford, had cheated him out of thousands of pounds, and he had nearly lost Pennsylvania through Ford's machinations. The next decade of Penn's life was mainly filled with various court cases against Ford. He tried to sell Pennsylvania back to the state, but while the deal was still being discussed, he was hit by a stroke in 1712, after which he was unable to speak or take care of himself.
Penn died in 1718 at his home in Ruscombe, near Twyford in Berkshire, and was buried next to his first wife in the cemetery of the Jordans Quaker meeting house at Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire in England. His family retained ownership of the colony of Pennsylvania until the American Revolution.
Family
Penn first married Gulielma Maria Posthuma Springett (1644–1694), daughter of William S. Springett (the Posthuma in her name represented that her father had passed prior to her birth) and Lady Mary Proude Penington. They had three sons and five daughters, including William Penn (Jr.) and * Letitia Penn, (b. 1678-1746), married William Awbrey (Aubrey). (Gulielma Maria 1671/72-before 1685, William 1672/73-1674, Maria Margaret b/d 1673/74, Springett 1674/75-1696, Letitia 1678-1746, William, Jr. 1679/80-1720, Unnamed child b/d 1682, (2nd) Gulielma Maria 1685-1689) [2]
Two years after Gulielma's death he married Hannah Margaret Callowhill (1671–1726), daughter of Thomas Callowhill and Anna (Hannah) Hollister. William Penn married Hannah when she was 25 and he was 52. They had eight children in twelve years. The first two children died in infancy. The other children were:
- Unnamed Female (b/d 1697)
- John Penn (1699/00–1746), never married.
- Thomas Penn (1700/01–1775), married Lady Juliana Fermor, fourth daughter of Thomas, first Earl of Pomfret.
- Hannah Penn (1703-1707/08)
- Margaret Penn (1704/05-1771)
- Richard Penn, Sr. (1705–1771)
- Dennis Penn (b. 1705/06, d. 1721/22)
- Hannah Penn (1708–1709)
External links
- PHILADELPHIA REFLECTIONS: William Penn
- William Penn: Biography
- Francis Daniel Pastorius Describes his impressions of Pennsylvania, 1683
References
- ↑ Brief History of William Penn
- ↑ "Genealogies of Pennsylvania Families"
