My first
Pennsylvania Quaker Ancestor that I would like to mention is William Penn
(1644-1718)-Founder of Pennsylvania. It is said that there are no male
descendants of William living today as the Penn male line ended in the late
1860’s. I am a first cousin 11X removed to William through his Aunt Rachel Penn who is
a maternal 10th great grandmother of mine.
William
became a Quaker at age 22 while in Ireland where he listened to Thomas Loe, a
traveling Quaker speak. William’s father passed away in 1670 when William was
age 35 at which time King Charles II granted William a land charter as a debt
repayment. William became the largest non-royal owner of land totaling around
45,000 square miles. He named the lands “Penns Woods” after his father. Today,
these lands are known as Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Peter Lely, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
To get other
Quakers through out Europe to buy land in Penns Woods, William promised them
Religious freedom. He also stated that his new government would be very
different then the law under the Crown. There would be two houses to keep
things in check and only two crimes that could result in the death penalty,
those being murder and treason. In six months, William distributed about 300,000
acres to more than 250 families.
William
arrived in America October 27, 1682, at New Castle, Delaware and would make his
way to Philadelphia also known as the “City
of Brotherly Love” to lay out the City that he envisioned.
After living
in and near Philadelphia for several years, with his second wife Hannah and some
of their nine children, William left the colonies and never returned. The last
several years of his life was filled with financial problems such as land debt due
to poor management. William twice tried to sell Pennsylvania back to the Crown,
but the sale was denied. William spent some time in debtors jail until some
Quakers raised the money to pay off his debts and get him released from jail.
William had
a stroke in 1712 which took away his ability
to speak and take care of himself. William died August 10, 1718, in
Ruscombe, Berkshire, England. His wife, Hannah took over the role of Overseer
of the Providence of Pennsylvania until her death eight years later.
Many of my other Ancestors were Quakers and also land purchasers of William Penn's lands and came to America as the same time period as William Penn. In the followig Blogs, I will write about them.
https://www.nps.gov/people/william-penn.htm
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