William Penn’s Constitutional Legacy

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on William Penn’s Constitutional Legacy In his proclamation marking the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of William Penn in 1944, Gov. Edward Martin described him as “one of the truly great men of history … whose tolerance, wisdom, enlightenment and vision as a statesman of the common weal render him an outstanding figure among the builders of states.” The tercentenary celebration of his glorious...
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“I Would Have… A Brew House”

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on “I Would Have… A Brew House” The quality of the beer in his new colony was important enough to William Penn for him to include it in his descrip­tion of Pennsylvania to entice prospective settlers. “Our Drink has been Beer and Punch, made of Rum and Water. Our Beer was mostly made of Molasses, which well boyld, with Sassafras or Pine infused into it, makes very tolerable drink; but now they make Mault, and Mault Drink...
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Philadelphia, First

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Philadelphia, First If it happened, it happened in Philadelphia,” so goes an old adage. And one not terribly far from the truth, either. Philadelphia has witnessed much of the history of the early United States. The sign­ing of the Declaration of Inde­pendence, probably the nation’s most hallowed docu­ment, drew the colonies’ lead­ing statesmen – including George Washington, Thomas...
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Hannah Penn, Pennsylvania’s First Woman Governor

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Hannah Penn, Pennsylvania’s First Woman Governor On October 1, 1712, William Penn (1644-1718) and his second wife Hannah Callowhill Penn (1671-1726) left their large country house at Ruscombe, near Reading, England, and made their way to Bristol, located along the south­west coast. Theirs was a bittersweet journey. Just four months earlier, Penn had convinced the Crown to purchase the proprietary rights to Pennsylvania, his beloved – and...
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Letters to the Editor

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters to the Editor Date of Death? Good article on Hannah Penn and, of course, on William Markham, whose name graces the street on which I live [“Hannah Penn, Pennsylvania’s First Woman Governor” by William C. Kashatus, Fall 2003]. In the first column of page 17 you list two different death dates for William Penn: July 18, 1718, and July 30, 1718. Which is correct? James H. Wagner Bethlehem, Pa....
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Penn Landing

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Penn Landing Not long after he received the charter for Pennsylvania from King Charles II in March 1681, founder William Penn (1644–1718) thought it prudent to travel to the New World to consolidate his claims and exercise his legal authority. In anticipation, he appointed William Markham (1635–1704) deputy governor and issued a proclamation instructing the colony’s inhabitants to transfer allegiance from...
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Pennsbury Manor

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsbury Manor Three hundred and twenty-five years ago this autumn, on October 28, 1682, to be precise, William Penn (1644–1718) arrived at Upland, now Chester in Delaware County, to begin laying the foundations of his “Holy Experiment,” his beloved province of Pennsylvania. Nearly eighteen months earlier, in March 1681, he had received the charter for land that is now Pennsylvania from England’s King Charles...
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