William Penn
Date of Birth | : | 14 Oct, 1644 |
Date of Death | : | 30 Jul, 1718 |
Place of Birth | : | London, England |
Profession | : | English Writer |
Nationality | : | American |
Biography
Early years
Education
Penn in Ireland (1669-1670)
Penn in Germany (1671-1677)
Persecution and imprisonment
Go back to America
The Slate Roof House in Philadelphia, one of two houses Penn used during his second stay in America, had fallen into disrepair; In 1867, it was demolished.After Ford agreed to keep all of his Irish rents in exchange for keeping quiet about Ford's legal title to Pennsylvania, Penn felt his condition had improved enough to return to Pennsylvania with the intention of staying. With his wife Hannah, daughter Letitia, and secretary James Logan, Penn sailed from the Isle of Wight in Canterbury, arriving in Philadelphia in December 1699.Penn received a warm welcome on his arrival and saw his province change a lot in the intervening 18 years. Pennsylvania grew rapidly. It had about 18,100 residents, and Philadelphia had over 3,000. His tree planting is providing the green urban space he envisions. The shops were full of imported merchandise, satisfying wealthy citizens and proving America a viable market for English goods. Most importantly, religious diversity was successful. Despite protests from radicals and farmers, Penn's insistence on keeping Quaker grammar schools open to all citizens was creating a relatively educated workforce. High literacy and open intellectual discourse made Philadelphia a leader in science and medicine. Quakers were particularly modern in their treatment of mental illness, decriminalizing insanity and moving away from punishment and imprisonment.The tolerant Penn almost transformed himself into a Puritan, in an effort to control the fragility that had developed in his absence, by stricting certain laws. Another change was found in Penn's writings, which mostly lost their boldness and vision. During those years, he planned a federation of all the English colonies in America. It has been claimed that he also fought against slavery, but this seems unlikely, as he himself owned and even traded slaves, and his writings do not support this idea. However, he promoted better treatment of slaves, including intermarriage among slaves, although this was rejected by the council. Other Pennsylvania Quakers were more outspoken and active, being among the earliest fighters against slavery in America, led by Francis Daniel Pastorius and Abraham op den Graef, founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Pastorius, op den Graeff, his brother Derrick op den Graeff, both cousins of Penn, and Garrett Hendricks, signed the Germantown Quaker Petition of 1688 against slavery. Many Quakers, including Penn, promised to free their slaves after their deaths, and some sold their slaves to non-Quakers.The Penns lived comfortably at Pennsbury Manor and had every purpose in their lives there. They also had a residence in Philadelphia. Their only American child, John, was born and prospered. Penn was traveling to Philadelphia in a six-man barge, which he admitted he valued above "all dead things."His secretary, James Logan, kept him updated. Penn had plenty of time to spend with his family and still attended to affairs of state, although delegations and official visitors were frequent. His wife, however, did not enjoy life as a governor's wife and maid and preferred the simple life she led in England. When new threats from France again threatened Penn's charter, Penn decided to return to England with his family in 1701.DeathIn 1718, at age 73, Penn died penniless, at his home in Ruscombe, near Twyford in Berkshire, and is buried in a grave next to his first wife, Gulielma, in the cemetery of the Jordans Quaker meeting house near Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire. His second wife, Hannah, as sole executor, became the de facto proprietor until she died in 1726.
FamilyPenn first married Gulielma Maria Posthuma Springett (1644–1694), daughter of William S. Springett; the Posthuma in her name indicates that her father had died prior to her birth, and Lady Mary Proude Penington. They had three sons and five daughters:- Gulielma Maria (23 January 1673 – 17 May 1673)
- William and Mary (or Maria Margaret) (twins) (born February 1674 and died May 1674 and December 1674)
- Springett (25 January 1675 – 10 April 1696)
- Letitia (1 March 1678 – 6 April 1746), who married William Awbrey (Aubrey)
- William Jr. (14 March 1681 – 23 June 1720)
- Unnamed child (born March 1683 and died April 1683)
- Gulielma Maria (November 1685–November 1689)
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 nine children in twelve years:- Unnamed daughter (born and died 1697)
- John Penn (28 January 1700 – 25 October 1746), who never married
- Thomas Penn (20 March 1702 – 21 March 1775), married Lady Juliana Fermor, fourth daughter of Thomas, first Earl of Pomfret
- Hannah Penn (1703–1706)
- Margaret Penn (7 November 1704–February 1751), married Thomas Freame (1701/02–1746) nephew of John Freame, founder of Barclays Bank
- Richard Penn Sr. (17 January 1706 – 4 February 1771)
- Dennis Penn (26 February 1707 – 1723)
- Hannah Margarita Penn (1708–March 1708)
- Louis Penn
Posthumous honors
Penn on the seal of the defunct Strawbridge & Clothier department store, representing Penn's exchange with the Lenape; the Quaker Oats standing "Quaker Man" logo, identified at one time as William Penn
On October 24, 1932, the U.S. Post Office issued a 3-cent postage stamp to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Penn's arrival to the British-American colonies.
On 28 November 1984, then U.S. President Ronald Reagan issued a presidential proclamation declaring Penn and his second wife Hannah Callowhill Penn both honorary citizens of the United States.
A bronze statue of William Penn by Alexander Milne Calder stands atop Philadelphia City Hall. When installed in 1894, the statue represented the highest point in the city, as City Hall was then the tallest building in Philadelphia. Urban designer Edmund Bacon was known to have said that no gentleman would build taller than the "brim of Billy Penn's hat". This agreement existed for almost 100 years until the city decided to allow taller skyscrapers to be built. In March 1987, the completion of One Liberty Place was the first building to do that. This resulted in a "curse" which lasted from that year on until 2008 when a small statue of William Penn was put on top of the newly built Comcast Center. The Philadelphia Phillies went on to win the 2008 World Series that year.
A lesser-known statue of Penn is located at Penn Treaty Park, on the site where Penn entered into his treaty with the Lenape, which is famously commemorated in the painting Penn's Treaty with the Indians. In 1893, Hajoca Corporation, the nation's largest privately held wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating, and industrial supplies, adopted the statue as its trademark symbol.
The Quaker Oats cereal brand standing "Quaker man" logo, dating back to 1877, was identified in their advertising after 1909 as William Penn, and referred to him as "standard bearer of the Quakers and of Quaker Oats".In 1946, the logo was changed into a head-and-shoulders portrait of the smiling Quaker Man. The Quaker Oats Company's website currently claims their logo is not a depiction of William Penn.
Bil Keane created the comic Silly Philly for the Philadelphia Bulletin, a juvenile version of Penn, that ran from 1947 to 1961.
Penn was depicted in the 1941 film Penn of Pennsylvania by Clifford Evans.
William Penn High School for Girls was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The William Penn House – a Quaker hostel and seminar center – was named in honor of William Penn when it opened in 1966 to house Quakers visiting Washington, D.C. to partake in the many protests, events and social movements of the era.
Chigwell School, the school he attended, has named one of their four houses after him and now owns several letters and documents in his handwriting.
William Penn Primary School, and the successor Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School, in Manor Park, Slough, near to Stoke Park, is named after William Penn.
A pub in Rickmansworth, where Penn lived for a time, is named the Pennsylvanian in his honour, and a picture of him is used as the pub sign.
The Friends' School, Hobart has named one of their seven six-year classes after him.
The William Penn Society of Whittier College has existed since 1934 as a society on the college campus of Whittier College and continues to this day.
William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, which was founded by Quaker settlers in 1873, was named in his honor. Penn Mutual, a life insurance company established in 1847, also bears his name.
Streets named after William Penn include Penn Avenue, a major arterial street in Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, Penn Avenue in Scranton, and Penn Street in Bristol, Pennsylvania.
Quotes
Avoid popularity; it has many snares, and no real benefit.
Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them, and as governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore governments rather depend upon men, than men upon governments. Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad; if it be ill, they will cure it. But if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavour to warp and spoil it to their turn.
They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies.
Let us see what love can do.
If it be an evil to judge rashly or untruly any single man, how much a greater sin it is to condemn a whole people.
Nothing shows our weakness more than to be so sharp-sighted at spying other men's faults, and so purblind about our own.
Men are generally more careful of the breed of their horses and dogs than of their children.
No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.
In all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory, or an unjust interest.
I shall pass through life but once. Let me show kindness now, as I shall not pass this way again.