Happy Birthday, William Penn!

On October 14, 1644, Admiral Sir William Penn and Margaret Jasper welcomed their first child, William, into the world. Little did they know, their son would make a name in the history books as a Quaker hero and the “Founder of Pennsylvania.”

Using materials accessible via MCLS’ collection and resources, I’ve picked ten bits of information about William Penn to celebrate his birthday:

  1. In 1662, Penn was expelled from Oxford University for his refusal to attend the university’s Church of England services (Kroll & Himler, 2000).
  2. King Charles II insisted that the colony be named Pennsylvania (“Penn’s woods”) to honor Penn’s late father, Sir William. Penn worried people would think the land was named for him; he wished to name his new colony New Wales or Sylvania, but the king could not be dissuaded (Baczynski, 2004).
  3. King Charles II granted Penn the land for Pennsylvania in 1681, which Penn governed for approximately 35 years until his death in 1718. In the two trips Penn made to the colony, however, his total time in Pennsylvania equalled less than four years (Fradin, 1988).
  4. Before setting foot on his land in the New World, Penn laid out a detailed plan for the capital city, Philadelphia. The city’s plans included broad avenues based on a grid pattern, becoming a model for North American cities (Somervill, 2006).
  5. As a Quaker, Penn could not use force to take the land from the American Indian tribes who inhabited the land. Unlike his British peers in other colonies, who did use force, he constructed a treaty of friendship, the “Great Treaty,” outlining an agreement of peaceful coexistence (McGill, 2009).
  6. There is little evidence that the Great Treaty between the Pennsylvania settlers and the Native Americans was ever really signed; however, the terms of the treaty were upheld until well after Penn’s death (Hinman, 2007).
  7. Penn mastered the language of the Lenni Lenape, the tribe in the area, in less than a year (Penn, 1970).
  8. Penn conceptualized a unique plan for Pennsylvania colony prisons. Workshops were offered to teach inmates the fundamentals for a variety of trades, which provided prisoners with skills to pursue a new way of life (Lutz & Schlesinger, 2000).
  9. In 1692 in the midst of the Nine Years’ War, King William took Pennsylvania away from Penn, making it a royal province to strengthen England’s defense in her war with France. The land was was restored to Penn’s ownership in 1694 (Doherty, 1998).
  10. Hannah Callowhilll, Penn’s second wife, gave birth to their first child, John, in Pennsylvania. Being the only child of Penn’s born the New World, John was nicknamed, “The American” (Fantel, 1974).
Listed below in the works cited are the materials I used to create my list, including books from MCLS’ juvenile non-fiction, young adult biography, and adult non-fiction collections. No matter your age, you can find material to learn more about our neighboring state’s founder -- on his birthday or any day.

--Anna, Hopewell Branch

Works Cited

Baczynski, B. L. (2004). William Penn: Founder of the Pennsylvania Colony. Mankato, Minn: Capstone Press. [Juvenile Biography]

Doherty, K. (1998). William Penn: Quaker colonist. Brookfield, Conn: Millbrook Press. [Young Adult Biography]

Fantel, H. (1974). William Penn: Apostle of dissent. New York: Morrow. [Adult Non-Fiction]

Fradin, D. B. (1988). The Pennsylvania colony. Chicago: Childrens Press. [Juvenile Non-Fiction]

Hinman, B. (2007). Pennsylvania: William Penn and the City of Brotherly Love. Hockessin, DE: Mitchell Lane. [Juvenile Non-Fiction]

Kroll, S., & Himler, R. (2000). William Penn: Founder of Pennsylvania. New York: Holiday House. [Juvenile Biography]

Lutz, N. J., & Schlesinger, A. M. (2000). William Penn: Founder of democracy. Philadelphia: Chelsea House. [Juvenile Biography]

McGill, S.A. (2009). William Penn: The Dedicated Quaker. In Kid's View of Colonial America. Washington, DC: Great Neck Publishing. Retrieved from MasterFile Premier. [via MCLS’ Electronic Resources]

Penn, W., & Myers, A. C. (1970). William Penn's own account of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians (Tercentenary ed.). Wilmington, Del.: Middle Atlantic Press. [Adult Non-Fiction]

Somervill, B. A. (2006). William Penn: Founder of Pennsylvania. Minneapolis, Minn: Compass Point Books. [Juvenile Biography]

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