| PENN | PENN | 715 |
in “An Account of the Blessed End of my Dear Wife.” In March, 1696, he married Hannah Callowhill, of Bristol, a Quaker lady, with whom he had long been acquainted. Meanwhile, in August 1694, an order in council was made restoring him to his government. He then sent out William Markham as his deputy; but, since 1684, ever planning a return to America, on 9 Sept., 1699 with his wife and daughter Letitia he sailed on the “Canterbury” for Pennsylvania. On their arrival at Philadelphia, the governor and his family went to lodge at Edward Shippen's, where they remained about a month. Penn then went to reside in what is known as the Slate-roof house, on Second street, between Chestnut and Walnut, at the southeast corner of Norris's alley, shown in the accompanying illustration. Here was born, about two months after they landed, his son John, the only one of his children that was a native of this country, who was therefore called “the American.”
Difficulties that had existed prior to his arrival
regarding the government of the province now
disappeared, and peace and order soon prevailed
throughout the colony. He gave his attention to
various reforms, and especially to the amelioration
of the condition of the Indians and negroes.
In 1701 a treaty was made with the Potomac
Indians, and also one with the Five Nations,
establishing commercial transactions between the
natives and the colonists through authorized
representatives. Information that a bill had been
introduced in the house of lords converting all of
the proprietary governments into crown colonies
led to his return to England, but on his arrival
the project that caused his leaving the colony had
been dropped. Soon afterward he sent his son
William to Philadelphia to represent him, but the
latter, disagreeing with his father, returned home.
Other troubles followed, including a false claim
against him by his steward, rather than pay which
he allowed himself to be committed to the Fleet
prison in 1708. Later he became so reduced that
he proposed to sell the colony to Queen Anne for
£20,000, and failing in this, he endeavored to
secure the promise of a salary of £600 annually as
governor. His health, seriously injured by his
confinement in the Fleet, now grew worse, and,
finding that the country air of Berkshire agreed
best with him, he settled in Ruscombe. Early in
1712 he was stricken with paralysis, and other
shocks followed that so affected him that much of
the time he was deprived of his memory and of the
power of motion. In this condition he lingered for
six years, sustained and aided by his wife, who
managed his business affairs for him. He was
buried in Jordan's burying-ground, in
Buckinghamshire, by the side of his first wife and Springett,
his first-born and favorite son. An effort was made
several years ago to have the remains of William
Penn brought to Philadelphia, to rest there
beneath some imposing monument. Penn still rests,
however, in the quiet Buckinghamshire burying-ground,
his grave marked by a simple stone. And
in the same place, of old a retreat for persecuted
Friends, lie Isaac Pennington and others famous
for their piety. In the original plan of Philadelphia,
Penn placed a square of ten acres at the
intersection of Broad and High (now Market) streets,
but in the course of time the park was absorbed
for building purposes, until only Penn square
remained, on which the Philadelphia public buildings
were long in process of construction. These
buildings when completed had, placed on the summit
of the dome, a colossal bronze statue of Penn,
thirty-six feet high. It was designed by Alexander
Calder, and weighs thirty tons. The figure is
in a speaking attitude, and the left hand is
represented as holding the original charter of the
city of Philadelphia. As the statue is intended to
personate him in his relation to the city rather
than to the state, this was deemed the most appropriate
symbol. In 1726 appeared “A Collection of
the Works of William Penn, to which is prefixed a
Journal of his Life, with many Original Letters and
Papers not before Published” (2 vols., London), and
in 1771 there were published “Select Works of
William Penn, to which is prefixed a Journal of
his Life”; also, in 1782, his “Select Works with a
Life ” were issued in five volumes, and again in
1825 in three volumes. See “Vie de Guillaume
Penn,” by Jean Marsillac (Paris, 1791; translated
into German by Carl J. Friedrich, Strasburg, 1793);
Thomas Clarkson's “Memoirs of the Public and
Private Life of William Penn” (London, 1813);
Mason L. Weerns's “Life of William Penn”
(Philadelphia, 1822); the “Life” by Joseph Barker
(London, 1852); and George E. Ellis, in Sparks's
“American Biography” (3d series, vol. xii., Boston, 1847);
Samuel M. Janney, “Life and Select Correspondence
of William Penn” (Philadelphia, 1852); William
Hepworth Dixon's “William Penn, an Historical
Biography founded on Family and State
Papers” (new ed., London, 1856); “Inquiry into the
Evidence of the Charges brought by Lord Macaulay
against William Penn,” by James Paget (Edinburgh,
1858): and “William Penn,” by Robert J.
Burdette (New York, 1882). For a full account of
William Penn's writings and of those which relate
to him, see Joseph Smith's “Catalogue of Friends'
Books,” vol. ii., pp. 282-326.—His second wife,
Hannah, d. in 1726, was the daughter of Thomas
Callowhill, a Bristol merchant. She accompanied
her husband to Pennsylvania in 1699, and divided
her time between Philadelphia and Pennsbury
Manor, a beautiful estate situated in Bucks county,
on the river Delaware. After Penn's death, during
the minority of her children, as sole executrix, she
assumed the management of the colonial affairs,
performing this difficult task with rare tact and
business capacity. Her deputy in Pennsylvania
from 1717 till 1726 was Sir William Keith (q. v.).—The
founder of Pennsylvania had several children
that died in his lifetime.—His eldest surviving
son, William, b. about 1680, d. in Liege in 1720,
came to the colony with Lieut.-Gov. Evans, arriving
2 Feb., 1704, and was made a member of the
provincial council on the 8th. As such he joined
in a declaration that a clause in his father's
instructions suspending the operation of laws passed
by the lieutenant-governor until the proprietary's
pleasure be known was illegal and void. He raised
a militia company, but, being presented before the
