Penn’s Arrival—The Founding of Philadelphia—First General
Assembly—Building of the “Blue Anchor”—The First School and Printing
Press
On the twenty-seventh of October the _Welcome_ cast anchor before
Newcastle, a small village on the strip of land granted to Penn by the
Duke of York. News of the arrival of the vessel quickly spread and the
entire population, young and old, regardless of nationality, flocked to
welcome the long-expected governor. English, Scotch, and Irish stood
side by side with the stolid German, the clumsy Hollander, and the
fair-haired Swede, all eager to behold at last the man in whose hands
lay the moulding of their future. The native children of the wilderness
in their strange dress, with high fringed moccasins, an eagle or heron’s
feather thrust through the head band, bow in hand, a quiver of feathered
arrows fastened to the shoulder, also flocked to meet him. Who can say
which gazed with keener interest on the approaching ship flying a great
English flag from her masthead, the white men, who had some idea of what
to expect from the newcomer, or the redskins, who in spite of their
apparently calm indifference must have been inwardly consumed with
curiosity to see what sort of man it was in whose name and by whose
orders they had met with treatment so different from any that had
hitherto been accorded them by white men. Certainly nothing but
good-will could have been read in the noble features and the earnest,
kindly gaze of the dignified-looking man who now disembarked from the
vessel, distinguished only from his companions by the broad blue scarf
he wore. As he stepped ashore on the landing stage and received the
greetings of his cousin, Markham, a deafening shout burst from the
assembled throng. Deeply moved, Penn bowed in acknowledgment of the
tribute, and through the tears that glittered in his eyes shone the
resolve to merit the confidence so spontaneously expressed.
The following day, after he had somewhat recovered from the long and
trying voyage, a meeting of the people was held in the town-hall and the
legal documents pertaining to the transfer of the tract were read aloud,
after which a deputy of the Duke of York handed to Penn, in the name of
his master, a flask of water and a small basketful of earth in token
that the land had been actually delivered over to him. The new owner
then arose and in his deep rich voice addressed the assembly, which
listened in breathless silence to his words. He told how from early
youth it had been his dream to found somewhere a free State to be
governed by the people, where full liberty of conscience could be
enjoyed and the Christian virtues flourish. He explained the principles
according to which he had drawn up the constitution for Pennsylvania,
and promised that the same laws should be followed in the administration
of this additional territory which had been granted to him, assuring the
people that the chief power should be exercised by himself only until
the new constitution could be put into force, during which time he would
endeavor to wield it to the best of his ability for the public good.
Lastly he retained all existing officials in their positions as proof
that he harbored no prejudices and was disposed to deal fairly in all
particulars.
When he had finished speaking a rousing cheer testified to the approval
of his audience and he was unanimously urged to retain the governorship
of the new territory, making it a part of Pennsylvania. This he promised
to take into consideration, leaving the matter to be decided at the next
assembly, which was to be held at Upland, a settlement made by the
Swedes in Delaware, and up to this time the most important town in that
region. This was now Penn’s destination, and as he sailed up the
Delaware River his heart must have thrilled with delight at the fresh
beauties revealed by each curve of the winding stream, until at last the
settlement was reached and he stepped ashore on his own dominions, his
Pennsylvania. The spot where Penn first landed is still shown, marked by
a solitary pine tree.
Here, too, his arrival was hailed with general rejoicing. Those who had
preceded him to America with Markham and done all in their power to
carry out his plans looked anxiously for his coming to better their
situation, which truly was in need of improvement. They had been
received in the most friendly way, it is true, by the Swedish settlers,
who had given them all the assistance possible, but their hospitality
was unable to afford shelter for all. A few, whose means permitted, had
managed to bring over with them enough lumber to build a small house at
once, but the majority were forced to live in tents or huts made from
clay and the branches of trees, neither of which offered much protection
against the severe weather of the winter months. Some had even made use
of the caves hollowed out from the high banks of the Delaware by the
Indians in former times or dug new ones for themselves, finding them a
better shelter than any other available. It was in one of these caves
that the first birth in the settlement occurred, and the child, who was
named John Key, received from Penn the gift of a building site in the
new town he had planned.
His first care was to establish a permanent location for the colonists
who had come over with him before they should scatter in search of
homes, as the previous ones had done, regardless of any definite plan.
Markham was in favor of using Upland, or Chester as Penn now called it,
as the nucleus of the future city. But Penn had made a better choice, in
which he was supported by Thomas Holme, an experienced surveyor whom he
had sent out from England and who had already thoroughly explored the
surrounding country. A more favorable spot for the location of a great
commercial centre could scarcely have been found than the one thus
selected. It was at the junction of the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers,
where the high banks of the latter ensured a safe harbor, while near by
Holme had discovered quarries containing an inexhaustible supply of the
finest building stone, which would make the construction of houses a
comparatively simple matter. Penn lost no time in purchasing this land
from the three Swedes to whom it belonged and set to work at once with
the assistance of Thomas Holme to draw up plans for laying out the new
city, which was to receive the name of Philadelphia, signifying
“brotherly love.” This being the ruling principle on which his State was
founded, he wished it to attract thither all who had suffered so
bitterly from the lack of brotherly love in religious matters. Before a
single one of the trees that covered the spot was felled, before a
single foundation stone was laid, the plan of the whole city was already
clear in Penn’s mind and the enterprising Holme began at once to lay out
its streets and public squares. An additional tract of about two square
miles was also purchased, so that these might be of ample width and size
to afford the future inhabitants plenty of space and air, while the
building lots were to be large enough to permit every house to be
surrounded by a garden, thus giving the city the appearance, as Penn
expressed it, of a green country village.
His next act was to summon a general assembly of the people, at which
were also present delegates from those settlements on Delaware Bay which
were anxious to join Penn’s Commonwealth, a desire which was granted,
the assembly unanimously agreeing to the union of the two territories.
The constitution drawn up by Penn was accepted almost without a change,
and to the forty provisional laws were added twenty-one more, made
necessary by the special requirements of the new State. In three days
the whole work of legislation was completed, a proof of the unanimity of
opinion that existed among these enthusiasts drawn thither by the same
desire, that of finding an asylum where they could live undisturbed in
the enjoyment of their religious convictions. Once this blessing was
secured, they willingly submitted to laws and regulations that may not
have been altogether in accordance with their own ideas, as indeed could
scarcely have been expected among people of so many different
nationalities and traditions. This matter settled, Penn now made a
series of visits to his neighbors the governors of New York, Maryland,
and New Jersey, hoping by a personal interview with Lord Baltimore to
arrive at some settlement of the troublesome boundary question, but
failing in this he returned to his own colony, where there was abundance
of work for him.
After Penn’s departure from England, hundreds who had hitherto hesitated
decided at once to follow him. During the Spring of 1683 twenty-three
ships came sailing up the Delaware River, filled with colonists for whom
it was necessary to provide quarters that they might lose no time in
making a home for themselves while the favorable season lasted. This
task was made somewhat easier now, as the indefatigable Holme had
already explored the whole State and divided it into counties. In order
that all might have an equal chance, Penn had the land sold at public
auction. Prices were absurdly low, averaging threepence an acre, with an
additional rental of one shilling on every hundred acres, which was to
form a sort of State revenue for the governor. When it is remembered
that Penn had not only paid the English government for the land
originally, even though a comparatively small sum, but had also bought
it again from the Indians, whose right of possession seemed to him far
more well founded than that of the English crown, this rental seems a
poor compensation, and he can hardly be blamed for afterward reserving a
considerable estate for himself and his children, especially as he also
made a handsome provision both for the Duke of York and for his friend
and co-worker George Fox. The colonists now found themselves in the
midst of stirring times, especially in the region of the new town,
Philadelphia. Alloted building sites were cleared of trees and all who
could work were pressed into service to secure as soon as possible a
better shelter against the weather than was afforded by the tents or
temporary huts already erected. Even delicate women unused to manual
labor of any kind helped their fathers or husbands in the fields as they
could, cooked, carried wood and water, and cared for the cows they had
brought with them from England, some even sawing wood or carrying mortar
for building. If strength or courage failed, it was restored and hearts
and hands again strengthened by the singing of some hymn and by the
remembrance of the inestimable blessing which was theirs as a reward of
their labors and sacrifices.
The first building completed was a block-house twelve feet wide and
twenty-two feet long, called the “Blue Anchor” and forced to serve a
variety of purposes. It was used as a general place of business, and
being on the bank of the river, formed a landing place for vessels, as
well as a tavern. Later it was also used for a post-house, for Penn,
realizing the necessity of some regular means of communication between
Philadelphia and the outlying settlements to the west, soon established
a messenger post service by which news could be sent and received once a
week. Travellers could also be provided with horses if desired. Few
availed themselves of this service at first, it is true, for the rates
were very high; the delivery of a letter from Philadelphia to Trenton
Falls in New Jersey, for example, costing threepence, and ninepence to
Baltimore, Maryland. The “Blue Anchor” soon had companions, however. In
the course of a few months as many as eighty houses had been built and a
regular trade gradually developed. Merchants set up shops supplied with
merchandise such as was constantly arriving by vessel from England.
Trained artisans were now available to do the work that every man had
been hitherto obliged to perform for himself as best he could. The
husbandman betook himself to the hoe and plough wherever there was a
clearing large enough to use them and won such rich harvests from the
virgin soil that it soon became no longer necessary to bring grain from
abroad.
The interiors of the houses were quite as rude and rough as the
outsides. Once sure of a sound roof to cover them, the settlers were
content with only the barest necessities in the way of household
furniture, whatever luxuries and comforts they may have been accustomed
to in the past. Costly furnishings would have formed indeed a strange
contrast to the rough bark-covered logs that constituted the walls, and
the covering of lime and moss that served as hangings, or the
hard-packed clay that took the place of boards for flooring. A table, a
bench or two, a bed, all hewed by hand with an axe and innocent of saw
or plane, besides a few necessary cooking utensils,—these sufficed for
the needs of the hard-working settlers, who only sought the shelter of a
house when night or stormy weather made work without impossible and the
axe and plough must needs be laid aside. Not until the original
block-houses began to be replaced by stone buildings was any thought
given to interior convenience, but as soon as it became possible to
employ the services of skilled workmen the question of comfort and even
elegance began to be more considered. Nor was this long in coming, for
in less than a year from the time when Penn first landed at Newcastle
there were more than a hundred stone houses erected in Philadelphia, and
two years later the number had increased to six hundred. Penn could with
truth assure his English friends that his American colony was the
largest ever founded on private credit, and this in no spirit of undue
pride or self-applause. “In seven years,” he writes, “with the help of
God and of my noble companions, I will show you a province that shall
rival our neighbors’ growth of forty years.” Nor did he leave any stone
unturned on his part to make good this prophecy.
One of his chief desires was to provide some means for the education of
the colonists’ children that they might not grow up rude and ignorant—a
state of things most undesirable among a people who were to govern
themselves. This was no easy matter, for the hard-working settler,
struggling to wrest a home from the wilderness, needed the help of his
children as soon as they were old enough to be of any use. He himself
was little disposed after the day’s labors to devote the evenings to
teaching his children, even did his own education warrant it, nor could
he spare the time to send them to a school. Any regular form of tuition,
moreover, could only be possible to those living in Philadelphia. For
those who had settled many miles, sometimes a whole day’s journey to the
westward, it would have been impossible to make paths through the
trackless wilderness for their children, even had there been a school
within reach.
Nevertheless Penn made every exertion to accomplish this end, and as
early as December, 1683, even before the site of Philadelphia was
entirely cleared of trees, he had a certain Enoch Flower open a school
in a wretched wooden cabin which was divided into two rooms. Instruction
was confined, however, to reading and writing, for the former of which a
charge of four shillings, the latter six shillings, a quarter, was made,
to form a school fund. Arrangements were also made by which the children
of distant settlers could be provided with board and lodging at a cost
of ten pounds a year. This primitive institution was gradually improved
and enlarged till in six years’ time the position of head master was
assumed by Penn’s friend, George Keith. By the efforts of a certain
William Bradford who had come over from England on the _Welcome_, a
printing press was also set up in Philadelphia, the first product of
which, of any note, was a calendar for the year 1687.
Another of Penn’s special cares was the maintenance of friendly
relations with the Indians, for which Colonel Markham had already paved
the way. He made it a personal duty to win their confidence and to this
end mingled with them as much as possible, roaming about with them
through the forest, wholly unarmed, sharing their meals, and even
joining in the games and sports of the young men, at which he sometimes
displayed skill or agility equal to their own. In this way he also
learned their language and became so familiar with their habits and
manner of thought that it became as easy for him to communicate with
them as if he had been one of themselves.
[Illustration: _PENN AND THE INDIANS_]
It was necessary, however, for him to establish peaceful relations with
all the Indian tribes claiming his territory as their hunting grounds,
as well as with those nearer at hand, for the farther the settlers
penetrated into the wilderness the greater was the danger of their being
treated by the Indians as hostile invaders, unless protected by some
agreement. He therefore determined to invite all the tribes to a general
council for the purpose of concluding a solemn treaty of peace and
friendship.