Penn Obtains Deed to Province, Then Obtains Lower Counties August 31, 1682

Two motives operated in the early colonization of the American Continent; one was the desire of amassing sudden wealth without working for it; this tempted the adventurous to seek gold here, to trade valueless trinkets to the Indians for valuable furs and skins; the other was the desire to escape unjust restrictions of government and the hated ban of society against the worship of God according to the dictates of one’s own conscience, which incited devotees of Christianity to forego the comforts of home in the midst of civilization, and to make for themselves a habitation on the shores of the new world.

William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, had felt the heavy hand of persecution for religious opinion’s sake. As a gentleman commoner at Oxford, he had been fined and finally expelled for nonconformity to the established church; at home he was whipped and turned out of doors by his father; he was sent to prison by the Mayor of Cork, where for seven months he languished in the Tower of London, and, finally, to complete his disgrace, he was cast into Newgate with common felons.

Upon the accession of James II to the throne of England, more than fourteen hundred persons of Quaker faith were immured in prisons for a conscientious adherence to their religious convictions. To escape this persecution Penn and his followers were moved to emigrate to the New World, as they called it.

In 1680 Penn made application to Charles II for a grant of land in America. He based his claim upon moneys due to his father because of losses in the public service, where he was a distinguished officer of the British navy.

The Duke of York gave his consent and the king issued a patent to William Penn, March 4, 1681.

Penn was not prepared to visit his new province during the first year, but he dispatched three shiploads of settlers, and with them sent 599his cousin, Captain William Markham, to take formal possession of the country and act as deputy governor.

Markham arrived at New York, June 21, 1681, and exhibited his commission, bearing date April 10, 1681. He also presented the king’s charter and proclamation.

Armed with these credentials Markham proceeded to the Delaware, where he was kindly received. He met Lord Baltimore, who happened to be in the province, and the Maryland proprietor discovered by observation that Upland was at least twelve miles south of the fortieth degree of latitude, and believed his province, therefore, extended to the Schuylkill.

This claim by Baltimore induced Penn to obtain additional grants, as without them he feared the loss of his whole peninsula.

Markham was accompanied to Pennsylvania by four commissioners appointed by Penn, who, in conjunction with the Governor, had two chief duties assigned them; the first was to meet and preserve friendly relations with the Indians, and acquire lands by actual purchase, and the second was to select the site of a great city and to make the necessary surveys.

In the beginning of the year following, Penn published his frame of government, and certain laws, agreed on in England by himself and the purchasers under him, entitled: “The frame of the government of the Province of Pennsylvania, in America; together with certain laws, agreed upon in England by the Governor and Divers of the Free-Men of the aforesaid Province. To be further Explained and Confirmed there, by the first Provincial Council and General Assembly that shall be held, if they see meet.”

Lest any trouble might arise in the future from claims founded on the grant of land in America to the Duke of York, of “Long Island and adjacent territories occupied by the Dutch,” the prudent forethought of William Penn prompted him to obtain a deed from the Duke, which he succeeded in doing August 31, 1682.

The deed included the land in Pennsylvania, substantially in the terms cited in the original Royal Charter.

But Penn, even with the new deed, was not quite satisfied. He was cut off from the ocean by the uncertain navigation of some narrow stream. He, therefore, obtained an additional deed from the Duke of York which was for the grant of New Castle and district twelve miles in radius around it, and also a further grant from the Duke of a tract extending to Cape Henlopen, embracing the two counties of Kent and Sussex.

This new grant to Penn was thereafter termed “the territories,” or “the three lower counties,” and for many years remained a part of Pennsylvania, until finally separated, since which time it has formed the State of Delaware.

600William Penn was now satisfied with the limits of his province and drew up such a description of the country from his limited knowledge as he was able to give.

This description was published in an attractive booklet, together with the Royal Charter and proclamation; terms of settlement, and other matters pertaining thereto, and broadcast throughout the Kingdom. He took particular pains to have these books fall into the hands of Friends.

The terms of sale of lands were forty shillings for one hundred acres and one shilling per acre annual rental.

The question had been raised regarding the annual rental, but the terms of the grant by the Royal Charter to Penn were made absolute on the “payment therefore to us, our heirs and successors, two beaver skins, to be delivered at our castle on Windsor, on the first day of January in every year, and the contingent payment of one-fifth part of all gold and silver which, from time to time, happened to be found, clear of all charges.” William Penn, therefore, held his title only by the payments of quit-rents. He could in consequence give a valid title only by exacting the quit-rents.

These deeds for the “lower counties” were duly recorded in New York, and, by proclamation of the commander there, November 21, 1682, to the magistrates on the west side of the Delaware, the rights of Penn under them were publicly recognized and allegiance was cheerfully transferred to Penn’s new government.

Penn then completed his arrangements for his voyage to his Province, where he arrived October, 1682.

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