F 159 
 
 .P3 B8 
 
 Copy 1 . iA{ 
 
 CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 OF 
 
 PENNSBURY 
 
 IN 
 
 Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 
 
 BY 
 
 G. W. B. 
 
 1881. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 Printing House of John P. Murphy, 
 227 South Fikh St. 
 
CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 OF 
 
 >^ 
 
 PENNSBURY 
 
 \c> 
 
 IN 
 
 Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 
 
 / 
 
 yBY, 
 
 Of Wr B.-^rWV^ 
 
 I88I. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA ! 
 
 Printing House of John P. Murphy, 
 227 South Fifth St. 
 

 I'^hZi^yL 
 
CONCISE ACCOUNT OF PENNSBURY. 
 
 Penis^sbury was the name bestowed upon 
 William Penn's favorite American mansion 
 and its near surroundings : the location was 
 in Penn's Manor, near the Delaware River, 
 and near the south-eastern extremity of Bucks 
 County, Pennsylvania. It was a place which 
 attracted much attention in its early history, 
 and is yet a locality around which clusters 
 much historic interest — religious, political, ju- 
 dicial, social, domestic. The spacious mansion 
 itself was a prodigy of the times, and the illus- 
 trious family which occupied it the centre of 
 great attraction. The founder of a new and 
 untried system of government, there spent 
 some of his happier hours, relaxing at times 
 fron\ the severe duties of his position, and in 
 the enclosure of the family circle, partaking of 
 the more quiet enjoyments of life ; but these 
 
CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 hours of recreation doubtless were mingled 
 with seasons of thoughtful, and sometimes 
 painful, solicitude, under the weight of the 
 great trust that had been committed to his 
 care, and the heavy responsibilities he had 
 accepted and assumed; yet he pursued his 
 way amid the sunshine and the clouds which 
 sometimes surrounded him, with unwavering 
 trust in the triumph of his humane, liberal, 
 just and Christian policy. The infant govern- 
 ment of Pennsylvania received no inconsider- 
 able portion of its nursing at Pennsbury. 
 
 Penn's Manor, as originally laid out by 
 Markham, contained 8431 acres — the land 
 partly alluvial, and principally covered with 
 forest. The boundaries were somewhat irreg- 
 ular, but they bordered for several miles on 
 the River Delaware, and extended several 
 miles inland; they also bordered on several 
 tracts of land taken up by earlier settlers 
 under the jurisdiction of the Governor of New 
 York, and never belonged to the Penn Estate. 
 About three miles intervenes in a northerly 
 direction between Bristol, Penna., and the 
 
OF PENNSBTJRY. 
 
 nearest point in the original Manor boundary* 
 That portion of the domain lying between 
 Governor's Creek and Welcome Creek, con- 
 taining the site of the original mansion and its 
 surrounding improvements, has been repre- 
 sented, and with a degree of plausability, as a 
 noble island, an ancient Indian royalty, with 
 affluents from the river bending several times 
 around it, chosen by chieftains nurtured in 
 aboriginal warfare, as a position possessing 
 many advantages for defence against their en- 
 emies, and while in their possession bearing 
 the name of Sepassin. There is a portion of 
 Penn's Manor formerly occupied by beds of 
 creeks and affluents from and to the river, 
 which is now cultivated land, and this circum- 
 stance may in a degree account for the changed 
 appearance of the surface and surroundings. 
 Pennsbury is not now upon an island. 
 
 Upon the chosen situation, the agents of 
 William Penn commenced building a habita- 
 tion suitable for the governor of a great pro- 
 vince, even before his first arrival in the coun- 
 try. It was erected in 1682-3, and with the 
 
CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 improvements, some of which were perhaps 
 added at a later date, cost £5000, which was 
 estimated in those days as a large sum of mo- 
 ney. The mansion was sixty feet in length, 
 forty in breadth, and two stories high, built of 
 bricks, and covered with tiles. There was a 
 large reservoir for water on top of the house, 
 constructed of lead, and to the leakage from it 
 was partly ascribed the premature decay of the 
 building. It has also been said that much of 
 the lead was pillaged at the time of the Revo- 
 lutionary War, for the purpose of moulding 
 bullets. Judging from relics found upon the 
 premises, at least some of the window sash 
 was likewise of lead. The out-houses — includ- 
 ing a kitchen and larder, a wash-house, a 
 house for brewing and baking, and a stable 
 for twelve horses — were all buildings one and 
 a half stories high, and are said to have been 
 so disposed as to produce an effect agreeable 
 and picturesque. The large wooden brew- 
 house was more secluded : after this historic 
 building, which has attracted so much curios- 
 ity and been visited by so many people, was 
 
OF PENNSBUBY. t 
 
 not needed or made use of for the special pur- 
 pose of brewing, it was utilized as a farm-hou^Q 
 for many successive years ; but it has now 
 disappeared, except the foundations, which ar^ 
 still visible. 
 
 The point has been somewhat controverted,, 
 but it is generally believed that the mansion 
 faced the Delaware ; its appearance has been 
 represented as stately, and that the upper 
 windows commanded a magnificent view of 
 the river and of the opposite shores of New 
 Jersey. The entrance was by stone steps lead- 
 ing to a handsome porch, on the oaken capitals 
 of which were displayed carvings of vines and 
 clusters of grapes, imported by the Proprietor 
 from England. The porch opened into a spa- 
 cious hall extending nearly the whole length 
 of the house, which was used upon public oc^ 
 casions, for the meeting of the council, for the 
 accommodation of strangers and distinguished 
 guests, for collective intercourse with the Iht 
 dian tribes, and probably for courts and reli- 
 gious meetings, which it is asserted were held 
 at the mansion. On the first floor there wai 
 
8 CONCISE ACCOUIS^T 
 
 also a small hall, and three parlors, all wain- ^ 
 scotted with English oak, and communicating f 
 by folding doors. From information obtained 
 through the instrumentality of John Penn, the 
 great hall is represented as containing, among 
 other articles of furniture, one long table, a 
 supply of pewter plates and dishes, and six 
 vessels for holding water or beer. It is pro- 
 bable that this hall was also occupied upon 
 various public occasions for the festive enter- 
 tainment of William Penn's numerous guests, 
 among whom the Indians are said to have 
 been the most frequent partakers of his hospi- 
 tality. Information through the same channel, 
 giving a descriptive account of the varied fur- 
 niture distributed through the three parlors 
 and little hall, described a great leather chair 
 in one of the apartments : this was probably 
 used by the Governor upon important public 
 occasions. The same source of information 
 describes the four chambers as being well 
 supplied with beds, bedding, chairs, tables, 
 etc. In one of them the bed curtains were of • 
 satin ; in another, of camlet ; in another, of 
 
OF PENNSBURY. 
 
 striped linen. The chambers in the garret 
 were furnished with four beds. We also 
 gather from the same authority, that upon 
 the broad walk or avenue lined and shaded 
 with poplars, extending from the mansion to 
 the river brink, and descending by a flight of 
 stone steps from the upper to the lower terrace, 
 on one occasion the tables were spread for the 
 festive entertainment of a large number of In- 
 dian guests ; and among the viands prepared 
 were one hundred turkeys, beside venison and 
 other meats. 
 
 The mansion stood upon a gentle elevation 
 surrounded on all sides by gardens, lawns, 
 shrubberies, and flower beds to which the 
 most beautiful wild flowers found in the 
 country, native and procurable, were trans- 
 planted. The Proprietor has been represented 
 as being extremely fond of a suitable country 
 house with extensive gardens, and that he 
 spared neither care nor money in order to 
 make Pennsbury prominently attractive as a 
 residence. He imported skilful gardeners, 
 both from England and from Scotland. The 
 
10 cojn^cise account 
 
 gardens themselves were a marvel in the 
 colony for their extensiveness, for their beauty, 
 for their attractiveness of location, and for the 
 skill manifested in their management ; various 
 kinds of trees, shrubs, seeds and roots were 
 imported from England ; among them walnuts 
 and fruit trees. The adjacent woods were laid 
 out in walks and drives at the time of the 
 Governor's first visit to the country, and he 
 afterward, in several of his letters, required 
 the preservation of the trees. There were 
 also more distant vistas, opening prospects 
 down the Delaware, and upward toward the 
 falls. 
 
 The Governor, both on his first and second 
 visits to Pennsylvania, imported valuable 
 horses. The family had a large travelling 
 coach at its disposal, but owing to the fre- 
 quent badness of the roads it was not very 
 often called into service; a calash was a more 
 frequent accommodation. Hannah and Letitia, 
 the wife and daughter of William Penn, rode 
 in a sedan chair when they went a-shopping in 
 the city, or visited their female friends in the 
 
OF PENNSBURY. H 
 
 neighborhood, and judging from the circum- 
 stance that several side-saddles and pillions 
 were found in the mansion after the family had 
 left America, it is reasonable to suppose that 
 the women to some extent practiced horseback 
 riding. The Governor himself frequently rode 
 around the country on horseback, but he gene- 
 rally travelled between Pennsbury and Phila- 
 delphia in his barge, to which he was ver}^ 
 partial, manifesting peculiar interest in it ; it 
 was of considerable dimensions, furnished with 
 a mast and six oars. In a letter to his stew- 
 ard, he says : " But above all dead things, my 
 barge. I hope nobody uses it on any account^ 
 and that she is kept in a dry dock, or at least 
 covered from the weather." 
 
 Isaac N^orris thus writes of the Proprietor's 
 wife when the family were about leaving the 
 country : " His excellent wife, and she is be- 
 loved by all (I believe I may say in its fullest 
 extent) : so is her leaving us heavy and of real 
 sorrow to her friends ; she has carried under 
 and through all with a wonderful evenness, 
 humility and freedom ; her sweetness an,d 
 
12 CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 goodness have become her character, and are 
 indeed extraordinary. In short, we love her, 
 and she deserves it." Letitia, the daughter of 
 William and Grulielma Penn, has been repre- 
 sented as very interesting and attractive: the 
 certificate setting forth membership and re- 
 moval granted by her friends in a collective 
 capacity, upon her return to England, por- 
 trayed their estimation of her merits in lan- 
 guage very appreciative. But it has been 
 represented, that these two worthy females, 
 Hannah and Letitia Penn, after the novelty of 
 the wilderness had passed away, had no cor- 
 dial love for the country of their adoption, and 
 had more than once invited the Proprietor to 
 take them back to their beloved England ; 
 that they were in a flutter of delight at the 
 prospect of leaving America; and that they 
 themselves, were perhaps the only persons in 
 Pennsylvania who rejoiced at their departure. 
 Isaac JN'orris also writes : '' The Grovernor's 
 wife and daughter are well ; their little son, a 
 lovely babe; his wife is a woman truly well 
 beloved here, exemplary in her station, and of 
 
OF PENNSBURY. 13 
 
 an excellent spirit, which adds lustre to her 
 character, and has a great place in the hearts 
 of all people." Deborah Logan mentions a 
 tradition heard in her youth from an old 
 woman in Bucks County, "who went, when 
 she was a girl, with a basket containing a 
 rural present to the Proprietor's mansion, and 
 saw his wife, a delicate, pretty woman, sitting 
 beside the cradle of her infant." The child 
 which is here brought into notice was pro- 
 bably the one, and the only one of William 
 Penn's children born in America. , 
 
 It has been said that William Penn died a 
 slaveholder, but if so, it is manifest that it was 
 unintentional ; although there is reason to be- 
 lieve that slaves continued to be appendages 
 to the estate at Pennsbury after he left Penn- 
 sylvania for the last time, and even at the time 
 of his decease in 1718, and for several years 
 after ; yet, as he sets forth in a will which is 
 still extant, made in 1701, containing this 
 clause : "I give to my blacks their freedom, 
 as is under my hand already, and to Old Sam 
 100 acres, to be his children's after he and 
 
14 CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 his wife are dead," it is not likely that he 
 changed his mind afterwards, but more pro- 
 bable that those entrusted with his American 
 B-ffairs, were embarrassed in carrying out his 
 benevolent intentions. The following is from 
 a letter dated in 1721, from James Logan to 
 Hannah Penn : 
 
 " The Proprietor, in a will left with me at 
 his departure hence, gave all his negroes their 
 freedom, but this is entirely private : however, 
 there are very few left. 
 
 "Sam died soon after your departure, and 
 his brother James lately, Chevalier by a writ- 
 ten order from his master, had his liberty 
 several years ago ; so that there are none left 
 but Sue, whom Letitia claims, or did claim, 
 as given to her when she went to England. 
 These things you can best discuss. 
 
 " There are, besides, two old negroes, quite 
 worn, that remained of three which I received 
 eighteen years ago of E. Gibbs' Estate of 'New 
 Castle County." 
 
OF PENNSBUEY. 15 
 
 It may be that some of those slaves, advanc- 
 ing as they were in age, were retained in an 
 unchanged condition, for the humane purpose 
 of supporting them out of the estate in their 
 declining years. William Penn's last will 
 makes no allusion to property in slaves. 
 
 When it became known among the Indians 
 that Onas, as they called the Proprietor, was 
 about to leave the country, a large number of 
 them flocked to Pennsbury, to renew their 
 covenants, and to bid him farewell : many of 
 them were sad under a fear and an impression 
 that he would never return ; hovering around 
 his promises of friendship, protection and jus- 
 tice with increasing tenacity, and anxious lest 
 those who were left in trust of the administra- 
 tion of his affairs in his absence might not 
 prove satisfactory. This gathering together of 
 the Indians at Pennsbury upon the eve of the 
 Governor's absence from the province, was a 
 memorable and important occasion ; they met 
 in council, and for themselves and people, re- 
 spectively, expressed their earnest solicitude 
 that all their former covenants might remain 
 
16 CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 inviolate, and agreed, and earnestly urged, 
 that if any differences should arise amongst 
 them, such might not be made the occasion 
 of alienation and hostility between William 
 Penn or his people and the Indian chiefs or 
 their people ; but that justice should be done 
 under all circumstances, that all animosities 
 on all sides might be forever prevented. 
 
 We can scarcely sufficiently appreciate in 
 this day the advantages which resulted from 
 William Penn's pacific policy toward the In- 
 dians, and his consequent influence over them. 
 The mutual hatreds and jealousies between 
 whites and Indians which prevailed in other 
 colonies, and impeded their prosperity, were 
 obviated here ; and the early settlers, while 
 pressed with the cares and privations of pion- 
 eer life, experienced not only their friendship, 
 but their services. 
 
 J. Richardson, of England, has left an in- 
 teresting account of a visit which he made at 
 Pennsbury in the year 1701 or 1702. The 
 following are extracts from his memoranda : 
 
OF PENNSBURY. 17 
 
 " I was at William Penn's country house, 
 called Pennsbury, in Pennsylvania, where I 
 stayed two or three days, on one of which I 
 was at a meeting and a marriage. Much of 
 the other part of the time I spent in seeing to 
 my satisfaction William Penn and many of 
 the Indians, not the least of them, in council 
 concerning their former covenants, now again 
 revived upon William Penn's going away to 
 England, all of which was done in much calm- 
 ness of temper and in an amicable way. 
 
 " When they had ended the most weighty 
 parts for which they (their councils) had been 
 held, William Penn gave them match coats 
 and some other things, which the speaker ad- 
 vised to be put into the hands of one of their 
 eossacks or kings, for he knew best how to 
 order them. I observed, and also heard the 
 same from others, that they did not speak two 
 at a time, nor interfere in the least with each 
 other in that way in their councils. Their eat- 
 ing and drinking was also in much stillness. 
 
 " William Penn said he understood they 
 owned a Superior Power, and asked the inter- 
 
18 CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 preter what their notion of God was in their 
 own way. The interpreter showed by mark- 
 ing several circles on the ground with his staff, 
 until he reduced the last into a small circum- 
 ference, and placed, as he said by way of re- 
 presentation, the Great Man, as they called 
 him, in the middle of the circle, so that he 
 could see over all the other circles, which in- 
 cluded all the earth. 
 
 . " They went out of the house into an open 
 place n.ot far from it to perform their worship, 
 which was done thus : First they made a small 
 fire, and the men without the women sat down 
 about it in a ring, and whatsoever object they 
 severally fixed their eyes on, I did not see 
 them removed in all that part of their wor- 
 ship, while they sang a very melodious hymn, 
 which affected and tendered the hearts of 
 many who were spectators. When they had 
 thus done, they began to beat upon the 
 ground with little sticks, or make some mo- 
 tion with something in their hands, and 
 pause a little, till one of the elder sort sets 
 forth his hymn, followed by the company for 
 
OF PENNSBUEY. 19 
 
 a few minutes, and then a pause ; and the 
 like was done by another, and so by a third, 
 and followed by the company as at first; 
 which seemed exceedingly to affect them and 
 others. Having done, they rose up and 
 danced a little about the fire, and parted 
 with some shouting like triumph or rejoic- 
 ing." 
 
 There is scope for thoiightfulness in the re- 
 membrance that this interesting people has 
 long since passed away from a large space of 
 country which spreads around Pennsbury — - 
 a people so sincere in their devotions, so moral 
 in their lives, so warm in their attachments, 
 so unalterable in their friendships ; no linger- 
 ing remnant remains to represent the race of 
 their worthy fathers, or exhibit the attainments 
 in civil and religious progress of which it was 
 doubtless susceptible. 
 
 And as the personal presence of William 
 Penn among the poor Indians was marked by 
 many testimonials of affection on their part, 
 and as their friendship was pure, it was deeply 
 
20 CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 rooted and lasting, time and distance did not 
 wear it out ; the memory thereof was precious 
 to them, and they exhibited evidence of it long 
 after William Penn had passed away. It ap- 
 pears they had a veneration for Pennsbury on 
 account of associations connected with it, and 
 some tribes were wont to perform annual visits 
 to the locality. These visits were continued 
 until late in the last century, and perhaps 
 were continued until a later period of time. 
 An eye-witness, who had been a young girl 
 residing with the family occupying the brew- 
 house dwelling about the time to which refer- 
 ence has been made, represented that among 
 the annual visitors were some of great age ; 
 and at that period there yet remained some of 
 the walnut trees that William Penn had 
 planted, and these were objects to which they 
 clung with howling and lamentation, appa- 
 rently frantic with grief, yet with wild enthu- 
 siastic fondness. Some of these aged children 
 of the forest had knowledge of William Penn 
 personally as well as from tradition, and there 
 must have been something touching in these 
 
OF PENNSBUKY. 21 
 
 exhibitions of true-hearted affection for his 
 memory, which still remained so fi^esh and 
 lively, so long after his earthly pilgrimage 
 had ended. 
 
 The bursts of affection with which the poor 
 Indians sometimes greeted their friend Wil- 
 liam Penn were somewhat singular in exhi- 
 bition, and, although doubtless annoying, per- 
 haps were not altogether displeasing to his 
 generous feelings. If tradition truly repre- 
 sents, these warm-hearted creatures upon one 
 occasion met him on the road in the neighbor- 
 hood of Pennsbury riding in his coach, and 
 from the impulse of the moment, drew him 
 from it, and wrapped their blankets around 
 him in token of affection ; and so impetuous 
 was their zeal to manifest their friendship and 
 attachment, that all danger from the fright of 
 horses was unheeded, overlooked, or not com- 
 prehended, and it was needful for the driver 
 to tie them to trees for safety. 
 
 The Grovernor of a great province sometimes 
 condescended to the low estate of the simple- 
 hearted and confiding Indians, partaking of 
 
22 CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 their venison, their hominy, their roasted 
 acorns, and other Indian dainties, joining in 
 their athletic sports, and sometimes rivalling 
 them in feats of agility ; with all of which they 
 were immensely pleased. 
 
 The Indians bore frequent testimony that 
 William Penn had never deceived them, and 
 unbounded was their confidence in his integri- 
 ty : doubtless it was good policy in him to 
 cultivate their friendship ; but apart from 
 every temporal consideration, they possessed 
 a large share of his sympathy, brotherly kind- 
 ness and disinterested love. 
 
 There is something truly pleasing in look- 
 ing back to the beginnings and advance, the 
 manifestations, comforts, and good fruits of the 
 friendship which continued to subsist between 
 William Penn and the Indians. Although he 
 possessed the land which had descended to 
 them from their fathers, and they were exiles 
 from it, still that friendship remained unim- 
 paired. AVere we now to look abroad over 
 the scattered remnants of our Indian popula- 
 tion, how few examples of warm attachment, 
 
OF PENNSBURY. 23 
 
 unwavering friendship, and bursts of affection 
 would be manifested at the presence of those 
 that have been instrumental in dispossessing 
 them of their ancient inheritance, and how 
 few would be the testimonials to the justice 
 and generosity of these. 
 
 A scanty remnant of one or two of the old 
 cherry trees, which it is said William Penn 
 planted with his own hands, is still obtainable 
 as relics. A portion of the brick pavement 
 which constituted the cellar floor of the man- 
 sion, is now an unaltered portion of the cellar 
 floor of the attractive modern farm-house built 
 partly upon the foundations of its ancient but 
 more pretentious predecessor. The occupants 
 of the present dwelling are supplied with ex- 
 cellent water from a well near the door, from 
 the same well which, yielding the like pure 
 and refreshing water, contributed to the neces- 
 sities and comforts of the Penn family in days 
 which have long since passed away. The wor- 
 thy farmer who now owns and occupies the 
 premises, bears the name of William Penn 
 Crozier. 
 
24 CONCISE ACCOUNT 
 
 The ancient improvements and the forests 
 have nearly all disappeared from Pennsbury 
 and its adjacent surroundings, but the site of 
 the mansion is still there, and the river pur- 
 sues its wonted course as when the Propri- 
 etor of a great province and the introducer 
 of a new and to the world novel system of 
 government, launched his favorite barge upon 
 its waves or tranquil waters, and perhaps 
 contemplated the rapidly-approaching period 
 when the progress of civilization would change 
 the sylvan scene before him, and his benev- 
 olent exertions to implant the blessings of 
 civil and religious liberty be crowned with 
 success. 
 
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