William Penn, My Ancestor

William Penn

Here's a fun fact: the founder of Pennsylvania is my ancient relative on my dad's mother's side of the family! William Penn was a Quaker who was born in London in 1644. Quakers were really frowned upon during this time, so Penn moved to America to avoid persecution when he was 38 years old. He was even expelled from Oxford University because we wouldn't convert to Anglicanism. King Charles ll owed Penn's father, but didn't pay him back before he died, so King Charles ll gave Penn the land of Pennsylvania to make up for it. According to Quaker.org, "Penn had to give the King two beaver skins and a fifth of any gold or silver mined within the territory" annually (very specific!). After spending most of time advocating for freedom of religion, Penn was finally able to make his new land exactly what he has dreamt of.

A signed document by William Penn granting land to a Quaker who was persecuted in England for his religion. Courtesy of RAAB Collection.

My grandma said our family does not have any documents or pictures in our possession, but our relatives has passed down the story of our well-known ancestor. Penn hasn't been around for 300 years after all. In a text message, my grandma said, "There are a lot of families descended from WP. My maternal grandparents' family were from Virginia. I believe he had a lot of children." Which he did in fact have 13 children with two wives of different times. My grandma's middle name is also Penn which she says "goes way back" in our family.

Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. -William Penn

Penn died at 73 years old in Ruscombe, England from a stroke. He is remembered to be a very respectable gentleman who fought against slavery, for freedom of religion, and for education rights. Because of everything Penn had gone through in his life and his good intentions, I can agree with the statement that he was a "great hero of American liberty".