THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XII, WILLIAM PENN RETURNS TO PENNSYLVANIA, 1692 to 1702. from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time by W. W. H. Davis, A.M., 1876 and 1905* editions.. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Donna Bluemink. dbluemink@cox.net USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Transcriber's note: Liberty has been taken with numbering footnotes so as to include all footnotes from both the 1876 and 1905 editions, plus any additional text and pictures in the 1905 edition. All 1905 material will be noted with an asterisk. Note: Where names differ, the 1905 edition spelling is applied. ___________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER XII WILLIAM PENN RETURNS TO PENNSYLVANIA AND LIVES IN BUCKS COUNTY. -RESURVEY. 1692 TO 1702 Penn sails for Pennsylvania. -James Logan. -Penn and family live at Pennsbury. - Expenses moderate. -Butter from Rhode Island. -Ale, beer, wine. -Tea and coffee. -The Swedes furnish pork and shad. -Servants employed. -John Sotcher, Mary Lofty, Ralph, Nicholas, et al. -Method of traveling. -His barge. -Articles of dress. -Domestic life. -Marriages at Pennsbury. -Arrangements to return to England. -Great Indian council. -Indians explain their idea of God. -Penn and family sail for London. -Pennsbury left in charge of John Sotcher and wife. - Their descendants. -Lord Cornbury. -William Penn, Jr. -Pennsbury house. - Unhealthy years. -Cutler's re-surveys. William Penn, accompanied by his wife, his daughter Letitia, and James Logan, his private secretary, sailed from England, on his second visit to Pennsylvania, September 3, 1699. The vessel arrived a Philadelphia the 10th of December, when, after tarrying in the city a few days, Penn and his family proceeded to the manor house, not yet finished, in Falls township. There they made their home during their stay in Pennsylvania. Logan remained at Philadelphia to attend to public affairs and look after the interests of the Proprietary. James Logan, who was destined to play an important part in the early history of the province, was the son of Patrick Logan, of Lurgan, Ireland, and descended of Scotch ancestry. His father was educated for the church, but joining the Friends, his son followed his footsteps. He was a good Latin, Greek and Hebrew scholar at thirteen, instructed himself in mathematics at sixteen, and at nineteen he was familiar with French, Italian and Spanish. He was per-eminent as a man of learning, and his leisure time was devoted to the sciences. He was a friend to the Indians, a true patriot, and a benefactor to Pennsylvania. He held several public offices, including Chief Justice, and managed the affairs of the Province with great fidelity and good judgment. His gift of 800 acres of land in this county to the Loganian library company of Philadelphia was more valuable at that day then Astor's to New York. He died at Stenton, near Germantown, October 31, 1751, in his seventy-seventh year. (See illustration of Penn's coat of arms) While the Proprietary and his family lived at Pennsbury, they were well supplied with the good things of life. There was good cheer at the manorial mansion for all comers. The steward bought flour by the ton, molasses by the hogshead, sherry and canary wines by the dozen, cranberries by the bushel, and cider and olives by the barrel. The candles came from Boston, and butter from Rhode Island. The cellar was stocked with several kinds of spirituous and malt liquors - beer, cider, sherry, Madeira, Canary, and claret. In 1681, the year before his visit to Pennsylvania, he wrote to James Harrison: "By East goes some wine and strong beer. Let the beer be sold; of the wine, some may be kept for me, especially sack, or such like, which will be better for age." He bought a little brandy or rum for the Indians, on the occasion of a treaty or official visit. Small-beer was brewed at Pennsbury, and now and then a "runnel of ale" was fetched from Philadelphia. There was an orchard on the premises, and cider was made for family use. Penn was temperate in all his habits. He was the especial enemy of tobacco, and we know of his expending but ten pence for the weed while at Pennsbury, probably for an Indian visitor. His expenditures were not extravagant for a gentleman of his rank, his whole expenses for the two years he lived there being but £2,049, Pennsylvania currency. While he lived in elegance, he maintained his own maxim, that "extravagance destroys hospitality and wrongs the poor." He practiced a wise economy in all things. Although tea and coffee were not in general use in the beginning of the last century, the family at the manor indulged in these luxuries, sometimes sending to New York to get them. The Swedes at Philadelphia supplied Penn with smoked venison, pork, shad, and beef, and the beef at Pennsbury was roasted in a "dog-wheel" (1), at least so wrote good Hannah Penn. August 6, 1700, William Penn writes James Logan to send "a flitch of our bacon, chocolate, a cask of middling flour, and some coffee berries, four pounds. Some flat and deep earthen pans for milk and bacon, a cask of Indian meal. Search for an ordinary side saddle and pillion, and some coarse linen for towels." In September he again writes: We want rum here, having not a quarter of a pint in the house among so many workmen; best, in bottles sealed down, or it may be drawn and mixed." The great founder knew how to prevent interlopers poaching on the contents of his bottles. Hannah Penn wants "Betty Webb," who appears to have had charge of the town house, to send her "two mops to wash house with, four silver salts, and the two handle porringer," besides "the piece of dried beef." The leaden tank at the top of the house and the pipes gave great trouble, and Penn writes to Logan, "to send up Cornelius Empson's man speedily if he has tools to mend them, for the house suffers in great rains." (1) A wheel in a box, turned by a dog. A number of servants were employed at Pennsbury to keep up the state the Proprietary found it necessary to maintain, but we have only been able to learn the names of some of them. James Harrison was the chief steward, and trusted friend of Penn, from 1682 to his death, in 1687. At the close of 1684, Penn sent from England four servants, a gardener, and three carpenters, one of the latter probably being Henry Gibbs, who was buried at the "Point," November 9, 1685. Next in importance to Harrison was John Sotcher, who filled his place after his death, and Mary Lofty, the housekeeper. The gardener was Ralph, who died in 1685, and was succeeded by Nicholas, but his place was afterward filled by another sent out from England, who received his passage and £30 in money, and sixty acres of land at the end of three years. He was to train a man and a boy. At the same time came out a Dutch joiner and a carpenter. Among the gardeners was a Scotchman, recommended as "a rare artist," and Hugh Sharp, who received thirty shillings a week while Penn was at Pennsbury. Penn directed that the Scotchman should have three men under him, and that if he cannot agree with the old gardener, Ralph, he is to leave to the latter's charge the upper gardens and court yards, and to take charge of the lower grounds himself. In 1700 Penn's coachman was a negro, named John. Among other employees of the manor house were Ann Nichols, the cook, Robert Beekman, man-servant, Dorathy Mullers, a German maid, Dorcas, a "negrine," Howman, a ranger, who in 1688 was complained of "for killing ye said Luke Watson's hogg's," James Reed, servant, Ellis Jones and wife Jane, with children Barbara, Dorothy, Mary and Jane, who came from Wales in 1682, and took up a tract of land near the present village of Bridgewater, Jack, a negro, probably a cook, whose wife, Parthena, was sold to Barbadoes, because Hannah Penn doubts her honesty, otherwise she would have her up at Pennsbury "to help about washing." There was a "Captain Hans," with whom Penn had a difficulty, which had been "adjusted" and he "stays." In the fall of 1701 Penn got a new hand, and writes Logan that he can "neither plow nor mow," is good-natured, but swears - a heinous offense with the great founder. Hugh was steward while John Sotcher was in England in 1702, and Peter was assistant gardener, at £30 per annum. Between Penn's first and second visits some negroes had been purchased for him, and place at Pennsbury as laborers. "Old Sam" was a favorite negro, and "Sue" was probably his wife. In April 1703 Penn purchased two servants in England, of Randal Janney, one a carpenter, the other a husbandman, and sent them to Pennsbury. About the same time he sent over Yaff, "to be free after four years faithful service," and Joshua Cheeseman, an indentured apprentice, for two years. Penn loved him because he was "a sober, steady young man, and will not trifle away his time," and had he returned to Pennsylvania, Joshua was to have been made house steward. Logan was advised that he should "be kept close to Pennsbury." We learn that old Peter died in August 1702, and Hugh was married that fall, and left as soon as his place could be filled, that one W. Goot left in the summer, and Barnes "was good for nothing." The "distemper" prevailed that fall, and Logan writes Penn they were short of hands. One, name Charles, left before his time was up (2). Stephen Gould, whose mother was a Penn, was clerk to the governor, and is spoken of as "an ingenious lad, a good scholar, and something of a lawyer." (2) The "Gentleman's Magazine," of a forgotten date, contains the following: "Died at Philadelphia in 1809, in her 109th year, Susannah Warden, formerly wife of Virgil Warden, one of the house servants of the great William Penn. This aged woman was born in William Penn's house at Pennsbury manor, in March 1701, and has of late been supported by the Penn family." We doubt the correctness of part of this statement. In 1733 Thomas Penn purchased, of J. Warder, of Bucks county, a negro, afterwards known as Virgil. He was then twenty years of age, having been born in 1713, and was very old when he died. He and his wife lived in the kitchen at Springettsbury. The death referred to, in the "Gentleman's Magazine," was no doubt the wife of this old negro. Virgil could not have been a house servant of William Penn, for he was only five years old when the Proprietary died, in England. His wife may have been born at Pennsbury. From the correspondence of James Logan with Hannah Penn we learn something of the history of William Penn's servants after his death. In a letter to her, dated May 11, 1721, he says:"Sam died soon after your departure hence (1701), and his brother James very lately. Chevalier, by a written order from his master, had his liberty several years ago, so there are none left but Sue, whom Letitia claims, or did claim as given to her when you went to England. She has several children. There are, besides, two old negroes quite worn out, the remainder of those which I recovered near eighteen years ago, of E. Gilbert's estate." He concludes his letter by asking for some orders about the house, "which is very ruinous." When William Penn and his family had occasion to go abroad, they traveled in a style befitting their station. He was a lover of good horses, and kept a number of them in his stables. He had a coach in the city, a cumbersome affair, but he probably never used it at Pennsbury, on account of the badness of the roads. He drove about the county, from one meeting to another, and to visit friends, in a calash, which a pamphlet of the times styles "a rattling leathern conveniency." In August 1700 he writes James Logan to urge the justices to make the bridges at Pennepecka and Poquessin passable for carriages, or he cannot go to town. In his visits to the neighboring provinces, and among the Indians, he traveled on horseback, and as three side-saddles are inventoried among the goods at Pennsbury, no doubt his wife and daughter accompanied him sometimes. The cash-book tells us of the expense of himself and family going to fairs, and Indian canticoes, probably gotten up to amuse the Proprietary. His favorite mode of travel was by water, and at Pennsbury he kept a barge for his own use, boats for the use of the plantation, and smaller boats, used probably for hunting and fishing along the river. The barge was new in 1700; it had one mast and sail, and six oars, with officers and crew, among whom were George Markham, boatswain, and Michael Larzilere, cockswain. It had an awning to protect the passengers from the sun, and no doubt a pennant with the Penn arms, or some other device on it. After he returned to England it was preserved with great care, and Logan had a house built over it at the landing. It was only used once again before the arrival of William Penn, Jr., in 1703. William Penn generally made his trips between Pennsbury and Philadelphia in his barge, and he frequently stopped on the way to visit his friend Governor Jennings, at Burlington. It is related in Janney's life of Penn, that on one occasion Jennings and some of his friends were enjoying their pipes, a practice which Penn disliked. On hearing that Penn's barge was in sight, they put away their pipes that their friend might not be annoyed, and endeavored to conceal from him what they had been about. He came upon them, however, unawares, and pleasantly remarked that he was glad they had sufficient sense of propriety to be ashamed of the practice. Jennings, who was rarely at a loss for an answer, rejoined that they were not ashamed, but desired "to avoid hurting a weak brother." It would be interesting to know how William Penn dressed while he resided at Pennsbury, a quiet citizen of Bucks county, but we have little insight on this subject. The cash-book mentions but few articles purchased for the Proprietary's personal use, but among them are enumerated, "a pair of stockings," at eight shillings, and a pair of "gambodies," or leathern overalls, at £3. 2s. He incurred the expense of periwigs at four pounds each, and there is a charge "for dressing the governor's hat." The cut of h is coat is not given, but we are warranted in saying that it was not "shad belly." The heart and hand of William Penn were both open as the day, and he was noted for his deeds of charity. He distributed considerable sums to those who were needy, and several poor persons were a constant charge on his generosity. At the manor he kept open house, and entertained much company. His guests were distinguished strangers who visited Pennsylvania, the leading families of the province, and frequent delegations of Indian chiefs. In July 1700 Penn was visited by the governors of Maryland and Virginia, whom he entertained with great hospitality. Logan was directed to prepare for their arrival, and to notify the sheriffs and other officers of the counties through which they would pass, to receive them in state. They were probably entertained both in the city and at Pennsbury. Among the visitors at Pennsbury was Deputy-Governor Hamilton and Judge Guest. In August 1700 the daughter of Edwin Shippen was a visitor at the manor, and returned to Philadelphia in a boat with John Sotcher. The contemporaries of Penn have left but little record of domestic life at the manor. Isaac Norris says, in a letter written while the Penns resided at Pennsbury: "The governor's wife and daughter are well; their little son is a lovely babe; his wife is extremely well-beloved here, and exemplary in her station, and of an excellent spirit, which adds luster to her character, and she has a great place in the heart of good people." And again: "Their little son has much of his father's grace and air, and hope he will not want a good portion of his mother's sweetness." The "lovely babe" was John Penn, the eldest son of the founder, by his second wife, and was called "the American," because he was born in this country, at the manor house, the 31st of the 11th month, 1699. Mrs. Deborah Logan says: "A traditionary account, heard in my youth from an aged woman, an inhabitant of Bucks county, has just now occurred to my memory. She went, when a girl, with a basket containing a rural present to the Proprietary's mansion, and saw his wife, a delicate and pretty woman, sitting beside the cradle of her infant." In the summer of 1700 the Provincial council met at the manor house; Penn had hurt his leg and could not got to them, hence he caused them to be met with a boat at Burlington, and brought to him. His wife wrote to Logan to get "a little more oil from Ann Parsons," to apply to the injured limb of the governor. This was probably the occasion of an Indian treaty, as he orders rum and match coats to be bought for it. There is a tradition, that when the Indians came to visit him at Pennsbury, William Penn joined them in their sports and games, and ate hominy, venison and roasted acorns with them. He is said to have matched them in strength and agility. No less than nineteen Indians treaties were concluded, and conferences held, at Pennsbury. When William Penn, Jr., was there, in 1703, a large deputation of chiefs came to see him. Thomas and John Penn had several conferences with them at the manor house before the treaty at Durham in 1734, and in May 1735 they again met the Indians there to consider the terms of the "Walking Purchase." We have record of several marriages at Pennsbury. The first was that of William Berry, of Kent county, Delaware, to Naomy Wally, probably the daughter of Shadrick Wally, of Newtown, the 9th of September, 1686; the second was that of John Sotcher to Mary Lofty, in 1701, and the third and last, of which we have an account, was the marriage of Clement Plumstead, of Philadelphia, to Sarah Righton, formerly Riddle, in March 1704. The latter was attended by William Penn, Jr., and Judge Mompesson. About the 1st of September, 1700 William Penn sent a couple of young tame foxes to John Askew, a merchant of London. No doubt they were Bucks county foxes, and possibly their descendants yet contribute to the sport of England's nobility and gentry. In the summer of 1701 Penn visited the Susquehanna to confer with the Indians, no doubt passing up through the county and crossing the Lehigh between its mouth and Bethlehem, or in that region. He returned by way of Conestoga. The manor was not free from the depredations of horse thieves, and while Penn resided there one John Walsh drove off his roan mare and colt, and a brown gelding, which gave him occasion to write to John Moore, to get the thief indicted, for "it is too much a practice to think it no fault to cheat the Governor." William Penn was much interested in agriculture, and loved a rural life. He designed the island neighboring to Pennsbury, now Newbold's or Biddle's island, for feeding young cattle and a stud of mares. In the conveyance of an island to Thomas Fairman, it was stipulated that Penn should mow it for his own use, and keep hogs on it until it was drained and improved. The presence of the Proprietary was now required in England, and he made his arrangements to return in the fall of 1701. John Sotcher was to bring him from Philadelphia, among other things, "his hair trunk, leather stocking, and twelve bottles of Madeira wine." He thought at first of leaving his wife and daughter behind, but they protested, and he took them with him. "Previous to embarking for England, William Penn assembled a large company of Indians at Pennsbury, to review the covenants they had made with him. The council was held in the great hall of the manor house. The Indians declared they had never broken a covenant, which they made in their hearts and not in their heads. After the business had been transacted Penn made them presents of match coats and other articles. Afterward the Indians went out into the courtyard to perform their worship. John Richardson, a distinguished English Friend, who was traveling in Pennsylvania, spent two or three days at the manor house, and witnessed the council, etc. He thus described their worship: "First they made a small fire, and then the men without the women sat down about it in a ring, and whatever object they severally fixed their eyes on, I did not see them move them in all that part of their worship, while they sang a very melodious hymn, which affected and tendered the hearts of many who were spectators. When they had thus done began to beat upon the ground with little sticks, or make some motion with something in their hands, and pause a little, till one of the elder sort sets forth his hymn, followed by the company for 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 the first, which seemed exceedingly to affect them and others. Having done, they rose up and danced a little about the fire, and parting with some shouting, like triumph or rejoicing." When asked what they understood by eternity or a future state, they explained, through the interpreter, that those who had been guilty of theft, swearing, lying, murder, etc., went into a very cold country, where they had neither good fat venison, nor match coats, but those who died innocent of these offenses went into a fine warm country where they had good fat venison, and good match coats. They explained their idea of God by making several circles on the ground, each succeeding one being smaller, when they placed Penn in the middle circle so that he could see over all the others. He was made to represent the Almighty overlooking all the earth. When William Penn was making his arrangements to return to England, he proposed leaving Pennsbury in charge of John Sotcher and Mary Lofty (3). John came to America, with Penn, in 1701, and stood to him in the double relation of servant and friend. He and Mary equally enjoyed the confidence and respect of the great founder, and Penn wrote him repeatedly with directions for the management of the estate. He said they are "as good servants as any in America." At Falls meeting, September 4, 1701, John announced his intention of taking Mary to wife, and Joseph Kirkbride and Mary Sirket were appointed to examine the matter and report at the next meeting. William Penn, present at the meeting, stated that as he proposed leaving his affairs at Pennsbury in their hands, and as the season hurried his departure, he desired to see the marriage accomplished before he left the country. The meeting was adjourned one week to give the committee time to examine the case and report, and Phineas Pemberton, Joseph Kirkbride, Richard Hough and Samuel Dark were appointed to draw the certificate. The committee making a favorable report, and a certificate from Penn and his wife being read, the monthly meeting, held the 8th of October, gave its consent to the marriage. The certificate bears date October 16th, and is witnessed by some of the leading men of the Province, including the Governor, wife and daughter (4). The marriage took place at Pennsbury, and is the only one William Penn is known to have attended in this county (5). Letitia made the bride a present of a chest of drawers that cost £7. Penn and his wife took a certificate from Falls meeting, while their daughter Letitia took hers from Philadelphia. The latter set forth, that to the best of their knowledge "she is not under any marriage engagement." (3) This name is found written Lofty, Loftie, and Loftus, but Lofty is probably the correct spelling. (4) In addition to the Penns were the following signatures: Samuel Jennings, Phineas Pemberton, Joseph Kirkbride, Joseph Langdale, Richard Gore, Joseph Shippen, Solomon Warder, William Hackett, Richard Cocks, Richard Hough, James Logan, Peter Worrell, Job Bunting, Samuel Burges, John Burges, and several women. (5) Watson, in his "Annuals of Philadelphia," says that Amor Preston, the ancestor of the Prestons of Bucks county, married his wife at or near Pennsbury, in the presence of William Penn and many Indians, and gives her statement of his appearance and behavior. This account has been accepted, but on investigation I find it not true. In December 1710 Amor Preston married Esther Large, on authority granted by Falls meeting, and as Penn had then been nine years in England, he could not have been present at the ceremony. As the marriage is on record in the meeting, the date no doubt is correct. The error in this statement throws doubt on all Mr. Watson says about Mrs. Preston. We shall have more to say on this subject in a future chapter. John and Mary Sotcher (6) had four children, Hannah, Mary, Ann and Robert. Hannah married Joseph Kirkbride in 1720, Mary married Mahlon Kirkbride in 1724, Ann married Mark Watson in 1728, and Robert married [Mercy Brown*] out of meeting in 1731, and was dealt with. They were the great-grandparents of the mother of Anthony Burton, of Bristol, who preserves the marriage certificate. The wife of Doctor Cernea, of Buckingham, is a descendant through the Kirkbrides. John Sotcher went to England in 1702, to receive a legacy left him by his brother, leaving his wife in charge of Pennsbury. He was a member of Assembly in 1722, and died in 1729. He was in Penn's service about ten years, and on leaving in 1709, probably moved on to a plantation near by intended for John Penn, Jr., When Sotcher and Logan had their first settlement in 1705, there was due the former £65, Pennsylvania currency. (6) She probably came from Bristol, England, where she had a brother settled in trade. William Penn took passage in the ship Dolmahoy, for London, in November 1701 after a residence of nearly two years at the [Pennsbury*] manor house. He engaged the whole of the cabin for himself and family, at fifty guineas. They went down the river in a yacht, to New Castle, where the ship lay, accompanied by James Logan and other friends. They were safe on board on the 3d, whence Penn addressed his parting instructions for his faithful secretary. Logan was charged to send all the goods at the town house up to Pennsbury, except enough to furnish a room for himself; and he was requested "to give a small treat" in the Proprietary's name to the gentlemen of Philadelphia, for a beginning to a better understanding. His lovely seat on the Delaware was in the thoughts of William Penn to the last, for at the foot of these instructions he writes: "Remember J. Sotcher and Pennsbury." Had he realized at that moment, that he had left his home in Bucks county forever, sadder yet would have been his thoughts as he sailed down the Delaware. The Dolmahoy had a safe passage, and reached Portsmouth in thirty days. Among the bills Penn left unpaid, for Logan to settle, was the butcher's, of £60, and the baker's, of £80, so much was he straitened for ready money. Among the articles Penn left behind, at Pennsbury, were two pipes of Madeira wine, and in a letter to Logan, dated September 7, 1705, he wants on of them sent to him in England. Among the distinguished persons who visited Pennsbury, after Penn had left, was Lord Cornbury, Governor of New York, in June 1702. He came to Burlington to proclaim Queen Anne. Governor Hamilton and party met him at Crosswicks, and invited him to visit Pennsylvania. Logan, who was up at Pennsbury, hastened down to Philadelphia to provide for his entertainment, and a dinner, "equal to anything he had seen in America," was prepared for him and his retinue. He lodged at Edward Shippen's, and the next day he dined there with his company. On his return up the river from Burlington to the falls, on the 24th, he paid a visit to Pennsbury. Logan sent up wine and "what could be got," and was there to receive his guest. Lord Cornbury was attended up the river by four boats besides his own, including the Governor's barge, and arrived about ten in the morning, with a suite of fifty persons. James Logan, in a letter to Penn, says of the dinner: "With Mary's (7) great diligence, and all our care, we got really a handsome country entertainment, which, though much inferior to those at Philadelphia for cost, etc., yet, for decency and good order, gave no less satisfaction." In September 1704 Lord Cornbury again visited Pennsbury accompanied by his wife, when they were entertained by William Penn, Jr. At this period the manor was noted for its apple orchard, and the quality of its "pearmains and golden pippins." Within a few years past the present owner has exhibited "Pennsbury pippins" at our agricultural fairs. (7) Mary Sotcher, the housekeeper. In 1703 William Penn sent his son William, a wild youth, to Pennsylvania, hoping the associates of the father would have a good influence over him. He came commended to the care of James Logan, to whom Penn wrote: "Take him immediately away to Pennsbury, and there give him the true state of things, and weigh down his levities, as well as temper, his resentments, and form his understanding since all depends upon it, as well for his future happiness, as in measure the poor country. Watch him, out-wit him, and honestly over-reach him for his own good. Fishing, little journeys, (as to see the Indians, etc.,) will divert him; no rambling to New York, nor mongrel correspondence." Logan carried out the instructions, and young Penn was soon under the peaceful roof at Pennsbury. He brought two or three couple of choice hounds, "for deer, foxes, and wolves," and his father wrote to have John Sotcher quarter them about "as with young Biles, etc." Young Penn received the congratulations of his father's friends; and when the Indians heard that the young Proprietary had arrived they sent a deputation of an hundred warriors, with nine kings to Pennsbury, to tender their welcome. They presented him with some belts of wampum, in proof of their good will. He made a favorable impression, for Samuel Preston wrote Jonathan Dickinson, "our young landlord, in my judgment, discovers himself his father's eldest son; his person, his sweetness of temper and elegance of speech are no small demonstrations of it." He spent most of his time in Philadelphia, where he played some wild capers. Neither the devotion of Logan, the interest of his father's friends in his welfare, not the pure atmosphere of Pennsbury, had the desired effect. He fell again into evil habits, and returning to England in the fall of 1704, he died in disgrace in France, a few years later. The waywardness of his favorite son almost broke his father's heart. After Penn's return to England, Pennsbury was an ever abiding presence in his mind, and for years he looked foreward to his return, and making it his permanent residence. It was evidently the home of his affections. It was the text of much of his correspondence with Logan. He wrote him, June 4, 1702: "Pennsbury! I would be glad to hear how things are there; the family, fruit, corn and improvements." He wants Logan to keep up things at Pennsbury, and orders fruit and other trees planted in the fields, at the distance of forty or fifty feet apart, so as not to hurt the grass nor corn. He continued to send out shrubs and trees, and gave directions how to plant them. In 1705 he write to Logan, "not so much neglect the gardens at Pennsbury, as to let them run to ruin;" and again, not to let him be put to any more expense on account of Pennsbury, but only "to keep it in repair, and that its produce may maintain it." The manor could not have been very profitable as a farm, for in 17045 John Sotcher could not make his own wages out of it, though Logan wrote Penn that with that exception it cleared itself. Penn evidently expected to return as late as 1708, when he wrote to James Logan, "let William Walton, that comes from Bristol, keep all in order till we come." Penn did not live to return to his beloved Pennsylvania, for which he longed for years, but spent the remainder of his days in England, surrounded by a sea of troubles and vexations. He died between two and three o'clock on the morning of the 30th of July, 1718, and his body brought from Rushbe to Jordan's, in Bucks, on the 5th of August, and there buried in the presence of a large concourse of spectators. His grave is marked by a stone with his name and date of death. His second wife, Hannah Callowhill, was buried in the same grave. In close proximity are ten other tombstones marking the resting places of his family and friends, with them Isaac Pennington, the son of a Lord-Mayor of London, and Thomas Ellwood, who read to Milton, in the cottage at Chalfont, after he was struck with blindness, and who suggested to him the writing of "Paradise Regained." It has been thought that their persecutions while in life induced these Friends to select this quiet place for burial. (See illustration of Penn's burial place) Pennsbury house was kept up several years after Penn went to England, in 1701, waiting his return to spend the remainder of his days there. The furniture was long preserved (8), but was finally sold and distributed through Bucks county and elsewhere. But few pieces can be traced at this late day. Samuel Coats, of Philadelphia, purchased William Penn's secretary of John Penn, but we do not know what has become of it. After the death of James Logan many of the goods at Pennsbury were sold at public sale by an agent of the family. A gold-headed cane that belonged to the Proprietary was bought by a farmer of Bucks county. The clock that marked the time in the great hall at Pennsbury stands in the Philadelphia library, while Penn's chair is at the Pennsylvania Hospital. Mrs. Alfred Blaker, of Newtown, has one of the parlor chairs, elaborately carved, with a high straight back, and a venerable look. One chamber, in particular, was kept handsomely furnished, and hung with tapestry, for the accommodation of the family descendants should any of them return. This room came to be looked upon with curiosity and suspicion, and was called "a haunted chamber." It became musty from non-use, and the rich hangings covered with dust and cobwebs. Another room was kept furnished for the agent of the family when he visited the estate, and the beds and linen are described as having been excellent. Visitors generally carried away some relic of the place, and bits of curtains and bedcovers may yet be found in the collections of the curious. Mrs. Deborah Logan (9) remembered visiting the house on one occasion, with her mother, and bringing away a piece of old bedspread of holland, closely wrought with the needle in green silk, and said to have been the work of Penn's daughter Letitia. For many years Pennsbury was a place of resort for strangers who wished to view the home of the founder of Pennsylvania, who spread their refreshments under the large walnut trees that had shaded Penn and his family. The building fell into premature decay from injury received from leakage of the leaden reservoir on the roof. It was pulled down, to rebuild, just before the Revolution, but the war prevented it. (8) Under the date of May 22, 1721, Logan writes to Hannah Penn, "I have lately sent for the books hither, but the goods, after about twenty years age added to them, thou may assure thyself are not much improved." (9) Daughter of Charles Norris, whose first wife was Margaret, daughter of Doctor Rodman of Bucks county. When John Sotcher left Pennsbury in 1709, James Logan entered into an agreement to lease it to Colonel Quarry, an officer of the customs at Philadelphia. The term was for seven years, at £40 a year, and he to keep the buildings in repair, with the condition that in case William Penn should return, Colonel Quarry was to have six months notice to leave. He was to buy the stock, and hire the negroes, if he and Logan could agree upon terms. The lease fell through on account of Penn's controversy with the Fords, who claimed the fee to the territory. The place at this time was somewhat out of repair, if we may judge by what was to be done before Colonel Quarry moved in. Logan was "to repair the windows and make one new door to the lower chamber at the foot of the stairs, and to lay the upper floor of the outhouse, and run one partition; to repair the garden fences, and to build up the wall before the front at the descending steps." The falling down of the wall in front of the house had allowed the rains to wash away the earth hauled to raise the yard. The years 1702 and 1703 were unhealthy. In the winter the small-pox (10) prevailed with severity in Bucks county, and the following summer a "distemper" (11) broke out, which carried off a number of the inhabitants. The summer of 1704 was the hottest and driest since the Province was settled, yet there were good crops. The previous winter is noted for deep snows and cold weather, unknown to the oldest inhabitants. (10) Three of the Yardleys died of small-pox. (11) Supposed to have been the yellow fever. Within a few years after the settlement of the Province, great trouble and inconvenience were found in the transfer of real estate, by reason of the discrepancy between the quantity called for in the warrant, and that returned in the survey. To remedy the difficulty, the commissioners of property ordered a re-survey of all the lands taken up, and a warrant was issued to John Cutler (12), surveyor of Bucks county, August 11, 1702. In the warrant he was directed to re-survey only the lands of Bristol and Falls townships, but by this and subsequent warrants he re-surveyed all the seated lands in the county. We have not been able to find a complete record of this work, and what we give below is only a partial return of all the townships except Bristol, one of the two mentioned in the warrant of August 11th. The "lands adjacent" to Wrightstown embraced the territory now Buckingham and Solebury, and those "adjacent" to Southampton and Warminster were Northampton, Warwick and Warrington, none of them yet organized into townships. The surveyors were order to make their surveys according to the lines by which the lands were granted by the Proprietary. A number of new surveys were reported without the names of the townships being mentioned, which we suppose were made in territory not yet organized. The following were the surveys made by Cutler: (12) His commission was dated March 10, 1702. Falls, Jeffrey Hawkins 555, Joseph Wood, 590, and Robert Lucas 322 acres; Makefield, Miller's heirs 1,108, Thomas Janney 4,450, Henry Marjarum 350, John Snowden 421, Peter Worrel 232, Enoch Yardley 518, and Thomas Ashton 236 acres; Middletown, John Stackhouse 312, Thomas Stackhouse 507, Robert Heaton 1, 088, and Thomas Musgrave 440 acres; Newtown, Thomas Hillborne 968, Jonathan Eldridge 289, Margaret Hayworth 278, Shadrick Walley 1,548, and Ezra Croasdale 530 acres; Wrightstown and land adjacent, Samuel Baker 438, William Parlet 144, William Dirrick 148, John Pidcock 505, and John Chapman 480 acres; Bensalem, Samuel Allen 262, Tobias Dymock 302, and Joseph Kirle 400 acres; Southampton, Warminster and lands adjacent, Isabella Cutler 325, William Wait 103, Joseph Kirle 543, John Morris 572, George Willard 447, John Eastborne 305, John Swift 580, Abel Nobel 697, Jasper Lawrence 460, William Garret 225, Christopher Wetherill 236, Ralph Dracot 250, John Scarborough 504, John Large 107, and William Say 107 acres; re-survey by general warrant, Anthony Burton 142, William Buckman 550, Stephen Twining 550 Samuel Carpenter 547, Henry Paxson (Tinker's Point) 300, William Gregory 225, Jonathan Couper 355, John Baldwin 139, Ezra Croasdale 220, Robert Heaton 925, John and Gyles Lucas 216, John Naylor 445, William Hammer 100, Daniel Jackson 390, Thomas Constable 550, Walter Bridgeman, 220, William Croasdale 151, Thomas Coleman 248, Joseph Janney 347, and Robert Heaton, Jr., 152 acres; new surveys, Daniel Jackson 500, Richard Hough 475, widow Musgrave (two warrants) 980, George Howard 450, Edward Hartley 300, Paul Woolfe 300, Jedediah Allen 230, Thomas Carns 450, Randall Blackshaw 500, Martin Zeale 100, Thomas Bye (two warrants) 438, William Croasdale 250, Samuel Beaks 350, Ezra Croasdale 200, Randall Speakman 500, Thomas Bye 600, Henry Paxson, 100, Robert Heath (two warrants) 1,000, George Brown 200, Francis White 250, Jeremiah Langhorne 250, Randall Speakman 500, Henry Child (two warrants) 984, Francis Plumstead (four warrants) 2,500, Elizabeth Sands 500, Joseph Paul 492, Tobias Dymock 220, and Joseph Pike (two tracts) 1,000 acres. A number of these new surveys were in Buckingham, Solebury, and some in Plumstead, which were then filling up with settlers, but had not yet been organized into townships (13). James Logan says they were well supplied with surveyors in Bucks county, and he wrote in the spring of 1703 that the surveys "are in good forwardness," and hopes to have them finished in the summer. Among the tracts surveyed in Wrightstown was one of 575 acres to Benjamin Clark, which adjoined the town square on the southeast side. It will be noticed that many of the names mentioned in these surveys are no longer to be found in the county. (13) Buckingham and Solebury were organized about that time. End of Chapter XII.