PENN, WILLIAM

Quaker statesman and colonizer; b. London, England, Oct. 14, 1644; d. Ruscombe, Berkshire, England, July 30, 1718. He was the son of Adm. Sir William Penn and received an education suited to good social position. About 1667 he became a Quaker; he was subsequently imprisoned a number of times for nonconformity and he became a leading spokesman for general religious toleration. As a friend of King James II, Penn was suspected of being a Jesuit and was regarded with suspicion under succeeding Protestant monarchs. In 1681, in payment of a debt due his father from the Crown, he received from Charles II a grant of land in America. As sole proprietor of pennsylvania, Penn developed the province into a "holy experiment" of his ideals of religious and political freedom, with the support of many Quakers and others who settled there. He framed a liberal government for the colonists and made just peace treaties with the native peoples. Unfortunately, he had political and financial difficulties at home and spent only two two-year periods in Pennsylvania. He wrote numerous religious and political tracts and preached extensively until a stroke of apoplexy in 1712 disabled him mentally.

Bibliography: Of Penn's writings (see list in Peare), most fully collected in 1726, only a few are now reprinted. A well-chosen anthology is The Witness of William Penn, ed. f. b. tolles and e. g. alderfer (New York 1957), bibliog. 203–205. Biographies include m. r. brailsford, The Making of William Penn (New York 1930). w. i. hull, William Penn (New York 1937). w. w. comfort, William Penn (Philadelphia 1944). c. o. peare, William Penn (Philadelphia 1957), bibliog.

[h. j. cadbury]