Pennsbury Manor is the colonial estate of

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

, founder and proprietor of the Colony of Pennsylvania, who lived there from 1699 to 1701. He left it and returned to England in 1701, where he died penniless in 1718. Following his departure and financial woes the estate fell into numerous hands and disrepair. Since 1939 it has been the name of a reconstructed manor on the original property. Penn had his manor built on an parcel, part of his much larger grant of land from the Crown. It was located about 25 miles north of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

along the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

in present-day Falls Township,

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. In 1929 the Pennsylvania legislature authorized acquisition of the property by gift. In 1932 the Warner Company donated nearly ten acres of the property to the state of Pennsylvania as a site for a permanent memorial to Penn. The

Pennsylvania Historical Commission The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares for ...

was given responsibility for it. The legislature appropriated money to reconstruct the buildings of this estate in a historically accurate manner, to create a house museum in 1939. Over the decades, more land was acquired, and the property now has a total of . The property was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on October 28, 1969. The manor house and grounds are administered by the

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares fo ...

in association with The Pennsbury Society, and are open to the public.

History

William Penn (1644-1718) of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, the new Proprietor of the King's Grant for the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to Wi ...

, traveled to the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

of "

The Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

" in 1682 to start his dream of a " Holy Experiment" free from religious persecution for his "

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

" ("

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

s"). He was granted an tract by King Charles II of England. Penn met with the local Native American

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...

tribes to negotiate fairly and sue for peace, seeking not merely their blessing but cooperation in settling the land. He achieved amicable relations and

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted the village of

north of the confluence of the large southerly flowing Delaware River and easterly Schuylkill, a smaller tributary entering from the northwest. The manor of Pennsbury, a summer home for Penn and his family, was established along the Delaware twenty-five miles north of Philadelphia, between the river's west bank and what was later named Van Sciver Lake. Construction was begun soon after his arrival in the Colony in 1682 and completed around 1686. In addition to the central manor house, separate outbuildings for baking and brewing, a large stable, boathouse, and numerous farm buildings were erected. Penn's plan was to establish the sort of gentleman's country estate similar to his home in England. Penn spent most of his time in the soon-to-be capital city of Philadelphia governing his settlement, leaving the manor house empty for long periods of time. From 1699 to 1701, he rented "

The Slate Roof House The Slate Roof House was a mansion that stood on 2nd Street north of Walnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from about 1687 until its demolition in 1867. Built for Barbadian Quaker merchant Samuel Carpenter, the house occupied a small hill ...

" in Philadelphia as his second residence and city townhouse. He left the colony for England in 1701 to fend off a threatening French claim to his British grant, dying destitute in his home town or

Ruscombe Ruscombe is a village and civil parish, east of Twyford in the Borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. History Reports from the late 1800s provided summaries of the status of the village; in 1876, the population was 200 and that increased ...

after having been defrauded by his English agent of rents and income due him. By 1736, one of Penn's sons remarked that the Pennsbury house "was very near falling, the roof open as well as the windows and the woodwork almost rotten." It remained in family hands until 1792.P. L. Hudson, "Pennsbury Manor: The Philosopher’s Garden"
''Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine'', Number 4, Fall 1994; posted at Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. At some time before 1820 a farmhouse today known as the Crozier House was built over part of the original Pennsbury foundations. It still stands on the larger property but was moved. The Warner Company of Philadelphia, established in 1794 as a dealer in sand, gravel and other construction materials, acquired much of the otherwise deserted land where the manor once stood. In 1932, on the 250th anniversary of Penn's arrival, the company donated some of the lands to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Charles Warner, its president, presented the deed for a just under ten-acre parcel where the Pennsbury buildings had stood to the state as a permanent memorial to Penn. The Pennsylvania Historical Commission was given responsibility for what was then known as The Pennsbury Memorial.
1971 (self-published); posted by Christopher H. Wynkoop, 2004 copyright, Freepages, Rootsweb

Site discovery and reconstruction

In the 1920s and 1930s there was considerable interest in preserving buildings and history of colonial America, due in part to the country's celebration of its sesquicentennial and the stresses of waves of immigration, a world war, and the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Sites relating to

Founding Fathers The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

were reconstructed in this era, notably

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

's former home in New Salem, Illinois, in the 1920s and the long-destroyed northern Virginia birthplace of George Washington,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, in 1930." Also in Virginia the Rockefeller family supported the restoration and reconstruction of

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location ...

. At that time, the commission, Commonwealth, and other sources collaborated to construct a colonial revival manor house and outbuildings at Pennsbury, as a home for a house museum dedicated to Penn. Completed in 1940, it is operated as Pennsbury Manor by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in association with The Pennsbury Society, a non-profit organization, and is open to the public. Additional acreage has been acquired enlarging the site . The manor and grounds were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

Reconstruction

Penn wrote to his overseer James Harrison frequently from England during the construction of the estate, providing insight into his intentions and progress of the project. During its early years of ownership the Pennsylvania Historical Commission conducted site mapping, archaeology, and documentary research. In 1934 historian Albert Cook Myers found the buried foundations of the house and a crude drawing on an eighteenth-century survey map. These served as the basis for recreating a typical red-brick manor house on the property. Pennsbury Manor was designed by local architect R. Brognard Okie, (1875-1945), known for his sensitive

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...

constructions in the area, and restoration of the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia. It appears to today's analysts that he designed a larger and more elaborate house than the original Pennsbury, believed to have been based on a T-shape. Pennsbury Manor was built 1938–1940. Okie's design decisions drew from other properties of that period in nearby Pennsylvania, asserting that Pennsbury probably influenced their design.William Woys Weaver and Nancy D. Kolb, "Okie Speaks for Pennsbury", ''Pennsylvania Heritage'', Parts I and II, Fall 1982 and Winter 1983 issues, respectively The result is two stories, with a

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable spac ...

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus ...

serving as an attic. The design is Georgian influenced Colonial Revival, five

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

wide and two piles deep. A white wooden door and windows contrast against red brick laid in an English bond. Support buildings in either matching brick or

whitewash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...

ed wood frames surround the home. Early

anachronism An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common ty ...

s that were part of the original construction project, such as a white

picket fence Picket fences are a type of fence often used decoratively for domestic boundaries, distinguished by their evenly spaced vertical boards, the ''pickets'', attached to horizontal rails. Picket fences are particularly popular in the United States, ...

and brick walkways, have been replaced by more appropriate styles of pale fencing and

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

ed walks. Bricks were too expensive at the time of Pennsbury Manor's original construction to be used for walkways, and not even the original house was fully constructed in brick. Since the late 20th century the museum staff has concentrated their attentions indoors, creating an increasingly accurate depiction of domestic life in Penn's time through interpretive programs and such decorative elements as period appropriate wall colors, textiles, and furniture arrangements."Mark Reinberger and Elizabeth McLean, "Pennsbury Manor: Reconstruction and Reality"
''PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY'', Vol. CXXXI, No. 3 (July 2007) Okie did not get the final contract for the landscape, but had submitted a proposal. Historic horticulture was little developed at this time, and architect Thomas Sears' (1880-1960) design once again owed more to Colonial Revival than actual Colonial, " featuring numerous plants only brought from Asia in the 19th century such as '' Weigela'', ''

Kerria japonica ''Kerria japonica'', commonly known as Japanese kerria or Japanese rose, is a deciduous, yellow-flowering shrub in the rose family (Rosaceae), native to China, Japan and Korea. It is the only species in the genus Kerria. In the wild, it grow ...

'', ''

Forsythia ''Forsythia'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the olive family Oleaceae. There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, but one native to southeastern Europe. ''Forsythia'' – also one of the plant's common names – is ...

'', and ''

Chinese Wisteria ''Wisteria sinensis'', commonly known as the Chinese wisteria, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, native to China, in the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Yunnan. Growing tall, it is a deciduous ...

''. The brick bordered "colonial" herb garden was also a 19th-century design element.

Repatriation

The Lands that Pennsbury Manor were built on were originally lands of the

tribe. On April 11, 2022, around 200 Lenape ancestors and their funerary objects were finally laid to rest on their homelands. The multitude of ancestors and objects had been previously held across the country by different universities and museums, including the Pennsylvania State Museum. It took about 15 years of coordinating between the Lenape tribal historic preservation officers and the staff members of Pennsbury Manor to bring not only the 5 Lenape nations but the hundreds of ancestors back home. After negotiations, all five tribes of the Delaware Nation agreed to take legal ownership of the new cemetery and their attorney signed the deed to the cemetery on April 19th 2022.

References

External links