Pennsbury Manor is the colonial estate of

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

, founder and proprietor of the

Colony of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

, 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, a reconstructed manor has stood 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 ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

along the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

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, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. 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 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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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 heritage. The commission cares for hist ...

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

History

William Penn (1644-1718) of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, 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, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

, traveled to the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

in present-day United States in 1682 to start his dream of a

Holy Experiment The "Holy Experiment" was an attempt by the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, to establish a community for themselves and other persecuted religious minorities in what would become the modern state of Pennsylvania. They hoped i ...

free from religious persecution for his

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, also known as the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

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

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

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 Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

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

25 miles north of

, 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 Slate Roof House 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 of Ruscombe 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 was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Sites relating to

Founding Fathers The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence ...

were reconstructed in this era, including

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

's former home in New Salem, Illinois in the 1920s and the long-destroyed

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

birthplace of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

known as

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

, in 1930. Also in Virginia, the

Rockefeller family The Rockefeller family ( ) is an American Industrial sector, industrial, political, and List of banking families, banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the History of the petroleum industry in th ...

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 Williamsburg, Virginia. Its historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, wh ...

. At that time, the commission, Pennsylvania 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

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 Richardson Brognard Okie Jr. (1875–1945) was an American architect. He is noted for his Colonial Revival architecture, Colonial-Revival houses and his sensitive restorations of historic buildings. Biography Okie was born in Camden, New Jers ...

, (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 arch ...

constructions in the area, and restoration of the

Betsy Ross House The Betsy Ross House is a landmark in Philadelphia. It is purported to be the site where the upholsterer and flag-maker Betsy Ross (1752–1836) lived when she is said to have sewed the first American flag. History The origins of the Betsy R ...

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 Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

ed hipped roof serving as an attic. The design is Georgian-influenced Colonial Revival, five bays wide and two piles deep. The building's roof is covered in Ludowici shingle tile designed to match colonial

roof tile Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out precipitation such as rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, glass ...

s of the era. A white wooden door and windows contrast against red brick laid in an

English bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by s ...

. Support buildings in either matching brick or

whitewash Whitewash, calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, asbestis 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 ...

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 type ...

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 on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

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'', ''

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 named ...

'', and '' Chinese Wisteria''. 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 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

Five Civilized Tribes The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by the United States government in the early federal period of the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Cr ...

but the hundreds of ancestors back home. After negotiations, all five tribes of the

Delaware Nation The Delaware Nation (), based in Anadarko, OklahomaDe ...

agreed to take legal ownership of the new cemetery; their attorney signed the deed to the cemetery on April 19, 2022.

References

External links