Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/41

 CH A PTER II F O U N D IN G O F P E N N S Y L V A N I A T w o hundred and seventy years ago was bom in the city o f London the subsequent founder of the Province o f Pennsylvania. He w as the son o f William Penn, of the County of W ilts, a vice admiral in the time o f Cromwell, whom Charles 11 knighted for his successful naval services against the Dutch. T he son, W illiam, was a studious youth, and receiving religious impressions in his twelfth year was converted to the tenets of the Society of Friends by the preaching o f Thom as Low e, a Q uaker leader. W hile in O xford College he continued his religious practices, which the authorities condemned and fo r which they finally expelled him. Young Penn's father vainly endeavored to turn him from his views on religion, hoping to persuade him to follow the profession o f arms, but finding him obdurate gave him a severe beating and turned him from his home. His mother prevailed on the father to reinstate him and he later took up the study o f law, gradu­ ated, and under the Duke o f Ormond served as military aide in Ireland. There occurred the turning point o f his life. H e again came under the influence o f Thom as Low e, joined the Q uakers, and was imprisoned for attending tncir meetings. Again he disagreed with his father, the cause being his refusal to remain uncovered in the presence of the king and others. This rupture w as permanent until just before the father’s death, when they became completely reconciled. *rhe entire estate being left to the son he w as now in position to devote his life to the cause of the persecuted sect. and such w as his influence with the king that he obtained the patent fo r the Province o f Pennsylvania, in consideration o f his father’ s services and a debt o f £16.000 due the estate from the crown. A fte r a long and searching course o f proceed­ ings, lasting from Ju n e 14. 1680. till M arch 4, 16 8 1, the charter w as granted, in which the boundaries of the Province arc thus prescribed: "Bounded on the east by Delaware R iver, from

twelve miles distance northward o f N ew Castle town (D el.) unto the three and fortieth degree o f northern latitude, i f the said ri%'er doth ex­ tend so fa r northward, but i f the said river shall not extend so fa r northward, then by the said river so fa r as it doth exten d; and from the head o f said river the eastern bounds are to be determined by a meridian line, to be drawn from the head o f said river unto the said fortythird dt^rec. T he said land to extend west­ ward five degrees in longitude, to be computed from the said eastern bounds, and the said lands to be bounded on the north by the begin­ ning of the three and fortieth degree o f north­ ern latitude, and on the south by a circle drawn at twelve miles distance from New Castle, northward and westward, unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude, and then by a straight line westward to the limits o f longitude above mentioned." B y a calculation of the contents o f those charter boundaries the Province contained 35,361,600 acres. T he present area of the State o f Pennsylvania, according to the census o f 19 10 . is 4 5.12 6 square miles, or 28.880.640 acres. T he area was diminished by the subscucnt adjustment of the boundaries between (his and the States o f M aryland. Virginia and New Y ork. T he impossible southern hne, men­ tioned in the charter, caused much dispute be­ tween Penn and Lord Baltimore, which w as at length permanently fixed by Mason and Dixon, who were eminent mathematicians and astrono­ mers, between 1763 and 1766. In December, 1774, the boundary line be­ tween Pennsylvania and N ew Y o rk w as ascer­ tained and fixed by David Rittenhouse on the part of the form er, and Samuel Holland on the part of the latter, to be north latitude 42®. with a variation o f 4* 20 '. (T h is w as the declination in 1790. It is now about 10 ® .) The forty-third parallel o f north latitude, men­ tioned in the charier, extends through central N ew Y o rk. M essrs. Rittenhouse and Holland placed a stone on a small island in the western 12