Books and Manuscripts

Penn, William, et al.
Signed Birth Certificate
Philadelphia, October 13, 1700. Single vellum sheet, 9 x 9 1/2 in. (229 x 241 mm). Manuscript birth certificate for Isaac Penington, signed by William Penn, his daughter Letitia Penn, his wife Hannah Penn, and eight others; manuscript in the hand of John Kinsey at bottom, affirming that the “above written Certificate was Shewn to James Logan Esq at the time of taking the affirmation hereunto annexed”. Creasing from old folds; some loss in top left, but not affecting manuscript or signatures; scattered minor soiling. In blue levant chemise, 

A fine document relating to William Penn and the Peningtons, one of Pennsylvania's oldest families. 

Founder of Pennsylvania William Penn signs the birth certificate of Isaac Penington (1701-42), son of Surveyor General of Pennsylvania Edward Penington (1667-1701). Penn and the Penington family had close ties that reached across generations. Isaac's grandfather, also Isaac (1616-79), was a respected English Quaker and author, whose home in Woodside, Amersham, was a frequent meeting place for many leading Quakers, including Penn and George Fox, and whose writings on Quakerism were very influential. In 1672, Penn married Gulielma Springett (1644-94), daughter from the first marriage of Isaac’s wife, Mary Penington. When King Charles II chartered the colony of Pennsylvania the Penington family bought land and emigrated to the new colony where they established deep roots. Upon Penn's second and final trip there, in 1698, he was accompanied by the aforementioned Edward Penington, father of the above Isaac. 

This Isaac would go on to serve as a justice of the Bucks County Court from 1725 until his death, was sheriff of Bucks County in the 1730s, and helped found the Library Company of Philadelphia. He married Ann Biles in 1725. Their only son, Edward (1726–1796), became a successful Philadelphia merchant, assemblyman, and a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. During the American Revolution he was arrested twice on suspicion of being a Tory, and was one of several Quakers sent into forced exile in Virginia by the Continental Congress.

Includes five additional documents relating to the above Pennington, Kinsey, and Penn families, as well as one typed document from a previous cataloguer relating to the lot of documents. Includes:

1. Penington, Isaac, et al. Manuscript Document, signed. Northampton, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1725. One vellum sheet, being the marriage certificate signed by Penington and his bride Ann Biles ("Ann Penington"), as well as 52 other signatures of the witnesses, including John Kinsey.
2. Kinsey, John. Document, signed. Philadelphia, July 1, 1749. One-page document certifying "several affirmations" of James Logan, Thomas Jenney, and Mary Holcombe. These three affirmations are included in the following document below.
3. Jenney, Thomas. Document, signed. Philadelphia, May 3, 1749. One sheet folded to make four pages. On first page, document attesting to the marriage of Isaac and Ann Penington. On second page is a similar document signed by James Logan, June 30, 1749 and countersigned by Kinsey. On page four is a similar document signed by Mary Holcombe, who also attests to the same subject.
4. Growdon, Sarah. Document, signed. Bucks County, Pennsylvania, June 14, 1749. One sheet folded to make four pages. One-page document affirming the marriage of Isaac Penington to Ann Biles in relation to probating his estate.
5. Penn, Juliana Fermor. Autograph address panel. Wife of William Penn's son, Thomas.