Books and Manuscripts

The Earliest Known Letter Between William Penn's Sons John and Thomas

[Penn, William] Penn, John
Autograph Letter, signed
Bristol, England, December 4, 1715. Single sheet, 10 3/4 x 7 1/2 in. (273 x 190 mm). One-page autograph letter, signed by John Penn to his younger brother, Thomas Penn; with an autograph postscript by John on recto; autograph address by John and with six examples of Thomas Penn’s signature on verso. Creasing from old folds; remnants of wax seal; bottom right corner repaired; area around seal and opposite side repaired from loss when opened; small repair at center affecting a few letters; scattered soiling. 

"Dear Brother
I Last Post recd thy letter but am a sham’d to think how far I am in thy Debt nor know what Excuse to make, but must Wholy Reley on thy Mercy knowing it to be boundless to forgive Past offences upon Promise of being better for time to Come, as to the Charg of the Chacoletts making I writ to mother in my Last but as to the P Rasburys that Came w(it)h the oyster…sent it to mother but think it would…better if it was Boyld up again which she would have Done but had not time, all Relations here much as they ware & give their Dear Love tTo Father & Mother wch wth my Duty, and Dear Love to thy Self is all at Presant from Thy very affect & Lov Brother John Penn

Pray Give my Respects to the Reverant old Gentleman that usually wares a Black Cap & Our old Father Addam"

An endearing letter between Pennsylvania founder William Penn's two sons, and future proprietors of the colony, John (1700-46) and Thomas (1702-75)—the earliest known written exchange between the two.

At this time their father—affectionately referred to here by his nickname “Addam” (a reference to the biblical first man)—was largely incapacitated after suffering two debilitating strokes in 1712. John, then only 15 years old, writes from the Bristol estate of Penn's second wife Hannah, where Thomas was born, and where the Penn family split their time living. Thomas, then 13 years old, received this letter at Ruscombe, the Penn family's second home where he lived with his parents and siblings, including William’s children from his first marriage to Gulielma Penn (1644-94). 

In three years their father would pass away from complications due to his strokes and set off a family struggle between Hannah and her sons, and William Penn, Jr. (his son from his first marriage) for control of Penn’s estate and proprietary ownership of Pennsylvania. After William's death the proprietary interest in Pennsylvania was left to Hannah, who acted as executrix for their four sons. This was contested by Penn’s children from his first marriage, until 1727, when she and her youngest son Dennis died, at which point John received half the proprietary interest and Thomas and Richard each received one quarter.

Shortly before this letter John had left the Penn household in Ruscombe in order to apprentice as a merchant. Here he fondly mentions his mother’s cooking and the well-documented family love of chocolate, and makes reference in his postscript to the “Black Cap” worn by Quakers, a famous sign of their egalitarianism. Called “the American” because of his birth in Philadelphia, John was raised in England but later went back to Pennsylvania in 1734. During this short period he attended meetings of the provincial council, oversaw negotiations relating to the contentious border dispute with Maryland that in time would result in the Mason-Dixon Line, and later, assisted with Thomas in the transaction of the infamous Walking Purchase. When John died in 1746 with no heirs, his rights in Pennsylvania were left to Thomas, who became chief proprietor, until his death in 1775. 

Thomas spent most of his adulthood in London but directed his proprietary interest in Pennsylvania carefully. In contrast to his father's conciliatory approach to the native population and the colony's governance, he and John wielded their power and influence in appointments, in the surveying and sale of lands, and in strengthening the power of the deputy governor--who acted as their proxy in the colony while they spent their time in England. A polarizing figure in Pennsylvania politics, Thomas's governance led to the creation of an anti-proprietary party led by Benjamin Franklin, who encouraged the British Crown to revoke the Penn's proprietary grant and install a Royal government. In 1763, Thomas appointed his nephew John as deputy governor to oversee the colony's affairs, and upon Thomas's death, he became chief proprietor. John would be the last colonial governor of Pennsylvania before the outbreak of the American Revolution. 

An intimate and early letter providing a glimpse of the family life of the famous Penn family.