On Sunday, March 8, Pennsylvania Histororical Sites and Museums will celebrate Charter Day, the birthday of Pennsylvania, when King Charles II granted William Penn the charter for his “holy experiment” in America.

As part of this celebration, our group will be hosting an open house at the restored c1721 Penrose-Strawbridge House on March 8 from 1-4 .  Our neighbors at Graeme Park will also be offering free tours of the c1721 National Historic Landmark Governor Sir William Keith House. Governor Keith served under Penn’s widow Hannah Penn and acquired most of his Horsham land from the estate of Samuel Carpenter.  Carpenter purchased over 5,000 acres in Horsham and Bucks County from Penn.

In 1681, with the support of the Duke of York, Penn convinced the King to grant him what is now known as Pennsylvania in payment of a £16,000 debt owed by the King to the Admiral. This land had actually belonged to the Duke. Charles was glad to be rid of the debt and probably of Penn and his Quakers. In 1682, Penn drew up his “Framework of Government” for the Pennsylvania Colony, which included the novel idea of freedom of worship. Penn advertised this throughout Europe and the West Indies to entice Quakers and others to his new colony. This grant for land west and south of New Jersey, an area encompassing 45,000 miles, made Penn the largest non-royal landowner. William named this land Sylvania but Charles changed it to Pennsylvania or “Penn’s Woods” in honor of Penn’s father, Admiral Sir William Penn. Bucks County, just across the road from Horsham in Pennsylvania, was named after Buckinghamshire where Penn and many of the first settlers were from.