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Country
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US
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Language of name of institution
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eng
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Contact information: postal address
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1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
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Contact information: phone number
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001 (215) 732-6200
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Contact information: email
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chutto@hsp.org (Director of Archives)
ssmith@hsp.org (Director of Research Services)
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Reference number
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0485A
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (official language of the state)
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Penn family papers
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Language of title
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eng
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Creator / accumulator
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Penn family
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Date(s)
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1592/1960
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Date note
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bulk: 1629/1834
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Language(s)
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eng
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Extent
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17 linear metres (51 boxes and 222 volumes)
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Scope and content
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The Penn family papers comprise personal and governmental records of William Penn, the proprietor of Pennsylvania, and his family. This collection includes mainly correspondence, legal records, governmental records, surveys, deeds, grants, receipts, and account books. It is an invaluable resource for studying the founding and development of the Pennsylvania colony, early American colonial history and the Penn family.
It is part of this collection a warrant from the Commonwealth signed by Thomas Penn, authorising the first burial ground in Philadelphia, located at Ninth and Spruce Streets (volume NV-007, p. 39). This burial ground later became the cemetery of Congregation Mikveh Israel. The document dates from September 25, 1740, and includes a diagram of the original burial plot.
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Archival history
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The Penn family papers were donated or purchased in small accessions over a long time. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, documents were bound together in large volumes based on the source of materials (i.e. donor) and the genre (e.g. "Correspondence"). The series and the titles in this finding aid reflect as closely as possible these groupings.
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(source: Historical Society of Pennsylvania online catalogue)
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Administrative / Biographical history
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The British colony of Pennsylvania was given to William Penn (1644-1718) in 1681 by Charles II of England to repay a debt owed to his father, Sir Admiral William Penn (1621-70). Under Penn's directive, Pennsylvania was settled by Quakers escaping religious torment in England and other European nations. Three generations of Penn descendants held proprietorship of the colony until the American Revolution when the family was stripped of all but its privately held shares of land.
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(source: Historical Society of Pennsylvania online catalogue)
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System of arrangement
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The collection is arranged into ten series: I. Correspondence, 1667-1855; II. William Penn, 1667-1944; III. Penn family members, 1654-1866; IV. Government records, 1687-1790; V. Land grants, surveys and deeds, 1639-1896; VI. Penn-Physick manuscripts, 1676-1811; VII. Penn v. Baltimore, 1606-1834; VIII. Other legal cases, 1672-1869; IX. Penn manuscripts, 1592-1910; and X. Auction catalogues and secondary materials, 1812-1960.
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Author of the description
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Carla Vieira, 2023