William Penn was a most interesting young Englishman who studied philosophy and championed democracy and religious independence at a time when religious dissent was frowned upon. At the age of 22, he converted to the Quaker sect, and remained one his entire life, pursuing a stricter, perhaps even Puritanical, form thereof. It was an action that led to his imprisonment for several months, as well as his expulsion from Oxford College. In 1681, King Charles deeded a large parcel of land in his American holdings to William, in payment of a debt to William’s deceased father. That’s where part of our history begins – William Penn founded a colony where Quakers could immigrate and be free to practice their religion without fear of imprisonment or torture, and where other religious denominations were welcome as well. He called the carved out colony “Sylvaniaâ€, and Charles II later renamed it “Pennsylvania†in honor of Penn’s father. William Penn apparently was a little short on the administrative side of things, however, and his business manager, Philip Ford, embezzled large sums of money and even had Penn sign a document deeding Pennsylvania over to him. After Ford’s death, his widow threatened to make good on the deed, and poor William was thrown into debtor’s prison. After that was resolved, he tried to make Pennsylvania his permanent home, but Mrs. William put an end to that. Next, William sent his son, William Jr., off to the colony to oversee matters, but he was a ne’er-do-well who botched things up as well. It was William Penn’s final intention to sell Pennsylvania back to the Crown in order to avoid the political destruction of his most important work, but he died penniless in the middle of this negotiation. The colony managed to thrive under the subsequent ownership of the Penn family up until the American Revolution, and William Penn’s contributions have been honored ever since. There is one legacy that he did not pass on, however – he is most definitely not the man on the Quaker Oats box!
