What we know about the history of Whitpain Township was that it was named after land purchaser Richard Whitpain. Not much was said about him, so I decided to dive into this research and share with all of you what I found about the township's namesake.
Who was Richard Whitpain?
Richard Whitpain (1631-1689) was a Quaker butcher from Saint Leonards, Eastcheap, London and landowner of Pennsylvania. Richard purchased 4500 acres of land from Samuel Fox (1,500 acres) and Charles Marshall (2,500 acres) who originally purchased the land from William Penn. Richard also purchased land from John Marsh (1,000 acres), who previously purchased the land from James Claypoole, who originally purchased the land from William Penn.
Richard married Mary and had two sons: John (1663-1696) and Zachariah (1665-1693), lawyers who represented London merchants as well as their father. Zachariah married Sarah Songhurst against the wishes of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting in 1686.
On February 24, 1689, Zachariah arrived in Philadelphia from England. Two months later after his son's arrival, on April 27, 1689, Richard wrote in his will and instructed his widow Mary and his executrix to sell as much of his land as necessary to pay off his debts. His widow sold all but 500 acres in Chester County to four London merchants to satisfy his creditors: Mary Davie, John Eldridge, William Ingram, John Backhall, and John Wace.
Of the five creditors, John Backhall was the sole survivor who held onto the "Great Tract" of Richard Whitpain. He sold the land to William Aubrey, a merchant of London, in 1712, but he sold the land one year later to Rees Thomas of Merion township and Anthony Morris, malster and brewer of Philadelphia.
On May 28, 1718, John Whitpain (1691-1718), the "eldest son and heir-at-Law of the said deceased Richard Whitpain," shared the land with Rees Thomas and Anthony Morris, and agreed to name the tract of land "Whitpain Creek."
Whitpain's Great House
"Taking into consideration the great expenses of Richard Whitpain to the advancement of the providence, and the share he taketh here (in England) on all occasions for its honour, I can do no less than recommend to you for public service his great house in Philadelphia, which, being too big for a private man, would provide you a conveniency above what my cottage affords. It were reputable to take at least a moiety of it, which might serve for all the offices of State."
- William Penn, 1687
Richard Whitpain's home was located by the Delaware River on Front Street below Walnut Street. The home was 60 feet long by 56 feet deep, and was built by bricklayer John Redman in 1685.
Over time, the house decayed, and was about to collapse. It was even called ugly by Isaac Norris. The house ended up falling apart from the affects of the weather, and the material the home was built out of: shell lime.
Fun Fact #1: Whitpain's home was one of the homes used by William Penn and other local officials. In 1695, the Assembly met in the large room of Whitpain's home as a place for the legislative branch. They even rented the home.
Bibliography
Bean, Theodore Weber. History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Volume 2. (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1884): 1162.
Egle, William Henry. Pennsylvania Archives, Volume 10. (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch, 1896): 334-339.
Etting, Frank Marx. An Historical Account of the Old State House of Pennsylvania Now Known as the Hall of Independence. (Philadelphia: Porter and Coates, 1891): 6.
Holme, Thomas, John Harris, and Philip Lea. A mapp of ye improved part of Pensilvania in America, divided into countyes, townships, and lotts. [London?: s.n., ?, 1687] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/81692882/.
Myers, Albert Cook. Narratives of Early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey, And Delaware 1630-1707. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912): 290.
Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson. Philadelphia - A History of the City and its People. (Germany: Jazzybee Verlag, 2017).
Roach, Hannah Benner. Colonial Philadelphians. (The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, 1999): 34, 40.
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Watson, John F. Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the Olden Time
Being a Collection of Memoirs, Anecdotes, and Incidents of the City and Its Inhabitants, and of the Earliest Settlements of the Inland Part of Pennsylvania from the Days of the Founders, Volume 1. (Philadelphia: John F. Watson, 1844): 428.
Wokeck, Marianne S. The Papers of William Penn, Volume 3, 1685-1700. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986): 43-51, 240, 255-259, 415-417, 588.
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