“For my country I eyed the Lord in the obtaining of it, and more was I drawn inward to look to Him and to owe it to His hand and power, than in any other way. I have so obtained it, and desire that I may not be unworthy of His love, but do that which may answer His kind providence, and serve His truth and people; that an example may be set up to the nations; there may be room there, though not here, for such an holy experiment.”
William Penn to James Harrison, August 1681
Chapter 1: Purchasing Land from William Penn
It was the year 1681 when King Charles II granted William Penn a charter for a huge plot of land that is known today as Pennsylvania. The word about Penn's grant spread around Europe ever since, giving new settlers an opportunity to start a new life in a New World.
Robert Turner and the Welsh Tract
Robert Turner was born in Cambridge, England in 1635. When he was 22 years old, Turner converted to Quakerism while on a business trip in Ireland. He was so dedicated in Quakerism he published a pamphlet called Truth's Defense. In it, he claimed Moses was a Quaker. He public opinion his religious stance caused his arrest and his shop stoned and robbed. In 1672, he became a free man. While in Ireland, he met William Penn where he told him about his interest in colonization.
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Turner came to the Pennsylvania colony on October 14, 1683 with his young daughter Martha and his 17 servants. When he arrived in Philadelphia, he came into possession of 5,000 acres. Turner built the city's first all-brick house at the southwest corner of Mulberry (now Arch) and 1st (now Front) Streets. With his 5,000 acres, he sold several thousands of it to his old friends from Ireland that would later become known as Gwynedd. As a result, Turner became one of Philadelphia's wealthiest men.
Between 1682-1700, most of the new settlers who came to the Pennsylvania colony were Welsh Quakers. During the time people began to settle in the Pennsylvania colony, there were townships already established: Lower and Upper Merion, Haverford, Radnor, Tredyffryn, East Westland, West Whiteland, Willistown, East Goshen, West Goshen, East Town, and a part of West Town.
One day, two Welsh farmers named William John and Thomas Evans represented a company of friends and neighbors who wished to emigrate to the New World at the end of 1697. On April 18, 1698 set sail on the Robert and Elizabeth from Liverpool. Among the company of friends and neighbors were the following...
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Robert John
Cadwalader Evans
Robert Evans
John Hugh
Thomas Evans
William John
Owen Evans
John Humphrey
Hugh & Evan Griffith
Hugh David
Evan Hugh
The Whitpain Plantation
Originally, Whitpain Township was owned and divided into three lots by Samuel Fox (1,500 acres), Charles Marshall (2,000), and James Claypole (1,000 acres). These three men were not able to pay their fees, resulting in their lots being seized. Along came a London butcher named Richard Whitpain who came into possession of three lots, totaling 4,500 acres.
The thing was... he was still in London.
He sent his son Zachariah (who was a teenager at the time) with William Penn to the Pennsylvania colony to settle on the 4,500 acres tract with his bride Sarah whom he met on the ship Welcome. It was that moment, on behalf of his father Richard, Zachariah purchased the 4,500 acres that later became known as Whitpain Township
When Zachariah arrived in his father's tract in the summer of 1685, he began construction on his plantation near the Wissahickon Creek near Broad Axe. In 1689, Richard Whitpain wrote his will, stating his wife Mary should sell the entire 4,500 acres to pay off his debts. His wife followed his instructions, and sold the land to four creditors: Mary Davice, John Eldridge, William Ingram, John Blackball, and John Vace. John Blackhall was the only surviving creditor and sold the entire tract to William Aubrey of London.
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Zachariah died in 1693, leaving behind his wife Sarah and three children: Zachariah, Mary and John. William Aubrey sold the tract to Anthony Morris of Philadelphia and Rees Thomas of Merion in 1713. John Whitpain, son of Zachariah and Sarah Whitpain, was dissatisfied with the sale made by Aubrey. As a result in 1718, he shared the tract with Morris and Thomas.
Ambler's Earliest Beginnings
There were four brothers of the Harmer family who came with William Penn who settled in different parts of the New World. But it was William Harmer who purchased 480 acres from Penn in 1682 and began to settle on the land that would later become Ambler. Harmer and Penn shared commonalities for their desire for religious freedom and independence of thought.
