Historic Philadelphia

Life briefly began looking better. Penn
made arrangements that settled some of his
problems with finances and with the throne.
But in 1712, he suffered three strokes that left
him incapacitated. In what a Quaker visitor
described as “a state of innocency,” Penn
vegetated, sipping lemon flavored brandy and
letting Hannah function as de facto proprietor
of his colony, guiding her husband’s
uncontrolled hand to sign papers.
Queen Anne died in 1714, and none of her
seventeen children had survived her.
Parliament had voted in 1689 that no Roman
Catholic could ever again rule England, so
Anne’s closest Protestant relative, cousin
George of Hanover, a German state, became
George I. He was barely interested in the job
and never bothered to learn English.
William Penn died on July 30, 1718, never
having seen his creation, Pennsylvania, again.
THE CITY’ S EARLY YEARS
When Penn went to England in 1701, he
named Andrew Hamilton lieutenant governor.
The city council, which consisted of two
groups, eight aldermen and twelve councilmen,
was required to elect one of its members
to be mayor for a year. Edward Shippen became
the first elected mayor of Philadelphia, serving
in 1701 and again in 1702. His son, Edward Jr.,
would be mayor in 1744 and 1745. Shippen,
Sr., lived on the west side of Second Street
north of Spruce, and kept a herd of deer on his
lawn. He also had a country home at Broad and
South Streets.
Shippen was succeeded by Anthony Morris
in 1703. The council divided the city into ten
parts. Each had a constable, who was expected
to supply men to “serve upon the watch,” with
nine men and the constable to “attend the
watch each night.” A fourteen-by-sixteen-foot
watch house was built in the market place. A
tax of twelve pence per annum was placed on
all cows two years and older, toward the
upkeep of the two town bulls. An ordinance
was drawn up to regulate taverns and public
houses. Seven men and one woman were sent
for by council and “admonished to take care
how they drive their Carts within this City….”
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William Penn was a witness in 1700 at the
dedication of the Swedish Lutheran church
building that replaced an old fortified block
house just south of the city. Gloria Dei, still
in use, is now an Episcopal church and
popularly known as Old Swedes.
COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR.
HISTORIC PHILADELPHIA
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