William Penn sought religious freedom for his followers. He was also a slave owner

Most of us view William Penn as a man of deep religious tolerance who quested after freedom for his followers. Yet there’s another facet difficult to rationalize at Penn’s reconstructed estate in Falls. He owned slaves.

That revelation hit home on my tour of Pennsbury Manor with museum director Douglas Miller. In a side corridor of the mansion’s detached bake house, there’s a baby cradle next to an unmade bed. It was as if parents had scooped up the infant and fled. That’s not the story however. “Sue” and “Sam” and “Little Sue” never left. They were among enslaved people who labored on the 8,400-acre estate and lived out their lives as Penn’s property.

Slavery is discussed openly at state-run Pennsbury Manor, as it has been for decades. How Sue and Sam got there is unknown. The first slave ship to dock in Philadelphia was the Isabella, which offloaded 150 captives for sale two years after Penn’s arrival. By then, slavery flourished in all 13 colonies. In Philadelphia, wealthy white Quakers purchased slaves to staff city mansions and businesses, or work farms and estates in surrounding counties.

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Sue and Sam toiled in the busy Manor laundry and kitchen including cooking meals plus other duties. The couple bore several children, Little Sue possibly the youngest. All the while, a growing chorus of Quakers opposed slavery. Penn was quite aware of it. Despite a petition by Quaker abolitionists in Philly in 1688, prosperous land owners including Penn wouldn’t abandon the practice. Small groups of slaves viewed as commodities kept arriving on merchant ships to feed demand. Most came from the Caribbean.

Sam passed away at the Manor around 1702. Sixteen years later, Penn died in London. Without sufficient income due to court battles over her husband’s will, Hannah Penn was desperate. “She was looking to cut corners wherever she could and contacted James Logan (Penn’s administrator in Philadelphia) about selling the slaves,” explained Mary Ellyn Kunz, Pennsbury Manor’s researcher and former educator. “Logan said Penn specified in his will Sue and her children were to be set free after Penn’s death. They also were to be awarded 100 acres. Years later in London he changed his will, leaving out any mention of freeing enslaved people. We do not know if any were sold at that time or not. But Little Sue remained enslaved until her death at age 108.”

How many slaves worked the Manor has not been determined. Historical records refer to “Sam, Sue, Yaff, Jack, Peter” and make notations such as “fisherman sold” and “had children.” But maddeningly, there’s no elaboration. Research continues.

One of the most poignant tales involves a slave who traveled with the Penns between Bucks and Philadelphia. While in the city, “Jack” met and married enslaved “Parthenia.” In August 1701, a letter arrived at the Manor with news Jack’s wife was about to be sold to a new owner in Barbados. Jack asked Hannah for permission to say goodbye to her. Hannah was reluctant due to his workload, but she relented after getting advice from a friend in Philadelphia. Jack and Parthenia reunited briefly when she was brought to Pennsbury Manor to help in the laundry.

“That was their goodbye,” said Mary Ellyn. “The heartbreak of the story is that the institution of slavery breaks families apart. The trauma of losing husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and children — some very young — with no recourse is absolutely devastating. This is what these people lived with.”

Staff at Pennsbury Manor welcome revelations from research. As an educator, Mary Ellyn views history as an evolving subject that pieces together a broader story over time. “History taught in schools should be as process of new findings and new perspectives that challenge and change what we understand about the past.”

As to William Penn, there’s no doubt he accomplished great things like establishing religious freedom and representative government in Pennsylvania. But he also made poor choices. Mary Ellyn Kunz puts that in perspective. “Today we can choose to honor all the men and women who lived and worked at Pennsbury Manor, learning their stories and recognizing their presence, experiences and contributions to the founding of our state and our nation.”

Free admission at Pennsbury Manor

The subject of slavery will share attention during Pennsbury Manor's annual free admission festivities on Saturday, Sept. 24. It will include a special display of African-American quilts. They feature the life of Harriet Tubman, American abolitionist and social activist whose statue is a prominent addition to nearby Bristol Borough’s waterfront. Tubman guided dozens of enslaved people to freedom on 13 missions into the South before the Civil War.

“Dreams of Freedom: The Threads That Hold Us Together” was organized by the N.J.-based Sankofa Artisans Guild.

Sources include Pennsbury Manor’s website at www.pennsburymanor.org; “William Penn kept enslaved people” found at WHYY-TV’s www.billypenn.com website; and “Quakers and Slavery in America” by Thomas E. Drake published in 1950 by Yale University Press. The manor can be reached by calling 215-946-0400.

Carl LaVO can be reached at carllavo0@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Free admission day at Pennsbury Manor includes African-American quilt exhibit