Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1881-11-24
The Grave of william Penn.

Ine Graye or William Penn.
OF all places of pilgrimage in the "olG
4 home" dear to Americans none should
be held in more reverent esteem than
the little Westinghouse and graveyard
wherein lie the mortal remains of the
founder of Pennsylvania. At one time
the grave of the great colonizer and phi.
lanthropist babe fair to be forgotten
but there is no fear of it becoming 81
now, since the near approach of the two
hundredth anniversary of the founding
of Pennsylvania has put it in the minds
OF some to honor the occasion by the
trarsference of William PENIS ashes to
the land that bears his name, and to the
welfare of which he gave SO hiany years
OF his life. One can understand the SEN
timent which prompted the desire for
the removal. at the same time that one
feels thatany molestation of the remains
that have rested SO quietly in the little
graveyard of Jordans for over centu-
ry and half would be desecration.
All probably will see the matter in that
| light when they come to see how thor
oughly in keeping with his life and his
contemplation of life is his last earthly
home
A pleasant walk Of about two miles
| from Chalfont st. Giles brings us to Jor-
dams Westinghouse. 1t is difficult to
imagine the sequestered beauty of this
spot. IL stands in reality upon rather
high ground, but its Immediate site is in
wooded dell surrounded by meadows
Only one house, substantial farmstead,
is within sight Of JOrdans; and one may
~ m, hla far soma dicfapoo IN s,;fba,. b.,r.4
without passing more than an OCCASION
al habitation. One wonders what could
have brought place of worship in so
solitary spot, until one remembers two
facts-first, that at the time Jordans
was erected the rural districts of Eng
land were more populous than at pres
ent; and secondly, that the church rates
had not yet succeeded in driving the
majority OF Friends to the towns. More.
over, in those days, to the earnestly re-
| ligious, tramp of few miles to q
place of worship was as nothing COM
pared with greater security. from inter-
ruption by the Officers of peace and
justice" which was not of infrequent
occurrence.
Jordans Westinghouse itself is plain
brick builGing, with tiled roof and lat
tice windows. There is cottage at
tached containing three rooms-a
ground floor and two chambers. The
principal chamber was evidently used
in former days as gallery at times of
overcrowded meetings, as it eommIni-
Gates with the meeting-reom by means
of shutters, and there the women
Friends row hold their meetings for
Hs-c Dohs II l,t,k Inr fha
roof, is capacious stabling, capable of
accommodating from eighteen to twenty
horses. This part of the premises is
very essential, as when it happens that
meeting takes place here, which rarely
occurs more than once or twice year,
Friends come long distances out of the
neighboring counties to attend, and the
nearest railway station is nine miles
away.
In front of the Westinghouse, and di-
vided from it by low fence and wick
ct, is the dead garth" an oblong piece
of ground, bounded on two sides by the
lanes leading to ChalfOnt st. Giles and
Chalfont ST. Peter respectively. Meet
ing-house and bn&al-ground are embos-
Omed amid magnificent lines and beech
es, which, when the writer paid his last
visit to the spot, were in their richest
summer foliage, and vocal with the
songs of birds. On entering by the little
wicket into the graveyard the eye at
once lights upon two sets of graves, one
on the right hand, and the other on the
left. The group on the right consists of
eleven graves, arranged in three rows.
there being five in the first row, four in
IL in, ha .rH h.
group on the left, with one headstone,
consists of five graves, occupied by FIVE
children of William Penn.
The grave farthest from the wicket in
the first row of graves on the right is
that of Penn and his second wife. 1t
bears the inscription, "William Penn,
17IS, and Hannah Penn, 1926" The
grave next this is that of Gulielma Ma
ria Penn, his first wife, who died in
1859, while the next two are occupied by
the remains of her mother and step
father respectively. In the second row
are the graves of two other of Penn's
children, those of Letitia and Springett
Penn. In. the third row is that of
Thomas Ellwood, the simple-hearted
man who read to Milton when blindness
had befallen him; also that of his wife.
For periods of from one to two centu-
ries all these graves were without me-
MORALS, as are still many others in this
out-of-the-way battle-ground. A few
years age it might have been said with
entire truth, in the words of Words
worth:
sin our church-yard
Is neither epitaph nor monument,
Tombstone nor grave; only the turfwe tread,
And a few natural graves"
A few graves and tlower-grown hillocks
within narrow inclosure fronting a
plain cottage-like structure, over which
the trees swayed and the birds sang in
their season: that was all there was to
mark the last earthly resting-place of
the worlds noblest heroes, surrounded
by those he loved. The simple head
stones they now bear were erected some
seventeen or eighteen years ago by those
who have the custody of the little meet
ing-house and its attached burial
ground. The records Of the district
meeting contain the minute that in July.
1862, committee was appointed "to
place grave stones over such of the
graves at Jordans the identity OF which
had been ascertained." The committee
reported in June, 1868, that this had
been done.
The graves of the Penns, Penningtons,
and Ellwoods are titly placed close to-