William Penn’s birthday

ISSUE 87– STEVE KOVACS FUN WITH MAPS

DAILY FEATURE: By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (October 14, 2020) – In Issue 87 of Steve Kovacs Fun with Maps we celebrate the birth of a notable “Pennsylvanian”

William Penn was born in 1644 on this day in England, where he died 73 years later.

In between, he had a busy and productive life. 

Notably, he founded the Province of Pennsylvania in 1681; however, this future state is named after Penn’s father… Also, under Penn’s direction the city Philadelphia was planned and developed.

Penn was a strong lifelong advocate of democracy and religious freedom.  Both were in short supply during his days.  The latter was personal for him, as he was a Quaker and was arrested for that in England when he was a young lad.  Only his family’s social rank, his father being an Admiral, allowed him to be released from jail.   Eventually the Admiral kicked him out of the house and thus young Penn became homeless, forcing him to live with a succession of Quaker families.  Eventually he was allowed to migrate Quakers to the New World by King Charles II, and the rest is history.

Here is Mitchell’s map of Pennsylvania from 1870.     

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Click here to visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Antique Maps & Fun Facts here on Loveland Beacon.