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The Purchase of Gwynedd Township
Robert Turner was a Quaker and merchant who had emigrated
to Philadelphia from Dublin in 1683. He built the first
brick house in Philadelphia, at the corner of First and
Mulberry streets (now known as Front and Arch Streets).* He had been granted 5000 acres of land
by William Penn in 1681, a tract located about 25 miles north of
the city. In 1685 he enlarged this tract with the purchase
of 2500 acres from John Gee, and 1250 acres from Joseph Fuller.
In 1695 he purchased an adjoining 1250 acres from Jacob Fuller,
making his total 10,000 acres. Of this, Penn confirmed to him
7,820 acres.
On March 10, 1698 William John and
Thomas Evan purchased the 7,820 acres from Robert Turner.
The deciding factors of their selection are
presumed to have been fertility of the land, price and
availability. The price was "Sixty-one pounds
Eight pence three farthings Silver money". (The land was
resurveyed in 1702 and found to actually be 11,449 acres. The
various landholders then paid for 2,846 additional acres
directly to William Penn)
On the deed the area is called "the Township of Gwinned
in the County of Philadelphia". The land was heavily timbered with
oak, hickory and chestnut trees, but had no large bodies of
water. The Leni Lenape Indians at times dwelt in the area, and
the Maxatawney Trail ran somewhat through the center of the tract. Except for
this, the land was unoccupied and
undisturbed wilderness.
(The Maxatawney Trail would be widened by the Welsh,
then widened again and again in the next 300 years. It is known
today as Sumneytown Pike)
On April 3, 1698 the Gwynedd Company departed Wales, traveling
north about 70 miles till they arrived in Liverpool, England two
days later. On April 17 they boarded the ship Robert and Elizabeth
which set sail for Ireland the next day. On May 1, 1698 the ship
departed for America. The Company arrived in Philadelphia on July 17th, eleven weeks after
leaving Liverpool and fifteen after starting from their homes in
Wales.
Forty-five passengers died of dysentery
during the voyage, including William John's sister, Margaret. Gwynedd
was thus settled in 1699 by less than 70 persons.
* Some accounts have the first brick house in
Philadelphia at 5th Street and Apple Tree Alley, built by the
owner and his wife. Today the U.S. Mint building covers the
entire city block from 4th Street to 5th Street and from Arch
Street to Race Street. Apple Tree Alley would be under the
building. At any rate, it was a short distance from 5th and
Apple Tree to First and Mulberry, and
neither building now exists.
The
Benjamen Eastburn 1776 map of Philadelphia shows a Quaker
meetinghouse at Front and Mulberry. Could this be the same
location as Robert Turner's house, 90 years later?
Another account appears in "Welsh Settlement of Pennsylvania",
page 187. It states that Dr. Thomas Wynne, who arrived in 1682
aboard the ship "Welcome," built the first brick dwelling "on
the west side of Front Street above Chestnut". Chestnut Street
was called Wynne Street at the time.
However, we have it from the pen of Robert Turner himself that
his was the first brick house, so we can put the confusion to
rest. Read his letter
here.
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