Daily stories of Pennsylvania : $b prepared for publication in the leading daily newspapers of the state...Godcharles, Frederic Antes
History
Daily stories of Pennsylvania : $b prepared for publication in the leading daily newspapers of the state...
Godcharles, Frederic Antes
Pennsylvania -- Biography; Pennsylvania -- History
As Penn drew near Reading he was questioned by a person concerning a
manor of which he was the owner. This was Penn’s Mount, at that time on
the eastern limits of the town. Penn thought Reading was finely
situated. He dined on catfish with Abraham Whitman, the only tavern
keeper who had not voted against the confirmation of the proprietary
estate. He visited a ferry, still belonging to him, and from there went
to a farm “belonging to the proprietors,” which he determined to divide
and sell in smaller parcels.
Penn paid a visit to Angelica, the beautiful farm belonging to General
Thomas Mifflin, situated a few miles from Reading. A neighbor of General
Mifflin’s, who attracted Penn’s attention, was “one of the marrying
Dunkers, who live in their own houses like other countrymen, but wear
their beards long.”
Penn tarried here until the 9th, then went to Womelsdorf, passing on the
way one place that was “remarkable for its European appearance.” He then
rode through Lebanon, “a handsome town containing some hundred
inhabitants.” The horses were “baited” at Millerstown.
About sunset Penn caught his first glimpse of the Susquehanna “flowing
between its wooded and cultivated banks close to the town” of
Harrisburg.
Penn adds: “Mr. Harris, the owner and founder of the town, informed me
that three years ago there was but one house built and seemed to possess
pride and pleasure in his success.
“Though the courts are held here generally, Lebanon is infinitely
larger. The situation of this place is one of the finest I ever saw. One
good point of view is the tavern, almost close to the river. It is
called the Compass, and is one of the first public houses in
Pennsylvania. The room I had is twenty-two feet square and high in
proportion.”
After breakfast on the morning of April 11 Penn and John Harris walked
to the ferry and had a thrilling experience while ferrying across the
river, and on account of the high water and swift current they were
carried far out of their course.
About two miles west of the river they passed the home of Robert
Whitehill, the Assemblyman, and about 3 o’clock in the afternoon they
reached the town of Carlisle.
The first buildings seen were three or four separate wings, intended for
magazines originally, but granted by Congress to the trustees of
Dickinson College for twenty years. The Reverend Charles Nisbet, D. D.,
was then at the head of the institution.
In the neighborhood of Carlisle Penn had lands in charge of General John
Armstrong. Colonel Robert Magaw was also his companion during his stay
in Carlisle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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