Hannah (Callowhill) Penn (1664 - 1726)

Born 18 Apr 1664 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England

Ancestors

Wife of William Penn — married 1696 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England

Descendants

Died 20 Dec 1726 at age 62 in Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, England

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Biography

Father Thomas Callowhill

Mother Hannah (Anna) Hollister

Hannah Callowhill was born April 18, 1664 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England.^[1] She married William Penn in 1696 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England after the death of his first wife.^[2] She was the daughter of Thomas Callowhill, a prosperous Quaker button manufacturer, linen draper, and merchant, and his wife, Anna (Hannah) Hollister.^[3] Her father owned a successful button business and her mother took an active role in community life by helping poor people find jobs and providing money for those in need. Under her parents influence Hannah developed a solid grounding in business management, accounting, and organization skills. Hannah was the the only surviving child of the nine that were born. The rest had died by the time she was fifteen.

She is the mother of John Penn, Thomas Penn, Hannah Penn, Margaret Penn, Richard Penn Sr., Dennis Penn and Hannah Penn. She had two daughters named Hannah, with the first Hannah dying at age three. The younger Hannah died December 20, 1726 in Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, England^[4]

Hannah Callowhill Penn was the first female governor of Pennsylvania. She ran the colony of Pennsylvania for six years in the early 18th century while her husband and Pennsylvania’s founder William Penn was incapacitated from a stroke. With the help of agents, she continued managing the colony for eight more years from England after that.

Her portrait was hung at the state house in Pennsylvania in 2014. Governor Tom Corbet proclaimed, The wisdom of her leadership and strength of her character mark her as the first women to lead what has become the Keystone State in our nation. She is an example of women's leadership in Pennsylvania long before we were an independent nation.^[5]

"Hannah died at the home of her son John in London, following another stroke. She was buried at Jordans Friends Meeting in Buckinghamshire; her coffin reputedly reposes on that of her husband. By her dedication to her husband’s policies & her ability through all her trials to act, as Isaac Norris wrote, with a wonderful evenness, humility & freedom, she had succeeded in keeping the Province of Pennsylvania intact & the people contented. Pennsylvania was held by her branch of the Penn family as a proprietary colony until the Revolution."^[6]

Family

• William Penn

Children

1. John Penn
2. Thomas Penn
3. Hannah Penn died age 3.
4. Margaret Penn
5. Richard Penn Sr.
6. Dennis Penn
7. Hannah Penn, second of name

Hannah's connection to Ronald Reagan

"Hannah Callowhill Penn, William Penn's wife, effectively administered the Province of Pennsylvania for six years and, like her husband, devoted her life to the pursuit of peace and justice."

"To commemorate these lasting contributions of William Penn and Hannah Callowhill Penn to the founding of our Nation and the development of its principles, the Congress of the United States, by Senate Joint Resolution 80, approved October 19, 1984, authorized and requested the President to declare these persons honorary citizens of the United States of America."

"Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim William Penn and Hannah Callowhill Penn to be honorary citizens of the United States of America"

Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F757-FX7 : accessed 12 October 2015), Hannah Callowhill, 18 Apr 1664, Birth; citing p. 65, Bristol and Somerset, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London.
2. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJF3-L4C : accessed 12 October 2015), William Penn and Hannah Callowhill, 05 Jan 1695; citing Bristol, Gloucester & Somerset, England, reference ; FHL microfilm 815,485.
3. ↑ 17th Century American Women
4. ↑ The Family of William Penn: Founder of Pennsylvania, Ancestry and Descendants, by Howard Malcolm Jenkins.
5. ↑ http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/03/correcting_history_pennsylvani.html
6. ↑ Notable American Women edited by Edward T James, Janet Wilson James, Paul S Boyer, The Belknap Press of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1971

• https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamation-5284-honorary-united-states-citizenship-william-and-hannah-penn