Site of the House of Defence, Meeting Place of the First Pennsylvania Assembly, 1682

68 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION This afternoon we are to visit the old court house, dated 1724. Here we shall see how a fine old heirloom has been saved and restored to its original beauty by skill and good taste. May I entreat any of you who have the care of old meeting houses, that you never allow old benches and interior unpainted woodwork to be varnished. So much of this has been done these past thirty years, and it has spoiled the lovely patina or delicate gray which one hundred and fifty years have given the wood. Lastly we come to the meeting house whose members are our hosts today. It is a pleasure to find a meeting house of the date of 1829 that holds its own so well with the old traditions in its simplicity , charm, and fine setting. Bibliography Ashmead, Henry Graham. History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Phila. 1884. Minutes of Chester Monthly Meeting of Friends, 1681-1721. (Transcript of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.) Smith, George. History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Phila. 1862. SITE OF THE HOUSE OF DEFENCE, MEETING PLACE OF THE FIRST PENNSYLVANIA ASSEMBLY, 1682 By Harry E. Sprogell * William Penn's first concern for his infant province, Pennsylvania , was to provide laws and means of government embodying all of the ideals which had been such a powerful influence in the founding of the colony. Rude and untrained as were many of the settlers of 1682, Penn believed that they were fitted to govern his province for him ; his faith in democracy was an advance notice of the spirit which was to make America the leader in popular government . His willingness to put his principles into action went far to make possible the realization of democratic ideals. Accordingly, on November 8th, 1682, not ten days after his land1 A paper read at Chester, Pennsylvania, 5 mo. 21, 1932, at the summer meeting of Friends' Historical Association in observance of the 250th anniversary of the first arrival of William Penn in America, 1682-1932. SITE OF THE HOUSE OF DEFENCE69 ing, Penn issued writs to the sheriffs of the six counties into which his province had been divided : Bucks, Chester, Philadelphia, New Castle, St. Jones (later re-named Kent), and Whorekill (now Sussex). His instructions were to assemble "all freeholders," and to elect, from each county, seven persons, " of most note for wisdom, sobriety and integrity," to serve as deputies in " a General Assembly to be held at Upland, Pennsylvania, December 6 next," there to take up the important business of establishing the government of the Province of Pennsylvania. The Assembly convened on December 4th, 1682, the first meeting of the Pennsylvania legislature. Of its personnel, we know very little indeed, for not more than twenty of the men who officially attended are known to historians ; but certainly the roll should be preserved to honor the men who first represented the people of Pennsylvania in legislative session. Historians have never settled finally upon the house in which this first Pennsylvania Assembly met. F'or years tradition held that the old Friends' Meeting House on the west side of Front Street, now Edgmont Avenue, housed the meeting, but John Hill Martin in his history, Chester and its Vicinity, proved conclusively that this building could not have been standing in 1682. The choice must now be made between the old House of Defence, erected in 1677 to serve as a court-house, and the private residence of James Sandelands. Dr. Martin, in his work mentioned before, and Dr. Smith, in his History of Delaware County, agree that the House of Defence was the probable place of meeting ; but Henry G. Ashmead, basing his opinion chiefly on the authority of Deborah Logan, and on the small size of the House of Defence, inclines to accept Sandelands' house as the legislative hall. Although it is impossible to examine the arguments in this brief paper, it seems probable that most of the evidence weighs in favor of theHouse of Defence. This house, the only public building in Upland at the time of Penn's landing, was erected in 1677 at the order of the Court. The justices had...