The Old Washington Inn

84 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION THE OLD WASHINGTON INN By Evangeline Lukens Harvey 1 I was asked to give a short account of the Washington House, just across the street, but I hesitate to make any statements in the presence of so many historians. Most of the accounts which I have read of this famous old house seemed to me to be a mere recital of names and dates which at this time would be both uninteresting and out of place, so I have chosen rather to tell the history by giving you some of the many interesting incidents connected with this famous old hostelry. The claim that it is the oldest in the thirteen colonies may not be historically correct, yet certain it is that it ranks as one of the most ancient public houses in the United States. The Pennsylvania Arms, as it was originally called, built in 1747, has never in its years of history been put to other uses than that of inn or tavern, for of course the word " hotel," as applied to buildings of this kind, is comparatively modern. The plot of ground upon which the Pennsylvania Arms was erected was originally part of the land granted by the Swedish Crown to George Keen in 1686, and was patented by Penn's Commissioners to James Sandelands, the son-in-law of Keen. Without mentioning the long list of owners, let me tell a few interesting facts. During the French war, in 1747, a part of the companies recruited in New Castle and Chester Counties were quartered for a short time at the Pennsylvania Arms. November 7, 1764, Benjamin Franklin came to Chester to embark for England, whither he went as commissioner of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, to present to George III the grievances of these colonies. On that occasion Franklin was accompanied from Philadelphia by a cavalcade of more than 300 men of affairs from that city. The Pennsylvania Arms was crowded with the friends of " Poor Richard " and until the bustling scenes of the Revolution came to obliterate its impress, the day when Franklin boarded the London packet at Chester was a time to be remembered . 1 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. THE OLD WASHINGTON INN85 Another incident is of special interest to the bench and the bar of Philadelphia. August 15, 1768, the Supreme Provincial Court was in session in this very building. Chief Justice William Allen (for whom Allentown was named) and his associates, were presiding at the trial of two men who were indicted for murder. It chanced that day that a tall lad of seventeen, attired in a farmer's smock, had brought a load of hay from Edgmont Township to deliver to the Pennsylvania Arms. When the stripling had unloaded the wagon, he strolled across the street, timidly glanced in a window and upon inquiry found that he might enter the court room. He lingered until the case was ended, arriving home late that night. At the breakfast table he amused the family by announcing that he was going to become a lawyer. This was William Lewis, a leader of the Philadelphia Bar. April 1, 1772, the tavern was sold to William Kerlin, who was an ardent Whig, and his house during all the war, was a designated post for the reception and dispatching of intelligence for the patriots . Late in the evening of July 3, 1776, a mud-be-spattered horse and rider from Wilmington arrived at the Pennsylvania Arms. This was (of course) Caesar Rodney who stopped long enough to refresh himself before resuming his ride to Philadelphia. In August 1777, when the American Army was encamped in and around Chester, General Washington established himself here. Later, when the army straggled back into Chester after the defeat at Brandywine, Washington again made his headquarters at the Pennsylvania Arms, where at midnight, in the east room on the second floor, he wrote the only report of the battle that he ever made to Congress. In November of...