Bushy Run celebrates Pa.’s ‘Charter Day’

England’s King Charles II in March 1681 granted a charter to William Penn, marking the state’s official birth.

By RENATTA SIGNORINI
TribLive

Henry Bowden rattled off minute details of William Penn’s life with ease.

But when it came time for him to replicate the signature of the founder of Pennsylvania, he took his time. He scrawled “Wm Penn” with a flourish similar to Penn’s actual autograph, though using a modern-day ballpoint pen.

The charter Penn signed in 1681 gave him rights to the forested land that became Pennsylvania (derived from “Penn’s Woods”). The facsimile Bowden signed during Sunday’s “Charter Day” event at Bushy Run Battlefield was placed in the hands of a visitor, Patricia Broome of White Oak.

“You are so in character, I love it,” Broome said to Bowden, who was portraying Penn at the event.

As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary this year, Pennsylvania on Sunday marked a much older birthday — 345 years old. There was birthday cake, historic artifacts and other reenactors at the Penn Township battlefield to mark Charter Day — the occasion that solidified Pennsylvania’s future.

England’s King Charles II in March 1681 granted a charter to Penn, marking the colony’s birth. The four-page charter, written on parchment using iron gall ink, is preserved at the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg and is available for viewing on the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission website. The original document was on display in Harrisburg on Sunday.

The copies handed out to visitors at Bushy Run gave an outline of the borders of the land that was granted to Penn using rivers and latitude and longitude lines. It was a first glimpse into the Pennsylvania we know today, said Bob DeJesus, event coordinator.

“It’s a big thing for our state,” said Bonnie Ramus, president of the Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society.

It was also a big deal for the members of the Native American Seneca tribe who lived on the land at the time, said Leon Sam Briggs, a Seneca artist who brought his artifacts to the event. They saw land being cleared and native wildlife, like deer, being shipped to England, he said.

Conflict eventually led to the August 1763 battle during Pontiac’s War that Bushy Run commemorates, leading to a British victory. After America declared independence in 1776, Pennsylvania became the second state in 1787, more than 100 years after Penn secured the charter.

Bowden of Turtle Creek has researched Penn’s life and played the part Sunday, his long white hair tucked under a black hat.

“I like portraying anyone,” he said, adding his roles have ranged from frontiersman to a Christmas elf. “It gives me a chance to really get a feel of what they were like and the time that they lived.”