Walking Purchase collection, 1700-1962, bulk 1727-1762

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Summary

Abstract:
A collection of correspondence and documents related to the Walking Purchase and the 1756-1758 Councils of Easton retained by the office of Pennsylvania's governor William Denny.
Extent:
4.92 Linear Feet (2 boxes and 1 oversize box)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Walking Purchase collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of correspondence, documents, and maps related to the Walking Purchase and the Councils of Easton retained by the office of Pennsylvania's governor William Denny (in office from August 1756 to October 1759). The bulk of the collection consists of the records of the Council of Easton (August 1757) and the inquiry into the legality of the Walking Purchase authorized by Denny. It contains affidavits, sworn testimony, exhibits, memorandum, correspondence, and notes; this material includes original documents dating back to the time of the fraudulent land deal as well as some military correspondence. The collection also includes several documents and letters concerning Native American troubles on the frontier in the 1740s, along with their protests to the Proprietors over rum being sold to their people. Important persons in the collection include, among others, William Allen, Benjamin Chew, George Croghan, William Denny, Benjamin Franklin, James Hamilton, William Markham, Israel Pemberton, Thomas Penn, Richard Peters, Nicholas Scull, Teedyuscung (Delaware Chief), George Thomas, and Conrad Weiser. Almost all of the material in the collection is docketed and bears the initials or signatures of W. H. Rolph, followed by hyphenated numbers. The collection also contains oversize material and a small group of 20th century newspaper clippings about the Walking Purchase and the material in this collection.

Biographical / historical:

The Walking Purchase was an alleged agreement between the Penn family, the original proprietors of the Province of Pennsylvania in the colonial era, and the Lenape Native Americans (also known as the Delaware Indians). In 1737, Thomas and John Penn, Proprietors, presented the Delaware Indians with what they said was the 1686 treaty that entitled them to a tract extending "as far as a man can goe a day and a half." They then hired several men who ran, not walked, for a day and a half along a set course in the Lehigh Valley; this yielded a territory the size of Rhode Island (nearly 1,100 square miles or 1.2 million acres). The Delaware Indians tried to challenge the deal, only to be forced off their ancestral land in 1742. Their land was quickly sold off to settlers who poured into Pennsylvania, netting the Penn family a considerable fortune. Despite several inquiries at the Councils of Easton (1756-1758) as to the legality of the original Walking Purchase treaty it was declared authentic and on June 23, 1762, Chief Teedyuscung signed a statement acknowledging the legality of the Walking Purchase.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Donald A. Heald Rare Books and Fine Art by the Library Collectors' Council, January 18, 2020.
Processing information:

The collection was processed by Gayle Richardson in 2021. The decision was made to retain the original spelling of place names, as written on the documents, in the titles on the folders and in the finding aid. Also, the documents and letters most often use the term "Indian" to refer to Native Americans. The original terms have been preserved in the titles of the material listed within the collection. The Native American tribes mentioned in the documents include Delaware, Shawnee, Lenape, Mingo, and Six Nations. The tribe names are preserved in item titles below as they appear in the documents; as of 2021, the peoples described refer to themselves as Delaware Tribe of Indians; Shawnee Tribe; Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe of Indians, Stockbridge-Munsee Community; Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma; and The Iroquois Confederacy.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Walking Purchase collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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