John Penn

Autograph document signed, “John Penn,” one page, 2.5" x 7.25", dated August 21, 1784. A manuscript receipt acknowledging the payment of twenty pounds sterling from James Steel. Boldly signed “John Penn” at right. The verso bears notations of the transaction, consistent with estate and financial settlements of the Penn family.

John Penn (1729–1795), grandson of Pennsylvania’s founder William Penn, was the last royal governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1763–1771 and again from 1773 until the American Revolution. Unlike his cousin, also named John Penn, who signed the Declaration of Independence, this John Penn remained a staunch Loyalist and saw his proprietary power stripped with the creation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, he continued to manage Penn family affairs, as this 1784 receipt illustrates.

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