William Penn. The name has almost universal recognition. More than 300 years after the Tree event, people clamor to be associated with the man who symbolizes fairness, truth and wisdom. A meandering Google search turned up a variety of Penn brandings. There are, of course, schools and streets bearing his...

On September 21, 2016, a great, great grandchild of the Great Elm Tree at Shackamaxon became a resident of Camden, NJ. The city, often known for violence rather than peace, has links to the Treaty of Friendship made between William Penn and the Original People in 1682. The tree, presented...

A gouache is an opaque watercolor consisting of pigment, water and a binding agent. The little gouache, circa 1800, shows Philadelphia from what was once a small fishing village. Today, it is known as Kensington. The painting, which measures 4 ½” X 4 ½”, is inscribed in German in the...

The Treaty Tree at Shackamaxon fell in a great storm in 1810. Members of the Penn Society, fearing that the story of the Treaty of Friendship between William Penn and the original stewards of the land might be forgotten, placed an obelisk on the site of the Great Elm as...

The recently released book, “The Haverford College Arboretum (Images of America)”  by Martha J. Van Artsdalen,  contains a wonderful chapter on the Treaty Elm. A grandchild of the original tree was donated by Quaker Bartholomew Wistar to the college as part of the original plantings in 1840. You’ll read about...