Happy Birthday, William Penn.
Morton: William Penn preached religious tolerance
Published: Monday, Oct. 14, 2013 5:30 a.m. CDT
On this day (Oct. 14) in 1644, Quaker founder of Pennsylvania William Penn was born in London into the politically well-connected family of Admiral Sir William Penn and Margaret Jasper.
Tragically, at age 3, Penn came down with smallpox, which prompted his parents to move out of smoke-ridden London to the Essex countryside. There, Penn was educated at the renowned Chigwell grammar school, where he was subjected to “strict, humorless and somber” teachers, who taught the impressionable young Penn the Puritan traits of hard work and serious demeanor.
Although Penn later opposed Anglicanism on religious grounds, he had absorbed at Chigwell School many of the Anglican/Puritan concepts and ideals, which partly explains why as an adult he was known for his seriousness and lack of humor. Later, while living on his father’s Irish estate, the studious Penn was educated by private tutors who taught him the traditional, classical curriculum needed to get into one of the two English universities.
Also during his four years in Ireland, Penn first became acquainted with the nonconformist Quaker sect, which had been founded by George Fox. In 1660, the 16-year-old Penn entered Christ Church College, Oxford, where he quickly ran afoul of the strict Anglican formalism of the university. In 1662, he was fined and expelled for refusing to attend chapel.
http://www.nwherald.com/2013/10/10/morton-william-penn-preached-religious-tolerance/cy23dqc/
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