The Storm Gathering: The Penn Family and the American Revolution

by Lorett Treese

Based on Penn Family papers, this book tells the story of William Penn's heirs and their precarious ownership of Pennsylvania in the eighteenth century. Focusing on Thomas and John Penn, the last two proprietors, the author recounts the various struggles they faced with the Paxton Boys and the Indians on the frontier, Benjamin Franklin's drive for the establishment of a royal colony in the legislature, and finally the growing rift between the colonists and Britain, which would lead to the Revolution and the divestment of Penn family power in Pennsylvania.

Genres: American Revolution

245 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1992

Reviews

[Andrea Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Its a well done alive story of the state from birth to ratifying the Federal Constitution. It follows the Penn family, their work, squabbles, and hardships in governing a land with villains who murder Indians, squatters who argue over land boundaries, a forbidden love and marriage of one of their young men, and after struggling to be good govenors and proprietors and signing the Loyalty Oath still lost their unsold lands to the state. Wonderfully written and brings the family and history of the state to life. Oh, it does a super job of explaining all the laws and enactment of the King of England and why the colonials rebelled, I especially loved the added details of the Boston Tea Party and other revolutionary events.

[William Shep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and written account regarding the challenges facing the Penn Family as administrators of Colonial Pennsylvania in the years leading up to the American Revolution. The author is to be commended for not just focusing on the factional conflicts in Philadelphia but also for including the enduring problems on Pennsylvania's frontier. These problems include the more familiar squabbles with Native peoples but also with greedy neighbors such as Virginia and Connecticut who actively strove to seize Pennsylvania territory by both guile and force.