When young Will Penn road up to London to see the coronation parade with his father, a famous British admiral, he was already a rebel at heart. Will believed in democracy and religious freedom—dangerously unpopular ideas in England in those days. And eventually his beliefs would take him across 3,000 miles of ocean to found the colony of Pennsylvania.

At the age of 21, instead of joining the royal court as his father expected, Will Penn astonished his family and friends by becoming a Quaker. William Penn: Quaker Hero tells what a violent change this made in his life, for the peace-loving, simple-living Quakers were considered enemies of the state. Penn was thrown into the dreaded Tower prison, where he wrote fiery pamphlets defending his new faith, and smuggled out messages to the beautiful Quaker girl who later became his wife.

Hildegarde Dolson gives a lively, colorful account of how Penn and the men he called “brave adventures” built a haven of liberty in America. As governor, he carried out the peaceful Quaker spirit in his dealings with the Indians and became their beloved friend. In these pages William Penn comes to life not just as a statesman and champion of freedom, but as a very human kind of hero.

From the dust jacket