Francis Rawle (1660 – 5 March 1727), originally from England, was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

and colonist in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where he served in administrative positions and was a member of the assembly.

Early life

Rawle was born in England in 1660, son of Francis Rawle, and came of an old Cornish family of some wealth and standing. He settled at one time near

St Juliot St Juliot is a civil parish in north-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish is entirely rural and the settlements within it are the hamlets of Beeny and Tresparrett. - plus a part of the adjacent village of Marshgate. The parish po ...

, and later in the neighbourhood of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. Both father and son were

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

and followers of

George Fox George Fox (July 1624 – 13 January 1691) was an English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. The son of a Leicestershire weaver, he lived in times of social upheaval and ...

, and were persecuted for their religious belief, being imprisoned together at Exeter in 1683. Because of this they obtained a grant from

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

, left Plymouth in the ship ''Desire'', and arrived in

on June 23, 1686.

Colonial America

Rawle first settled on 2,500 acres in

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...

, where he founded the society known as the Plymouth Friends. Subsequently, he moved to Philadelphia. In 1688, he became a justice of the peace and judge of the court of common pleas; under the Charter of 1691 for the City of Philadelphia, he was one of six aldermen of Philadelphia. In 1692, he became deputy registrar of wills, and in 1694 commissioner of property. He served in the assembly 1704–1708 and 1719–1726, and while a member sat upon most of the important committees of the house, such as that on currency in 1725. On May 6, 1724 he was appointed to the

Pennsylvania Provincial Council The Pennsylvania Provincial Council helped govern the Province of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1776. The provincial council was based on the English parliamentary system and namely the Upper House or House of Lords. From the Frame of Government of Penn ...

Sir William Keith, 4th Baronet Sir William Keith, 4th Baronet (1669 – 18 November 1749) was a Scottish colonial administrator who served as lieutenant-governor of the British colonies of Pennsylvania and Delaware, from 1717 to 1726. Early life Keith was born in Boddam C ...

. In 1721, he published ''Some Remedies proposed for restoring the Sunk Credit of the Province of Pennsylvania, with some Remarks on its Trade''. In 1725, he published the "pro-money" ''Ways and Means for the Inhabitants of Delaware to grow Rich'', which was the year after the

South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

burst.

Personal life

In 1689, Rawle married Martha Turner, the daughter and heiress of Penn's friend Robert Turner, members of one of the most prominent families in the colony. Together they were the parents of ten children from whom sprang a leading family in the United States. Their ten children were Robert, Francis, William (1694–1741), Joseph, John, Benjamin, Mary, Rebecca, and Elizabeth, and Jane Rawle. Rawle died in Philadelphia on March 5, 1727.

Descendants

His grandson, through his son William, Francis Rawle (1729–1761) purchased land and a mansion in Fairmount Park called Laurel Hill, where he resided with his wife

Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

whom he married in 1756. Their son, Rawle's great-grandson, was

William Rawle William Rawle (April 28, 1759 – April 12, 1836) was an American lawyer in Philadelphia, who in 1791 was appointed as United States district attorney in Pennsylvania. He was a founder and first president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvani ...

(1759–1836), who became one of the most prominent Rawles and served as

U.S. District Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, their daughter, Margaret Rawle, who married Isaac Wharton of the prominent

Wharton family Wharton may refer to: Academic institutions * Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania * Wharton County Junior College * Paul R. Wharton High School * Wharton Center for Performing Arts, at Michigan State University Places * Wharton, Che ...

, and Anna Rawle, who married John Clifford. After Francis' death in 1761, his widow remarried to Samuel Shoemaker, who later served as

Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney. History The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...

from 1769 to 1771.

Published works

* ''Some Remedies proposed for restoring the Sunk Credit of the Province of Pennsylvania, with some Remarks on its Trade'', 1721. * ''Ways and means for the inhabitants on the Delaware to become rich'', published by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, 1725.

References