Penn's Treaty with the Indians 1771 [painting date]
Penna. Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.
Commissioned by Penn's son , executed by 
Benjamin West. Image obtained From
Tigertrail Virtual Museum

'Pennsylvania, lying in the northern part of America, is a country of no small compass. It lies in a healthy climate; it is not merely inhabitable, but very much inhabited, not only by the ancient dwellers in the land, but also by thousands who have emigrated thither from Europe and still arrive every year. It extends toward the north to the five largest inland seas known in the world, along the course of which it is not difficult to reach the celebrated Mississippi River, down which one can sail to the Gulf of Mexico.

"Since the time when the English have taken possession of Pennsylvania, and the country has been peopled from various European nations, it has been divided into nine cantons, these called counties. The most important towns, as they have been built successively, are:
1. Philadelphia, consisting at present of 2,300 houses, mostly of stone.
2. New Castle, consisting of 240 houses, mostly of stone, and lying from Philadelphia distant 40 miles.
3. Chester, consisting of 120 houses, lying 10 miles distant from New Castle.
4. Germantown, consisting of 250 houses, lying 6 miles from Philadelphia.
5. Lancaster, consisting of 500 houses, lying from Germantown 63 miles.
6. York, consisting of 190 houses, lying from Lancaster 23 miles.
7. Reading, lately built, consisting of 60 houses, lying 60 miles from York.

"In the whole of Pennsylvania, according to estimation, there are 190,000 souls, in which the pagan inhabitants are not included. Of these, it is estimated 90,000 are Germans;... These are scattered through all the cantons or counties; still they have more especially settled down in the counties of Philadelphia, Bucks, Lancaster, York, and Chester.' "