Jounral entry, March 3. I am tired tonight and chilled to the bone. I spent the day in the forest, working in the cold spring rain, chopping down trees. I am making fences for the stockcade, so tomorrow I will have to spend all day splitting the lumber into rails. My right hand is covered with blisters, and I fear they may go into blood poisoning. All the time I was in the woods, I could feel the eyes of the savages on me. They hide behind every tree. Many of our men have died from their arrows.

Good luck.

Please note: Philadelphia and Jamestown weren’t even in the same colony, so don’t follow THAT posting.

Throughout this journey to the new world I can’t believe how much I miss you guys. William Penn was right in his pamphlet describing this land as a place where “the air is sweet and clear.” Philadelphia is a city where Quakers can worship as they please due to Penn’s influence. All people, whether rich or poor, are equal in the sight of God. I think that everyone else came here for the same reason as us, to seek religious freedom and cheap land, but I am not sure yet for I have not met everyone in this settlement. The land here is very beautiful and I was impressed with the rich soil and the mild climate. Preparing the land here for the main crops of corn and wheat is very difficult. I’m up at dawn and work until the sun goes down. I really enjoy what I do even though it is hard work.

As soon as we stepped onto land, William Penn showed us that he was the leader. I still can’t believe that the king let us come here after all of the trouble that some Quakers have been causing back home. Later on I found out that the king owed Penn’s father a large sum of money, and as repayment for the debt, he let William and some other Quakers come here. Penn decided to call this settlement Pennsylvania, which also means Penn’s woods, as a dedication to his father. I have also found many other reasons to be fond of this settlement, one of which is having self-government. Penn was the governor and the leader of this council for a little while, but then he appointed his cousin, William Markham, to be the governor of the settlement of Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia is a wonderful place to live. One of the reasons for this is living so close to the Delaware River. The Delaware River provides many jobs for people. Philadelphia is one of the largest cities in the colonies now because of the river. Many men are able to get good jobs as fishermen or shipbuilders. Someday, when our farm is producing a lot of grain, we will be shipping it along the Delaware River, too.

Today I was walking down the streets of Philadelphia and I saw, for the first time, all the shops on the sides of the street. Some of these shops included hat shops, book shops, and also tea shops. All of a sudden I looked up and saw the strangest wagon I had ever seen. It was more than 20 feet long and it was covered with a cloth. I talked to the driver and he told me that he was from Germany and lived west of the city. He told me that because there were no rivers near where he lived, they had to think of other ways to get their products from one point to another. He told me that this odd wagon was called a Conestoga wagon, and its wheels were well suited for driving on the poor roads leading into Philadelphia.

August 5, 1694

Daily life here is much different than it is back home. One example of this is the need to be educated properly. Here, kids don’t go to public schools, they get a private tutor, are taught by the church, or they go to private schools. My son, Joseph, has passed the stages of school and is now an apprentice to a master ship builder. He doesn’t get paid anything for several years, but when he does start to get paid, he will get paid a lot. It is very nice, though, that his master gets him food, a place to live, and clothing. He also tells me about how his master sometimes teaches him lessons about religion, reading, and writing. In a few years he will finally start to get paid for the hard work that he does.

As Quakers believe, both Susan and I are looked upon equally by other people. Along with farm work, I am out hunting for additional food for our family. Susan keeps busy cooking the meals and cleaning up. Mondays and Tuesdays, she spends time taking in laundry from the neighbors from down the street.

It is also very fun to see the younger children, William and Victoria, doing their activities outside. The kids like to play stickball, checkers, tag, marbles, leapfrog, and other games of this sort. I like to get in on the fun sometimes, too, during festivals and other events. Barn raising is very popular here. The other day my neighbor was building a barn and pretty much the whole village came over to help. After the work was done, we celebrated by dancing and listening to music together.

The other day my friend George Smith, the town blacksmith, showed me around his shop and what he does for work. He builds things such as horseshoes, tools, and weapons. I brought several tools home to begin the building of my shed.

December 13, 1696

So far, the Pennsylvania colony has been very lucky in avoiding conflicts and problems. I have heard many stories of other colonies’ problems with the Native Americans. Luckily for us, William Penn met with the Native Americans underneath an elm tree and exchanged gifts with them. He also treated them fairly, as Quakers believe, by offering them a fair price for their land. Ever since this meeting between William Penn and the Native Americans we haven’t had a problem with them.

Recently we did have some problems in our government. William Penn has been away for awhile in England. Before he left for England, he chose William Markham, his cousin, to be in charge by acting as governor. A lot of people in the colony don’t trust him and feel that he is only looking out for his own interests. Colonists, including myself, also think that William Markham has too much power in governing the colony. To improve the relationship with colonists, William Markham made changes to our government plan called the Frame of Government. His new Frame of Government gave the governor less power and increased the power to the assembly. Although many of us are pleased with this change, we are looking forward to the day when William Penn will return.

These three years have flown by so fast. Joseph is already taking on more responsibilities as a shipbuilder and both William and Victoria are learning a lot in their studies. We have now been able to afford a piano so both Susan and Victoria spend much of their free time playing new songs on it.

My time in the colonies so far has been wonderful, and the longer I stay here, the more it will improve. I just can’t wait until you guys come here to live and see all the wonderful opportunities here for you. It takes a lot of hard work to live a successful life here, but if you put the time and effort into it, you will be very surprised at how interesting and fun this adventure in the new world will be.

It not Jamestown but i hope it helps this was one of my projects like a week ago.