Descendants of Elizabeth Penn

Elizabeth Penn was born about 1603 the daughter of Giles Penn a Captain in the Royal Navy and Joan Gilbert. Elizabeth came to America after her husband William Hammond died. She left a good estate in London, took her son Benjamin and three daughters; Elizabeth, Martha, and Rachel on the ship GRIFFIN and sailed for America, arriving in Boston, MA on September 18, 1634. She was accompanied by her minister the Reverand John Lothrop. There were 100 followers of the Reverand that traveled on the Griffin, only a handful of the passengers are listed, this may have been due to trying to hide their identity, Elizabeth is one I have yet to place on the passenger list although it is written in many records that she came on this ship. Undoubtedly her brother Sir William Penn an Admiral in the Royal Navy was able to get his sister passage. Once in Boston Elizabeth did not join Rev. Lothrop's church immediately. She lived both in Boston and Watertown, MA until 1638 when she moved to Scituate where she joined his church as the 33rd member. She later returned to Boston and died there in 1640.
Elizabeth's brother Admiral William Penn was granted many things by the King and owed many debts as well. His son William Penn the Quaker, nephew of Elizabeth, later collected on the debts the King owed his father, thus founding Penns Woods, a much larger area of land than the later named Pennsylvania. Admiral Penn was a true patriarch and military man. It is reported he was ashamed of his son William for becoming a devoted Quaker (not manly enough for his military taste)and disowned him for many years much to the pain of William himself who loved his father deeply. As a young child William supposedly had a psychic vision of sorts giving him instruction for his life path...which is what led him upon the Quaker life. William had been emotionally inspired by a Quaker priest he had heard as a child, and the impression was strong enough to make him a believer and he pleaded admission into the Quaker Society. He positioned himself with the Founding Fathers and the signing of the Declaration of Independence working very closely with them. It is said that he was persecuted many times and came close to hanging as a heretic during the "Witch Hunts" of the Colonists.