Anthony Palmer, Hope Farm, and the founding of Kensington
by Kenneth W. Milano
[...excerpt from chapter 2 of an unfinished biography of the Kensington founder...]
A fellow Barbadian, Captain George Lillington, owned the tract of land which Kensington founder Anthony Palmer first purchased in Pennsylvania. In 1704 Palmer paid Lillington 500 Barbados pounds for the property. Captain Lillington, of the Parish of St. Thomas, acquired the property between the period of June 1697 and October 1699. In this three years time Lillington purchased four continuous tracts of land situated on the westside of the Delaware River from several Swedes. The property was located about four miles north of the original city of Philadelphia in an area then known as "Shackamaxon." These Swedes who owned the land were the descendants of the original Swedish settlers who had first colonized the Delaware Valley in 1634. The entire tract when combined amounted to 582 acres. This property that Palmer bought from Lillington was quite substantial. Palmer never could have been able to acquire an estate this large in Barbados. Besides the cost factor, the availability of large tracts of land in Barbados was unheard of and were generally snapped up by the large planters who were more wealthy and politically connected then Palmer.
There is not a record of the exact date when Palmer first moved to Pennsylvania to take up residence, but by the year 1704 he owned property in the Delaware Valley and was starting to be considered one of the traders of note in the colony. Although the year of 1704 is unclear as the date for Palmer first immigrating to Pennsylvania, it is clear that by the year 1709 he was a resident of Philadelphia County. From a poor tax list of 1709, Palmer is recorded as paying 12 shillings and 6 pence tax. This list has 27 individuals paying the same tax as Palmer and 40 other individuals paying more.
The Building of "Hope Farm"
Palmer called the estate he acquired from Lillington "Hope Farm." He made "Hope Farm" his countryseat and this is where he lived for the next 25 years. Over the course of this twenty-five year period, Palmer enlarged his estate. To the 582 acres, which he acquired from Lillington, Palmer added an additional 27 acres when his friend John Tonk died in 1717. Palmer was one of three inheritors of Tonk's property and he managed to buy out the two other inheritors. In March of 1729 he added a further 11 acres from Benjamin Fairman, the only surviving heir to Thomas Fairman. Thomas Fairman was an early large landowner who bought his property from the Swede Lassie Cock. Fairman was also the original owner of the Fairman Mansion, a property that Palmer eventually bought and built his town of Kensington around. Eventually, another 56 acres were acquired from Fairman. These smaller acquisitions now gave Palmer a total estate of 676 acres. This estate was larger than anything he could have established in Barbados. Palmer was finally reaching the landowner status, which had eluded his father in Barbados.
During this period Palmer may have begun to think of retiring from business. Records of his business dealings are non-existent, which leaves one to believe he was moving from a merchant/trader to a landed gentleman. Living the life of a propertied gentleman with a countryseat on a private plantation was an idea encouraged by William Penn from the start of the colony. Palmer joined a class of gentlemen in the likes of James Logan who had working plantations. One thing that seems certain is that Palmer was beginning to mimic the "customary English pattern of social mobility" which over a couple of generations turned "commercial wealth into land and a country seat."
The Selling of Hope Farm and the Founding of Kensington
In 1729 Palmer began the proceedings for selling his estate of "Hope Farm." Palmer probably decided to give up "Hope Farm" when he found out that inn holder Robert Worthington's property was coming up for sale. Worthington owned the much-desired Fairman Mansion estate. The Fairman Mansion estate bordered on the south of "Hope Farm." William Penn himself thought of acquiring this property in 1708. Penn's idea for the property was to "live there out of the noise of Philadelphia but in sight of it."
The buyer for the "Hope Farm" estate was William Ball. Ball was a local merchant who bought "Hope Farm" from Palmer on April 22nd 1729, for the amount of two thousand one hundred and forty pounds Pennsylvania currency. This represented a substantial profit for Palmer since he either bought or inherited most of the estate for five hundred Barbados pounds. Along with the 676 acres of land, Ball acquired the messuage house, outhouses, orchard gardens, remaining rents and three slaves. The three slaves were said to belong to the messuage house and they were named Abraham, Hannibal and Phillis. Palmer gave Ball six months to be able to get the mortgage for the full amount otherwise the property would revert back to Palmer. If Ball were to pay Palmer one-thousand pound stirling within six months Palmer would allow this to count as one-thousand five-hundred pounds Pennsylvania currency. Palmer may have remained on the "Hope Farm" property until Ball raised the money. There is no record of Palmer living elsewhere during this time. Until Palmer bought the Fairman Mansion early in 1730, it is unclear where he would have lived if not at "Hope Farm." The deed for the sale of "Hope Farm" does list Palmer as being from "the city of Philadelphia," but there does not appear to be any land deed showing he had property elsewhere and without a land deed or rental deed it is unknown where, if at all, Palmer's Philadelphia property may have been.
It is assumed that William Ball was able to acquire a mortgage for "Hope Farm" in the allotted time period. The property never reverted back to Palmer. Ball built a mansion on the property calling it "Richmond Hall," after a suburb of London. The southeastern area of "Hope Farm" near the meeting of Gunners Run and the Delaware River came to be known as Balltown. There was some manufacturing established here by the time of the American Revolution. The area evolved into the present day neighborhood of Port Richmond.
Using the money acquired from his sale of "Hope Farm," Palmer in early January of 1730 paid cash for the former Fairman Mansion from Robert Worthington. Along with the mansion house the estate had a surrounding 191 1/2 acres containing outhouses, stables, orchid gardens and a working plantation. Palmer was able to buy the property for nine hundred and twenty-five pounds lawful Pennsylvania money. The Fairman mansion property was located directly south of "Hope Farm," on the Delaware River. The creek,"Gunners Run" (Aramingo Ave.) was the dividing line between "Hope Farm" and the Fairman property. This new tract was situated northeast of the emerging district of Northern Liberties. It was this Fairman Mansion Estate that Anthony Palmer used to found his town of Kensington in the 1730's. Later in 1854, when the county of Philadelphia consolidated with the City of Philadelphia, Kensington became just another neighborhood.
@ copyrighted by KennethWMilano.com, any use of the original material in this writing must be by permission from the author, Kenneth W. Milano, and with full acknowledgement thereof.