Where is the Penn Treaty Elm?

by Rebecca Fisher, Kahlil Garnes, and Ariel Censor

The Penn Treaty took place in 1683 on the banks of Shackamaxon, the areas now made up of the Philadelphia neighborhoods along the Delaware River of Fishtown, Kensington, and Fort Richmond. Shackamaxon was a historical meeting place for the Lenni- Lenape Indians. The modern Penn Treaty Park is located at this historic meeting place.

The primary depiction of the Penn Treaty Elm and the one that garnered the most attention was the Benjamin West painting. The painting is in neoclassical style, which has the effect of visual harmony, which translates to a historical understanding of the settlers and Lenape as living in harmony and in peace. This resulted in creating “powerful symbol of peace” that took hold on many people’s imaginations.

But why would West, create a painting of a treaty that had occurred over a hundred years before? It was commissioned by Thomas Penn, William Penn’s son in 1770-1771 who wanted to highlight the history of his father’s “popular image as a man of peace” and peaceful relationship between the Lenape people and the settlers. Penn’s sons had become known for their greed and mistreatment of the Native Americans particularly because of the Walking Purchase in 1736 where Penn’s sons forced the Lenape to relocate.

It wasn’t until this painting that the mythological interest in the tree was inspired.

This painting is what brought the Penn Treaty and by extension, the Penn Treaty Elm into the forefront of people’s thoughts and historical understanding America, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. This painting inspired countless other reinterpretations of the tree in many art mediums. One reason that the scene of the Penn Treaty reached such a vast audience and was reproduced by so many was because Thomas Penn also commissioned John Boydell to create an engraving of the painting. This meant that the imagery of the Penn Treaty and the tree reached a mass media level of audience. Another turning point in the representation of the tree the John James Barralet painting titled: “A view from Philadelphia from the Great Elm Tree in Kensington 1796”. This painting had the effect of taking the “spotlight off Penn and Indians and put it upon the treaty tree itself” resulting in the tree itself to gain fame and be seen as a witness to the treaty and proof of the existence of the treaty. Additionally, the tree became imbued with all of the meaning and implications of the Penn Treaty.

The Penn Treaty Elm fell during a storm on March 5th, 1810. People rushed to gather pieces of the Penn Treaty Elm, which made into various commemorative objects, such as furniture, snuff boxes, and busts. Because the elm became synonymous with freedom and goodwill, the objects made from the elm became symbols of these ideas as well. Given as gifts, they became gestures of peace and friendship. Given the number of objects, there is often some doubt to how genuine they are in terms of being actual parts of the Penn Treaty Elm. Regardless, the fact that many claim to have parts of the tree show how important and meaningful the tree has become as a symbol.

With no actual record of the treaty taking place, the obsession of the tree and disagreement about its location have lead to its notoriety. This is because in many ways, the Penn Treaty Elm has become the closest thing to a history record. The tree not only stands in place for the treaty as its only witness, but is also a testament to the treaty and everything it represents in terms of peace, brotherhood, and Quaker values.