William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of Pennsylvania and territories annexed.
| Capt. William Markham | Ralph Withers | James Harrison |
| Christopher Taylor | John Simcock | William Clarke |
| Thomas Holme | Edmund Cantwell | Francis Whitwell |
| Lasse Cock | William Clayton | John Richardson |
| William Haige | William Biles | John Hillyard |
| John Moll |
Then the sheriffs of each county were called in, viz.:
For the County of Philadelphia......................John Tost
For the County of Chester......................Thomas Usher
For the County of Bucks.........................Richard Noble
For the County of New Castle.............Edmund Cantwell
For the County of Kent..........................Peter Baucomb
For the County of Sussex.............................John Vines
The Governor ordered that one speak at a time, standing up, with his face to the Chair.
A debate being about the balloting box, the question was put whether the ballot should be used in all cases? Passed in the negative.
The question question being put whether they would have the ballot in all personal matters? Resolved in the affirmative.
The question being put whether all bills should be passed into the laws by vote? Resolved in the affirmative.
The returns of the sheriffs being read, with the petitions and addresses of the freemen to the Governor, and finding therein that the people have amply vested their 12 delegates out of each county with power to act as the provincial councilors and General Assembly. And it being proposed to the elected members aforesaid, if they were chosen to serve in both those capacities, they answered they were; that is to say, three of each twelve for the Provincial Council, and the remaining nine of each twelve to constitute th General Assembly, according to the returns.
Source:
Jean R. Soderlund and Richard S. Dunn eds., William Penn and the Founding of Pennsylvania 1680-1684: A Documentary History (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983), p. 229
See Also:
John P. Watson, Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in the Olden Time (Philadelphia: Elijah Thomas, 1857), p. 18.
Notice the spelling of the name ‘John Tost’ rather than ‘Test’.
Without access to the original handwritten record we have no way of knowing if this is an error in spelling, merely a variant spelling or an error in transcription. All three are common occurrences
There simply is no doubt that the record refers to John Test.
So, how do we know this. (1)We have no (other) record of anyone named ‘Tost’. We do have other records of John Test in Philadelphia at this time. Notice the date of 1st month, 10th day, 1682/1683.
The day was a Saturday or 7th day.
This is the Old Style or Julian date. If you examine the dates of the meetings that follow this (see the link below) you will notice that the year does not change after March 25. This is a Quaker twist on the Old Style Calendar. Many Quakers, and Penn was one of them, began the new year on March 1. Thus the year is March 10, 1683 (Old Style). Under the New Style or Gregorian Calendar in use today, the date would be March 20, 1683.
