John Test, serving a term as the first sheriff of Philadelphia, arrived in Philadelphia in time for the first meeting of the Provincial Council, William Penn presiding, held on March 10, 1682/83 [ See the note here about the dating system]. So where he lived between this date and the time when he built his brick house, at the corner of 3rd and Chestnut, is unknown. We can expect that his duties as sheriff would have required him to locate, with his family, at Philadelphia.
To understand these documents requires knowledge of a couple of basic facts. William Penn was given all of Pennsylvania by King Charles II of England. So, Penn owned all the land. To buy any of this land involved a three-stop process.
The following is the warrant registration for the city lot John Test held at the corner of 3rd and Walnut Streets. The Blackwell Rent Roll shows that he still owned this lot in 1689 and that he owed 5 years quitrent on it at 2 shillings per year. It appears that just about everyone was in arrears by about 5 years of quitrent showing that landowners were uniformly uncooperative in the payment of the tax.
There does not seem to be any record of the patent being issued to John Test for this lot. However, the rent roll clearly indicates he held the original patent and that he still owned the property in 1689. It is likely that this is the place of his residence.
The Survey was sent to the land office.
The following warrant registration refers to the property at the corner of 3rd and Chestnut just to the west of John Bolt's lot.
This lot was surveyed on the 16th day of the 11th month in 1684. That is, on February 16, 1684/85 (O.S.)
The patent was issued for this property on 11th month 17th day 1684. The person who copied the original records misinterpreted the 11th month to mean November. This is incorrect. In the Julian Calendar the 11th month is January.
Thus the application was made on the January 13, 1684, the survey was done on January 16 and returned on the January 17. And John Test paid for the property and received the patent transferring ownership to him on the same January 17, 1684 (O.S.).
Hannah Benner Roach tells us that Test purchased the lot. She uses the orginal name for Chestnut Street. It was originally named Wynne street after Penn's personal physician.
By this account, in June 1684 the property was sold to Elizabeth Shorter. I do not understand this because the Blackwell Rent Roll indicates that John Test still owned the property in 1689 and that he is renting it to Hans Peterson. To make it more confusing, we have the 1687 record of John Test selling the property to Hans Peterson.
Source:
http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17PatentIndexes/A-AAPatentIndex309.pdf
These Documents have been compiled in one easy to use pdf file: John Test's City Lot Purchase Documents
Showing John Test's lots at Chestnut and 3rd and at Walnut and 3rd
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