William Penn sailed from England in the ship “Welcome,” August 30, 1682.
Upon his arrival the organization of his province was pushed with dispatch, and today that vast territory is divided into sixty-seven counties, each one of which possesses history worth the telling.
The genealogy of the counties of Pennsylvania is both interesting and historical, and presents some valuable data. The three original counties were Philadelphia, Chester and Bucks, so named by William Penn in the latter part of the year 1682.
It is a singular coincidence that Philadelphia County should be surrounded with counties somewhat similar to those which surround London in England; Buckingham, or Bucks, Chester and Lancashire.
The name Philadelphia means “brotherly love,” the other three were given their names in honor of their English importance. In fact all the counties formed and named prior to the Revolution were named identically and relatively after the counties in England in this chronological order in the Province—Philadelphia, Chester, Bucks, Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Berks, Northampton, Bedford, Northumberland and Westmoreland.
Following the independence of the colonies only three of the counties of Pennsylvania were afterwards given names of English Counties. They were Huntingdon, Somerset and Cambria.
In an interesting paper prepared by the late Dr. Hugh Hamilton, of Harrisburg and read before the Federation of Historical Societies of Pennsylvania, of which he was then president, the sixty-seven counties were grouped etymologically as follows:
“Sentimental—Philadelphia, Columbia, Lebanon and Union.
“Familiar—Bedford, Berks, Bucks, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Huntingdon, Lancaster, Northampton, Northumberland, Somerset, York and Westmoreland.
“Gratitude—Armstrong, Bradford, Butler, Clinton, Crawford, Dauphin, Luzerne, Mercer, Mifflin, Montgomery, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Lawrence, Montour, Perry, Pike, Sullivan, Warren, Washington and Wayne.