Historical trivia
William Penn was given the land that is now Pennsylvania and Delaware. The land grant was payment for what was owed by the King to Penn's father. Since Delaware had settlers there he (I guess) let them have it. Using some average land value from 2015 that I found on the web in something close in value to current dollars, Pennsylvania (land only) today is worth well over $900 Billion.
I remember reading somewhere that Penn was the richest (in land value) non-monarch ever.
Know any historical trivia? 
= new reply since forum marked as read
Their families arrived in Pennsylvania before Penn did - one of the sons swore an affidavit that he was on the dock when Penn's ship arrived.
One family owned land in a bend in the Brandywine Creek. Depending on the survey, it was sometimes in Pennsylvania and sometimes in Delaware - though he was once Governor of Delaware.
The line at that point is known as the Twelve Mile Circle and caused the Penn-Calvert boundary dispute:
It is nominally a circle with a supposed—yet in fact only approximate and variable—12-mile (19 km) radius,[3] centered in the town of New Castle, Delaware. In 1750, the center of the circle was fixed at the cupola of the courthouse in New Castle. The Twelve-Mile Circle continues into the Delaware River. A small portion of the circle, known as the "Arc Line," also forms part of the Mason-Dixon line, separating Delaware and Maryland. Two other small portions, although not actually demarcated until 1934, form parts of the boundary between the states of Delaware and New Jersey.[4] Although the Twelve-Mile Circle is often claimed to be the only territorial boundary in the United States that is a true arc, many cities in the South (such as Plains, Georgia[5]) also have circular boundaries.
Its existence dates back to 1681, when Charles II granted a deed to William Penn north of the already chartered Maryland. Charles created an exception, consisting of 12 miles around the town of New Castle and extending down the peninsula, as these lands were held by the Duke of York, who had won them in conquest from the Dutch colonists. Later, on August 24, 1682, the Duke granted these lands to Penn as well, giving him:
all that the Towne of Newcastle otherwise called Delaware and All that Tract of Land lying within the Compass or Circle of 12 Miles about the same scituate lying and being upon the River Delaware in America And all Islands in the same River Delaware and the said River and Soyle thereof lying North of the Southermost part of the said Circle of 12 Miles about the said Towne.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-Mile_Circle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn%E2%80%93Calvert_boundary_dispute
You can see the arc of the dividing line and the southward loop of the Brandywine on this map just east of where it says "Pennsbury 1770". The 200 acres in that southward loop was what my ancestor owned!
This boundary was construed as extending beyond the Western Delaware River shoreline. From Marcus Hook, PA South to Delaware City this length of the Delaware River is entirely within the State of Delaware. Within this stretch of river is a 400 acre area containing the Delaware River Nature Reserve. This area is on the East side of the river and land accessible only from New Jersey but part of the State of Delaware.
