Indenture for Union School in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania (1773)

Philadelphia, 1773. Paperback. Good. 27.5 x 24.5. Colonial Indenture. Mounted vellum document. Framed. Slight tanning and fading to ink. Soiling to address portion of indenture on reverse of text. This deed for the building of Union School in the Whitemarsh Township, Fort Washington section. <br> Built in 1773, the Union School was one of the earliest public schools in Pennsylvania, and the first that did not discriminate based on social position or religious preference. The building is sometimes referred to as the "cradle of free education." <br><br>As part of his will, local Quaker businessman Samuel Morris stipulated that a sum of money from his estate be set for the building of a school and a teacher's salary. The school was to provide free education for all within a 1??-mile radius of Hope Lodge, his country mansion. After Morris' death in 1770, his brother Joshua had the school built. The Union School is on the US National Register of Historic Places.