John Penn Memorial, Oxford
The memorial to John Penn is a short lectern shaped piece of granite on a single base. The width is approximately three feet. The lectern face and top of the base are finished while all other surfaces are rough hewn. The outline of a scroll encompasses most of the lectern face and holds the inscription. A marker to Samuel Benton, the founder of Oxford stands behind this memorial.
Images:
Granville County Courthouse with the memorial to the right of the front entrance.
JOHN PENN / NORTH CAROLINA SIGNER / DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE / BORN CAROLINE COUNTY, VIRGINIA 1741 / DIED GRANVILLE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 1787 / GRANVILLE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS / AMERICAN BICENTENNIAL 1976
Granville County
1976
36.311680 , -78.588250
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"John Penn," The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accesses January 2, 2023) Link
Conrad, Robert T. Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, (Philadelphia, PA: 1884), (accessed September 5, 2013) Link
Davis, B. J. 2008. "Representatives to the Continental Congress," NCpedia.org, reprinted from Tar Heel Junior Historian (Fall 2008), (accessed September 3, 2013) Link
Davis, B. J. "Representatives to the Constitutional Convention North Carolina's Founding Fathers: Part 2," NCpedia.org, reprinted from "Tar Heel Junior Historian (Fall 2008), (accessed June 18, 2013) Link
Troxler, George. 1994. "Penn, John," NCpedia.org, (accessed September 3, 2013) Link
U.S. National Archives & Records Administration. "America's Founding Documents: The Signer's Gallery," The Charters of Freedom, (accessed September 4, 2013) Link
Yes
Granite
Granville County Commissioners
North Carolina had three signers to the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776 at Philadelphia: Joseph Hewes, a merchant and justice of the peace from Edenton in Chowan County; John Penn, a farmer from Island Creek in Granville County; and William Hooper, a lawyer and delegate from New Hanover County.
A plaque commemorating Signers of the Declaration of Independence, dedicated in 1927, is located in the rotunda of the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh, NC. In 1932, a monument to Joseph Hewes was unveiled in Edenton, NC.
In 1894 the Guilford Battleground company decided to move the remains and erect a monument to North Carolina's three signers. Hooper and Penn were reburied at the battleground in 1894, but Hewes' unmarked grave could not be found. In 1897, a monument to William Hooper and John Penn was unveiled in the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park.
The marker is at the intersection of Court Street and Main Street in Oxford, NC. It sits to the right of the front entrance to the Granville County Courthouse. The street address is 101 Main St.
The marker stands on the lawn, with several evergreen and deciduous bushes as backdrop.
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