Library Company share #25 was first issued to Benjamin Eastburn (d. 1741) on December 14, 1731.
Eastburn was born in England, and apparently came to Philadelphia in 1713. By 1731, he was obviously acquainted with Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and his fellow Junto members. That group drew up their “Articles of Association” on July 1, 1731 to found a library, and Eastburn was among the first group of shares issued over the next six months. These early subscribers each invested forty shillings and “promised to pay ten shillings a year thereafter to buy books and maintain a shareholder’s library.”[i]
In 1733, two years after becoming a Library Company shareholder, Eastburn was appointed Surveyor General of the Province of Pennsylvania. He held that role from 1733 until his death in 1741.[ii]
That means he was the surveyor in charge at the time of James Logan’s 1737 “walking purchase” that swindled land from the Delaware Indians, as well as during the 1739 creation of the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. He also drew up the plans for the site of Mikveh Israel Cemetery in 1740, among many other surveys.[iii]
After his death, William Peters (1702-1789) acquired the share on March 13, 1742.
Peters was a lawyer and land management agent for the Penn family. Peters was also a gentleman architect, and his country home and estate, Belmont, was eventually purchased by the city of Philadelphia for inclusion in Fairmount Park.[iv]
Image: William Russell Birch, View from Belmont Pennsyla. the Seat of Judge Peters [graphic] / Drawn engraved & published by W. Birch Springland near Bristol Pennsylvania, [1809]. Gift of Mrs. S. Marguerite Brenner.
Belmont Mansion still stands today, and is now open to the public as an underground railroad museum.
Library Company share #25 was then dormant until it was reissued as share #1350 to Christine F. C. Platt on April 4, 1935. The Library Company’s records provide no other details about Platt except that her share was forfeited on June 3, 1948.
The share was reissued again as Share #25 by 1984.
Share History:
- Benjamin Eastburn (d. 1741), acquired share #25 on November 10, 1731
- William Peters (1702-1789), acquired on March 13, 1742
- Reissued as share #1350, acquired by Christine F. C. Platt on April 4, 1935
Shareholders who acquired this share after 1950 are not displayed for privacy reasons.
Learn more about Library Company shareholding today.
[i] “At the Instance of Benjamin Franklin”: A Brief History of the Library Company of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 2015), 5.
[ii] John Barry Love, “The Colonial Surveyor in Pennsylvania,” (PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1970), 196-197.
[iii] Silvio A. Bedini, “History Corner: The Scull Dynasty of Pennsylvania Surveyors,” Professional Surveyor Magazine (May 2001), https://web.archive.org/web/20140101113055/http://www.profsurv.com/magazine/article.aspx?i=753 (accessed September 19, 2025). Shirley Milgrim, “Mikveh Israel Cemetery,” USHistory.org, https://www.ushistory.org/mikvehisrael (accessed September 19, 2025).
[iv] Stephen G. Hague, “Fairmount Park Houses,” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/fairmount-park-houses/ (accessed May 16, 2024).