William Allen purchased a 5,000-acre (20 km2) plot on September 10, 1735, from his business partner Joseph Turner, who was assigned the warrant to the land by Thomas Penn on May 18, 1732. Although the land was surveyed on November 23, 1736. Northampton Town (known as Allen’s Town) was not laid out until 1762 by Allen, a wealthy shipping merchant, former mayor of the city of Philadelphia, and then-Chief Justice of the Province of Pennsylvania. He hoped that Northampton Town would displace Easton as the seat of Northampton County; a wish he did not live to see. On March 6, 1812, Lehigh County was formed from the western half of Northampton County, and Northampton Town was selected as the county seat, and was. renamed “Allentown” on April 16, 1838.