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BEATRIX
FARRAND

REEF POINT GARDENS
LIBRARY

The Gift of Beatrix Farrand

to the General Library
University of California, Berkeley

THE HISTORIC TREES
OF MASSACHUSETTS

THE HISTORIC TREES
OF MASSACHUSETTS

BY

JAMES RAYMOND ^ SIMMONS

BOSTON

MARSHALL JONES COMPANY
MDCCCCXIX

COPYRIGHT, igig
BY MARSHALL JONES COMPANY

THE-PLIMPTON-PRE SS
NORWOOD'MASS-U-S-A

Add'l

LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECTURE

Farrand Gift

TO
HON. ROBERT ORR HARRIS

475

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

INTRODUCTION XI

I. THE TREES OF BOSTON COMMON . . i

II. THE WASHINGTON ELM 10

III. THE LINDENS AT PLYMOUTH ... 17

IV. THE GUSHING ELM 26

V. THE LAKEVILLE ELMS 3^

VI. ISLAND GROVE 34

VII. ELIOT OAK AND OTHER TREES OF

SOUTH NATICK 39

VIII. AVERY OAK AND OTHER TREES OF

DEDHAM 47

IX. THE HOLLISTON ELMS 52

X. THE ROBY ELM 57

XI. THE BOXFORD ELM 60

XII. THE ENDICOTT PEAR TREE .... 64

XIII. LEXINGTON AND CONCORD TREES . . 69

XIV. THE ANCIENT OAKS AT WAYSIDE INN 76
XV. THE MARLBORO ELM 79

XVI. THE GRAFTON OAK 83

XVII. THE WASHINGTON ELM AT PALMER . 85

XVIII. THE LAFAYETTE ELM 88

CONTENTS

XIX. THE ELM AT COURT SQUARE, SPRING-
FIELD • . p0

XX. THE SHEFFIELD ELM 94

XXI. DEERFIELD TREES 98

XXII. THE CHARLEMONT BUTTONWOOD . . 103

XXIII. THE SUNDERLAND BUTTONWOOD . . Ill

XXIV. THE OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES PINE 113
XXV. OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES . . . 117

INDEX TO TREES I38

v

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Boston Common in Winter Frontispiece

The Old Elm's Descendent, a sprout from the

famous elm which fell in 1876 .... Jacing page 2

The Washington Elm at Cambridge 10

The Lindens at Plymouth 18

The Cushing Elm 26

The Lakeville Elms 32

Island Grove, Abington 34

The Entrance to Island Grove 38

The Eliot Oak 39

The Avery Oak 48

The HoIIiston Elms 54

A Pair of Elms at South Chelmsford 55

A Pair of Elms at Lincoln 56

The Roby Elm 57

The Cheever Walnut 58

The Boxford Elm 60

The Endicott Pear Tree 64

The Harrington Elm 70

The Elm at Monroe Tavern, Lexington 71

The Old Willow at Concord 74

The Elms in front of the Louisa May Alcott

House, Concord, and Hawthorne's Grove 75

'

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Ancient Oaks at Wayside Inn 76

The Marlboro Elm 80

The Grafton Oak 84

The Washington Elm at Palmer 86

The Lafayette Elm 88

The Springfield Elm 90

The Sheffield Elm 94

The Deerfield Buttonwood 100

"The Elm by the Little Brown House," Deer-
field 101

The Charlemont Buttonwood 104

The Sunderland Buttonwood 112

The Oliver Wendell Holmes Pine 1 14

The Beaman Oak 124

The Rugg Elm 125

The Elm at West Acton 128

The Winchester Elm 130

The Black Walnut at West Medford 131

The Hubbard Elm 132

The Apple Tree at Marshfield Hills 136

INTRODUCTION

I stood to-day beneath a mighty tree,

And gazed upon its lofty trunk and crown,

Scarred body, branches gnarled and leaves of brown,

In silence looking upward, wonderingly.

Full oft have I thus pondered on the sea,

Or on the mountains when the sun was down,

Upon their age and grandeur, or the sound

Of rushing waters and the whispering breeze —

To waken and inspire the best in me.

Comes then the thought of those strong men I've known,

Who've stood and fought their battles, like this tree;

They know it not, but when each deed is done

Of theirs, I marvel e'en as silently,

And owe them each small victory I have won! l

J. R. S.

FROM the days of Eden, when the
apple tree went on record as the
first historic specimen of its kind in
the world, trees have ever been closely
connected with human history. If we speak
from the broad standpoint of trees as a
community, and seek out their influence as
applied to a given portion of the earth's

1 The above quotation by the author is reprinted here by
courtesy of American Forestry.

INTRODUCTION

surface, then the strength of any nation
may be measured largely by the extent and
quality of its forests; the decline of any
nation usually follows the decline of its
natural resources, of which the forests con-
stitute an important part. And if we speak
from the standpoint of trees as individuals,
we find that certain of them are identified
with events of nation-wide and even world-
wide importance. Forest trees are now being
systematically harvested and a new gene-
ration replaces them; individual trees, such
as grow upon our lawns, along our village
streets and in our meadows and pastures,
live on from period to period, witnesses
not only of the deeds of one but of several
generations of men.

An historic tree commands in us the same
quality of admiration which we feel for a
great mind; it has been associated with the
noted characters of its time; it is related
to events whose results have affected the
life and development of the community;
it has demonstrated its ability to stand like
a conqueror in the face of storm and adver-

INTRODUCTION

sity, and has risen superior to opposing forces
of every description. We therefore honor
its excellence and cherish its memory with
that of our heroes!

American literature abounds with refer-
ence to great and beautiful trees, and the
same may be said with equal truth of the
works of the English writers. Our kinsmen
across the sea have always taken an honest
pride in their ancient oaks, with which the
island abounds. They tell us, for example,
of the great oak of Ravenshead, last survivor
of old Sherwood Forest, where Robin Hood
and his fearless band carried on their ex-
ploits; of the Parliament Oak, so called
in memory of an assemblage of the kind
held by King John beneath its shade; of the
Pilgrim Oak, associated with Lord Byron,
and with his father before him. FalstafFs
Tree in Queen Elizabeth's walk at Windsor
Forest, and Shakespeare's Tree, from which
the carved box was made that enclosed the
papers conveying the freedom of Stratford-
on-Avon to David Garrick, are also men-
tioned among the famous trees of England.

INTRODUCTION

Wise with the lore of centuries,

What tales if there " be tongues in trees,"

Those giant oaks could tell,

Of beings born and buried here;

Tales of the peasant and the peer,

Tales of the bridal and the bier,

The welcome and farewell,

Since on their boughs the startled bird

First, in her twilight slumbers, heard

The Norman's curfew bell! l

"They are haunted with the recollections
of great spirits who have sought for relax-
ation here from the tumult of arms, or the
toils of state, or who have wooed the muse
beneath their shade." 2

No small portion of the history of our own
country could be told by its trees if they
could speak. The silent Indian made his
attack from the cover of the forest, and, if
successful, often bound his victim to a tree
for torture. When Braddock marched his
command through the wilderness in solid
formation, he would have lost every man
but for the timely assistance of Washington
who was familiar with the possibilities of
trees as defenses, and who fought the Indians
in their own method. Trees proved most

1 Fitz-Greene Halleek, "AInwick Castle."

2 Irving, " Bracebridge Hall," " Forest Trees."

INTRODUCTION

disastrous to the British but most opportune to
the Colonials on that memorable return from
Concord and Lexington, April iQth, 1775.

Under the shade of a fine old elm, William
Penn made his famous treaty with the
Indians. The Charter Oak concealed the
valuable parchment which Governor Andros
demanded from Connecticut in 1687, and
took its place as one of the immortals in the
history of that state. And there is yet
another tree, once noted for its beauty,
but now only for the event which took
place under its sheltering arms. The old elm
at Cambridge, shorn of its glory, but still
standing, marks the place where Washington
took command of the American army!

These are some of the trees which have
left their imprint upon the minds of millions.
In addition to these, in many a sequestered
spot may be found a tree, little known to the
world at large, and yet as dear to the heart
of some worthy individual or community
as the small college was to the heart of
Daniel Webster. "I don't doubt," says
Holmes in the "Autocrat," "there may be

INTRODUCTION

some monster-elm or other, vegetating green
but inglorious, in some remote New England
village, which only wants a sacred singer
to make it celebrated." Trees of this type
have contributed to the inspiration of more
than one successful career. Some of them,
long after the lapse of three-score-years-
and-ten, have clustered about themselves
the fame of the man or woman who loved
them, and have thereby acquired a local
distinction of no unworthy proportions.

But others there are whose place in his-
tory will never be known. Events un-
recorded took place beneath their boughs;
in their rings of yearly growth nature has
hidden the knowledge of great climatic
changes and the ravages of wind and fire,
written in a language with which we are
but slightly familiar. The towering elm of
Pittsfield, the two beautiful elms of Spring-
field and many others, irresistible in their
time, have passed away; but their fame
is secure, for they have been rendered im-
mortal by many authors. The value of
each lay not so much in its connection with

INTRODUCTION

known historic events as in its influence
over those who gazed upon its stately form,
and received, therefrom, a vision.

The following pages will bring before the
observation of the reader in a fairly com-
prehensive way, all trees generally known
as historic in the Commonwealth of Massa-
chusetts, together with the principal events
connected with each of them. A goodly
number of typical trees which have no his-
toric connections, other than those arising
from age, beauty or location, are also in-
cluded in the text.

It is usually conceded that a tree beneath
whose shade some event of significance in
the life of the State or the Nation took
place is an historic tree. The Charter Oak
and the Washington Elm above mentioned
may be cited at random as good examples
of this type of landmark. The definition
should also include any tree rendered famous
by a noted personage, leader or pioneer —
Daniel Boone's "Bar Tree" for example.1

1 The Charter Oak and the "Bar Tree" are, of course, not
connected with Massachusetts, but are cited for the purpose
of making the definition perfectly clear.

INTRODUCTION

Massachusetts, on account of the fact
that it is one of the oldest states in the
Union, and because of the unusual number
of places of historical interest which it con-
tains, offers remarkably good territory from
which to select famous trees. The "Bay
State," moreover, lies in the center of that
section of the country which seems to be
especially loved by and devoted to the
Ulmus Americana (American Elm). No less
than twenty splendid examples of this species
are here cherished on account of the deeds
they commemorate; some of these have
spent their entire life on the spot where
nature first placed them;2 but the majority
of the celebrated elms were dug from the
fields when mere seedlings and transplanted
to new situations along the main streets and
highways, or in front of dwelling houses
that have long since found a place in the
Nation's history. The white oak (quercus
alba) is second in importance to the elm,
while the third place is about equally divided

2 For example, the Great Elm mentioned in Chap, i, and
the Washington Elm mentioned in Chap. 2 are said to have
been remnants of the original forest.

INTRODUCTION

between the sycamore or buttonwood (Plati-
nus occidentalis) and the red oak (Quercus
rubra). Noble specimens of the white pine
(Pinus strobus), the chestnut (Castanea den-
tata) the European linden (Tilia vulgaris),
the willow (Salix nigra), the black walnut
(Juglans nigra) and the hackberry (Celtis
occidentalis) also abound. And the reader
will be interested to know that there still
stands an historic pear tree, boasting the
ripe old age of two hundred and ninety years.
The present volume is concerned, prima-
rily, with trees of established celebrity, and
may be said to be a brief historical treatise
covering the period previous to the Civil
War, and written from the standpoint of
trees as witnesses of the events herein chron-
icled. Some individual specimens have
doubtless been overlooked, and other facts
than those recorded here may be known by
the oldest inhabitant. The author has, how-
ever, attempted to seek out the best known
trees throughout the whole area of the
state, and to surround them with the best
known facts. Historic data have been

INTRODUCTION

gleaned from town and county histories,
selectmens' reports, newspapers, and many
other sources, and reproduced without any
attempt at exaggeration. The arrangement
of chapters, with exception of the last, is
based on geographical situation, with Boston
as a starting point.

For a clear understanding of the measure-
ments, which are given for each historic
tree and for the majority of the others, the
following points may be noted: — Circum-
ferences are taken at breast height, or four
and a half feet from the ground, unless other-
wise stated. (Some authorities favor five
feet, and others give circumferences at vary-
ing points on the trunk.) Heights are meas-
ured from the ground to the end of the
topmost branch, with a hypsometer; and
spread signifies the greatest extent of the
branches, measured in a straight line out-
ward from the trunk on both sides.

All photographs were taken by the author
with a 3A Brownie camera. Trees which
show no leaves were photographed in winter
or early spring.

INTRODUCTION

Care has been exercised in the giving of
full credit for data and quotations, even at
the expense of good diction. The author
also wishes to acknowledge, herewith, his
indebtedness to all persons who have con-
tributed to the work by the answering of
questions, the loan of books and records of
all descriptions, and by their enthusiastic
support and encouragement; he is especially
indebted to Prof. George M. Dutcher, PH.D.,
of Wesleyan University, for a criticism of
the manuscript and for many valuable sug-
gestions.

J. R. S.

THE HISTORIC TREES
OF MASSACHUSETTS

CHAPTER I
THE TREES OF BOSTON COMMON

Deep and wide

The wheels of progress have passed on;
The silent pioneer is gone,
His ghost is moving down the trees,
And now we push the memories
Of bluff, bold men who dared and died
In foremost battle, quite aside.

Joaquln Miller

THE Duke of Wellington said, 'Water-
loo was won on Eton's playgrounds!'
And boys who have coasted on the
long malls of Boston Common, played upon
its ball-grounds, and received inspiration from
orations of great statesmen, and from the
frequent military parades there have after-
ward stormed many heights in the military-
service of their country. Many a hero of our
navy has sailed his first boat in the 'frog
pond.'"

CO

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

These words were spoken by a Bostonian
at the annual meeting of the American Park
and Outdoor Art Association at Detroit, in
June, 1899.! He was speaking from the
standpoint of the Common as a city park,
the first of its kind in the country; he con-
veyed to his hearers the thought that "the
trees of the Boston Common are historic
trees, because the Common itself is historic."

The earliest record of famous trees within
the bounds of the Common is Bonner's map
of 1722, which gives the location of the Great
Elm (picturing it as of unusual size) and of a
group of elms at the corner of what are now
Washington and Essex streets. One of these
was the famous Liberty Tree. The scene
has been a constantly changing one through
the years that have followed since this early
map of Boston was made, for practically every
tree now standing on the "peninsula" was
placed there by the hand of man. The
Liberty Tree was destroyed by the British
in 1775, while the Great Elm, the true native
and king of the Common, survived until

1 Edward A. Parker

THE TREES OF BOSTON COMMON

1876, when it fell in a gale on the fifteenth
of February of that year. A local historian
says of this tree, "What I am is of little
consequence; what I have seen and known
is identified with the human race."1 And
concerning the other landmark, Lafayette,
when in Boston, said, "The world should
never forget where once stood Liberty Tree
so famous in your annals!"

There has arisen on the site of the Great
Elm, and from its roots, a sprout generally
known as "the old elm's descendant." It
is now a lusty tree 6| feet in circumference,
and is surrounded by an iron enclosure.
Two inscriptions have been erected at its
base, one in commemoration of the parent
tree, and the other descriptive of the off-
shoot that stands in its very footprints.

THE OLD ELM

THIS TREE HAS BEEN STANDING
HERE FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD.
IT IS BELIEVED TO HAVE EXISTED
BEFORE THE SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON,
BEING FULLY GROWN IN 1 722, EXHIB-
ITED MARKS OF OLD AGE IN I7Q2, ,

1 Mass. Historical Society Proceedings, vol. 14, p. 300.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

WAS NEARLY DESTROYED BY A STORM
IN 1832. PROTECTED BY AN IRON
ENCLOSURE IN 1854.

J. V. C. SMITH, Mayor.

THE OLD ELM

DESTROYED BY A
GALE FEB. 15, 1 876

THIS ELM
PLANTED A.D. 1876

In the wall of a building at the southeast
corner of Essex street at its junction with
Washington street there was inserted some
years ago by Mr. David Sears a handsome
freestone bas-relief representing the Liberty
Tree. This memorial is placed directly over
the spot where the original tree stood, and
an inscription informs the reader that it
commemorates

LIBERTY 1776
LAW AND ORDER
SONS OF LIBERTY 1766
INDEPENDENCE OF THEIR COUNTRY 1776

These memorials mark the passing of the
trees of individual fame on Boston Common.
The records show that Liberty Tree pro-
duced fourteen cords of wood, while the
Great Elm was so large that one of its huge
limbs, blown off in 1860, showed one hun-

THE TREES OF BOSTON COMMON

dred and ninety annual rings. The oldest
trees now standing on this historic ground
are slightly over one hundred years old.
There is something very typical of democ-
racy in the present arrangement, where every
tree is accorded equal attention and care,
and shares with every other its "place in
the sun."

The Common of the present time is en-
tirely surrounded by "malls" all of which
have names derived from the streets which
form their outer boundaries. That on Trem-
ont street is the oldest and was therefore
originally named the mall; although sub-
sequently, when there was a second one it
acquired the name of the great mall, and
now, as there are several, it is called the
Tremont street mall. Early in the eight-
eenth century it had two rows of trees,
mostly English elms, with a few sycamores
at the northerly and some poplars at the
southerly end, the outermost of which was
set out about the year 1734. In 1784 John
Lucas, Esq., the commissary of pensions
for Massachusetts, who resided and had his

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

office in Orange street, and Mr. Oliver
Smith, a noted apothecary who dwelt in
Milk street, procured subscriptions to the
amount of £285 148 yd for the improvement
of the Common; and to the efforts of these
men the town was indebted for the third
row of trees in Tremont street mall. New
trees have been added as the older ones
declined, until, at the present time, the great
mall is composed almost entirely of young
stock. The Beacon street mall was laid
out in 1815 and 1816, and the expense was
defrayed from a subscription raised in 1814
for the purpose of defense against a con-
templated attack from the British. Here
may be found the oldest trees on the Com-
mon. Surrounding Shaw's monument and
extending west along the mall is a group of
eight English elms the largest of which has
a circumference of about fourteen feet.
There is also a very fine gingko near the
Curtis Guild memorial steps. Beyond this
point looking west American elms form a
canopy of shade quite to the end of the mall.
The Charles street mall was commenced in

C63

THE TREES OF BOSTON COMMON

1823 and completed in 1824, during the
first year of the mayoralty of the elder
Quincy, and in 1826, through the energy
of that gentleman, the old poplar trees that
used to disfigure Park street, were un-
ceremoniously cut down in the early morning
hours, and beautiful elms set out in their
place by his own hands. Only a few of
these elms now remain, but their places
have been filled by younger trees. In 1836
Boylston street mall was extended across
the burial ground, two rows of tombs being
closed for the purpose; and with this im-
provement the Common became for the
first time entirely surrounded with trees.1

In 1871, when Dr. Shurtleffs "Historical
and Topographical Description of Boston'*
was published, there were, he says, about
1300 trees in all, of which 700 were American
elms, 50 English and Scotch elms, 70 lindens,
17 tulip trees, 10 sycamores, 8 oaks, 4 balsam
poplars, and a large variety of other trees.
In 1864 all the trees of the Common were

1 Shurtleff, "Historical and Topographical Description of
Boston."

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

scientifically examined by Dr. A. A. Gould
and their species ascertained; and upon
some of the best specimens labels were
fastened indicating the popular and scientific
names. A list of other trees which should
be procured was also submitted, and with
it definite information as to where they could
be obtained. This program has been con-
sistently carried out, seemingly in the spirit
of the words of the orator who, addressing
a large audience under the branches of the
Great Elm a half century ago, cried out,
"We will elect only the men for city coun-
cillors who will guard every tree on these
grounds!"1

Several new paths, or malls, have been
laid out during recent years. The usual
practice has been for the mayor of the city
to plant the first tree. Liberty Mall is the
most recent undertaken and extends, ap-
proximately, from the Shaw Memorial on
Beacon street near the State House to Trem-
ont street near the subway entrance. The
point of intersection of these two malls has

1 Rev. L. B. Bates.

THE TREES OF BOSTON COMMON

become the historic center of the Common.
Probably no other spot in the United States
has seen so many thousands of men recruited
for military service, under the American,
English and French Flags, or so many mil-
lions of money contributed for the cause of
human liberty!

CHAPTER II
THE WASHINGTON ELM

Of our swift passage through this scenery
Of life and death more durable than we,
What landmark so congenial as a tree
Repeating its green legend every spring,
And with a yearly ring
Recording the fair seasons as they flee,
Type of our brief but still renewed mortality?

Lowell

THERE is probably no tree dearer
to the hearts of the people of Massa-
chusetts, or even of the country at
large, than the Washington Elm at Cam-
bridge. If it is true that the Arabs of the
desert tell their children the story of
Washington, the father of his country, it is
equally true that travelers from every lead-
ing nation of the world have looked with
reverence upon this spreading elm, and pon-
dered long as they read the inscription on
the monument at its base. Artists have
painted it, poets have sung its praises, and
most historians who have written of the

THE WASHINGTON ELM AT CAMBRIDGE

THE WASHINGTON ELM

Revolution remind us that "under its
branches Washington took command of the
Continental Army on the third of July,

1775."

The Cambridge elm leaped into fame as
a result of the opposition to British oppres-
sion expressed in Boston, and the necessity
for a nationally recognized military organiza-
tion equal to meeting the needs of the time.
Until 1775 the Colonies were without a
commander-in-chief. In reviewing the period,
in an article on American historical trees,
Harper's Monthly for May, 1862, says: "The
thunder peal of revolution that went forth
from Lexington and Concord aroused all
New England and a formidable army was
soon gathered together around Boston, with
a determination to confine the British in-
vader to that peninsula or drive him into
the sea. The storm cloud of war grew
more portentous every hour. At length it
burst on Bunker Hill, and the great conflict
for American Independence began. The pa-
triots looked for a competent captain to
lead them to absolute freedom and peace.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

That commander was found in George
Washington of Virginia. A New England
delegate suggested him,1 a Maryland delegate
nominated him 2 and the confederate con-
gress appointed him commander-in-chief of
all "the Continental forces raised or to be
raised for the defense of American liberty."
The army at Boston was adopted as the
army of the nation; and on the twenty-first
of June, 1775, Washington left Philadelphia for
the New England capital to take command
of it. He arrived at Cambridge and made
his headquarters there, the second of July.
He was accompanied by Major-general Lee,
his next in command, and other officers,
and received the most enthusiastic greetings
of the people on the way. At about nine
o'clock on the morning of the 3rd of July,
Washington, accompanied by the general
officers of the army who were present, pro-
ceeded on foot from the quarters of the
Commander-in-chief, to a great elm tree
at the north of the Cambridge Common,
near which the Republican forces were drawn

1 John Adams. 2 Thomas Johnson.

THE WASHINGTON ELM

up in proper order. Under the shadow of
that wide-spreading tree, Washington stepped
forward a few paces, made some appropriate
remarks, drew his sword and formally
assumed the command of the army."

Irving, as well as other writers, differs
slightly from this account in certain details.
There was a considerable amount of dis-
cussion in the Continental Congress at the
time of Washington's appointment concern-
ing who should be the "next in command."
Irving says that because of the rank, char-
acter and experience of Generals Lee and
Ward their supporters were unwilling that
either should serve as a subordinate to any
general but Washington, and that, for this
reason, Ward was at last elected second,
and Lee third in command. Ward was at
that time the commander at Boston.1 This
historian also states that Washington
"wheeled his horse, and drew his sword
as commander-in-chief of the armies." But
whether the great man took command of

1 Irving, "Life of Washington,'* vol. I, p. 291. Frothingham's
"Siege," p. 214.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

the American army on foot or on horseback
it is certain that he did it with dignity,
under the elm which bears his name; and
our hearts beat faster as we contemplate
the wonderful picture.

More than a hundred and forty years
have come and gone since that important
and imposing event took place, and the
Washington Elm still stands! It is with
profound sorrow that we find ourselves con-
fronted with the knowledge that it is now
but a shadow of its former self. It has
become the victim, like many another tree
of its kind, of the leopard moth and the
elm-leaf beetle. Every effort has been made
to save it, but it is not expected to last
for more than another decade.

The Harvard Book describes this tree as
belonging to the forest which originally
covered the locality in which it stands,
and gives its dimensions as nearly 100 feet
in height, over 18 feet in trunk circum-
ference and 90 feet in the spread of its
branches. The measurements for height and
spread have, been greatly reduced as a result

THE WASHINGTON ELM

of pruning during the last few years. "In
August, 1872, a branch 17 inches in diameter
fell from the tree. A part of the wood
was used in making a pulpit for the chapel
of the neighboring church." Previous to
this first indication of old age, on Nov. 30,
1864, the City Council ordered "that the
committee on Public Property cause a suit-
able tablet of some durable material, either
granite, marble or iron to be placed on the
'Washington Elm' in Ward i, said tablet
to commemorate in conspicuous letters the
Revolutionary event which rendered said
tree historical."

And so we might go on, and recall from
abundant sources the history of one of the
oldest landmarks of Massachusetts. A great
number of our representative men have men-
tioned it in public utterance or written word
at some time in their careers, and in the heart
of every American who loves the history of
his country, there dwells a degree of respect
and gratitude for this living representative
of olden time. Lowell's was a fitting tribute
when he wrote,

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

Words pass as wind, but where great deeds are done

A power abides transfixed from sire to son;

The boy feels deeper meanings thrill his ear,

That tingling through the pulse life-long shall run,

With sure impulsion to keep honor clear,

When, pointing down, his father whispers, "Here,

Here, where we stand, stood he, the purely great,

Whose soul no siren passion could unsphere,

Then nameless, now a power and mixed with fate."

Historic town, thou boldest sacred dust,

Once known to men as pious, learned, just,

And one memorial pile that dares to last;

But Memory greets with reverential kiss

No spot in all thy circuit sweet as this,

Touched by that modest glory as it passed,

O'er which yon elm hath piously displayed

These hundred years its monumental shade.

CHAPTER III
THE LINDENS AT PLYMOUTH

The breaking waves dashed high

On a stern and rock-bound coast,

And the woods against a stormy sky,

Their giant branches tossed;

And the heavy night hung dark,

The hills and waters o'er,

When a band of exiles moored their bark

On the wild New England shore.

Felicia Hemans

MANY a person has wondered, during
his thoughtful moments, whether
any of his ancestors came to America
in the Mayflower, and in spite of himself
has experienced a growing sense of pride
in the discovery that he was in some way
connected with those men "who produced
a greater revolution in the world than Colum-
bus." "That daring navigator," says one
historian, "in seeking India, discovered
America. They in pursuit of religious free-
dom, established civil liberty, and meaning
only to found a church gave birth to a nation,

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

and in settling a town, commenced an em-
pire!"1 In like manner, any person whether
Mayflower descendant or not, who claims
America as his own, his native land, has
found occasion to glory in "the consummate
prudence of Bradford, the matchless valor
of Standish and the incessant enterprise
of Winslow."

Not only have the writers of our country
given praise to whom praise is due, but those
of other lands have recognized in the coming
of the Pilgrim fathers an inspired event.
Such a writer was Carlyle, who said, "Hail
to thee, thou poor little ship 'Mayflower'! —
poor, common-looking ship hired by common
charter-party for coined dollars, calked with
mere oakum and tar, provisioned with vulgar
biscuit and bacon; yet what ship 'Argo'
or miraculous epic ship built by the sea-gods
was other than a foolish bombarge in com-
parison? Golden fleeces or the like they
sailed for with or without effect. Thou
little 'Mayflower' hadst in thee a veritable
Promethean spark — the spark of the largest

1 Baylie's "New Plymouth," Preface

THE LINDENS AT PLYMOUTH

THE LINDENS AT PLYMOUTH

nation of our earth, as we may already
name the transatlantic Saxon nation. They
went seeking leave to hear a sermon in their
own method, these * Mayflower' Puritans —
a most indispensable search; and yet like
Saul the son of Kish, seeking a small thing
they found this unexpected great thing.
Honor to the brave and true! They verily,
we say, carry fire from heaven, and have
power they dream not of. Let all men honor
Puritanism, since God has so honored it."

What manner of trees were those which
tossed their giant branches against the
stormy sky as the Pilgrims landed? Not
the lindens, with which this chapter is con-
cerned, but pine and oak, chestnut and wal-
nut, even on Cape Cod. With undaunted
zeal these men and women accepted the
task before them and conquered the land
and the forest as well as their enemies.
There is a tradition in the old town that the
Pilgrims brought with them specimens of
their favorite trees. At any rate, when the
community began to assume the proportions
of a town and definite streets were laid out,

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

European trees made their appearance.
Most of the native trees had been cut and
hewn into timbers for homes. Invariably
the linden and English oak were the species
selected and imported for shade-tree plant-
ing. Both of these varieties grew beauti-
fully in the mother country, and it may be
said that Holland, where the Pilgrims sought
a refuge before coming to America, has been
called "the country of lindens." Certainly
the planting of such trees in the New World
was a mark of affection for things held dear
in the Old, and the symbol of a friendship
which even the misunderstandings of Revo-
lutionary times could not shatter. America
abounds with oaks, lindens and elms thus
planted.

To obtain a clear idea of the type of men
who were most responsible for the estab-
lishment of the European trees in Plymouth
we must look forward a period of years to
that era of peace and accomplishment which
followed the Revolution. It was then that
the real character of these men asserted
itself. They were marked by other dis-

C20]

THE LINDENS AT PLYMOUTH

tinctive qualities than those associated with
war or commercial enterprise, and were re-
sponsible for the civil reform and wealth
which developed so rapidly in Plymouth
as the settlement grew. Like many such
periods, whether in the life of a community
or a nation, it developed liberal, public-
spirited citizens. The leaders devoted them-
selves with pride, heart and soul to the
welfare of the town. They elected faithful
and dignified officials, and without regard
to social rank administered to the needs and
welfare of their neighbors and fellow-
townsmen.1 Such were the men who, in
their younger days, devoted themselves,
among many other acts, to the noble work
of tree planting.

Among those who arrived at old age
during this period of civic growth was Colo-
nel George Watson,2 of whom the inscription
on his gravestone says,

With honest fame and sober plenty crowned,
He lived and spread his cheering influence round.

1 Hurd, "Hist, of Plymouth County," pp. 156-7.

2 Died in 1800, aged 83.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

Col. Watson, when a young man, imported
through a Boston sea-captain named
Cameron, several linden trees from London,
and planted them in the garden behind the
house which he built on the site of the pre-
sent Hathaway house, about I745.1 Some
of the original trees remain and are among
the finest of their kind in the country. The
row on the street was taken from them and
set out about fifteen years later. There
are eight trees in this row and they bear an
inscription at either end of the group which
reads,

LINDEN TREES

PLANTED BY

COL. GEORGE WATSON

1760

Many lindens have sprung from this same
stock, and without doubt the beautiful tree
standing on the knoll above the "Plymouth
Rock" came from this source. W. T. Davis,
in his "Memoirs of an Octogenarian," writes
of this tree in the following interesting
way:

"The linden tree standing on the corner

1 Davis, "Historical Sketch and Titles of Estates," p. 181.

THE LINDENS AT PLYMOUTH

of Cole's Hill has an interesting romance
associated with it. The tree was planted
by a youthful couple as a memorial of their
engagement, and when not long afterwards,
in 1809, the engagement was discontinued,
and the memorial was no longer prized by
the lady in whose garden it had been planted,
she one day pulled it up and threw it into
the street. My father, who happened to
be passing at the time, picked it up and
planted it where it now stands. He lived
in the house now known as the Plymouth
Rock House, where he died in 1824, and
under his careful nursing it survived its
treatment, and has grown into the beautiful
tree, now blessing so many with its grateful
shade. In that house I was born in 1822,
and lived until I was more than twenty
years of age, and hundreds of times I have
climbed the branches of the Linden, often
with book in hand, seeking shelter from the

summer sun."1

Other trees in Plymouth worthy of men-
tion are the elms in the town square, planted

1 Davis, " Memoirs of an Octogenarian," p. 15.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

by Thomas Davis,1 the fine old elm in front
of the Court House, and the huge elm on
North St., just below the linden trees. There
is also a very old English oak near the Jack-
son homestead, formerly Gov. Winslow's
house, where Lydia Jackson, wife of Ralph
Waldo Emerson was born.

The lindens all appear to be in good con-
dition. They have withstood the blasting
winds from a broad expanse of sea for a
century and a half, and under the same con-
ditions may live for another century to come.
The two which stand in the garden behind
the Hathaway house (11 North St.) are
seventy feet high. One measures fourteen
feet and three inches, and the other nine
feet and eight inches in circumference at
four and a half feet from the ground. There
were originally four trees, planted in a row;
one blew down, and one was cut by Mr.
Hathaway to make room for the two re-
maining trees. A large branch, about a
foot in diameter, fell from the larger tree
during a storm in September, 1909. The

1 Great-grandfather of W. T. Davis.

THE LINDENS AT PLYMOUTH

row on the street averages a little over
sixty feet in height, and the circumferences
at four and a half feet from the ground,
beginning with the tree at the upper end
of the row, are as follows:

9 ft. 5 in

9

8

6

9

7

5

9

0

7

2

7

8

9

6

The linden standing on Cole's Hill is
thirteen feet and six inches in circumference,
and while only about fifty feet in height
possesses a broad, spreading crown of over
sixty feet.

It may be added, in closing this chapter,
that the Plymouth lindens are rivaled in
size and spread by a group of three on the
Cotuit road on the southern side of the town
of Sandwich. The largest of these is about
15 feet in circumference, and is the very
counterpart of the linden on Cole's Hill,
Plymouth, just described.

CHAPTER IV
THE GUSHING ELM

Who does his duty is a question
Too complex to be solved by me,
But he, I venture the suggestion,
Does part of his that plants a tree.

Lowell

THE summer tourist on his way to
Cape Cod has often passed through
the portion of Hingham lying just
to the south of Nantasket Junction near the
Cohasset town line. He has noticed, on
the right hand side of the road, a very large
and symmetrical tree, known as the Gush-
ing Elm, bearing the following inscription:

UNDER THIS TREE IN 1775

PASTOR JOHN BROWN PREACHED

TO A COMPANY OF COHASSET SOLDIERS

OF COL. GREATON'S REGIMENT WHICH

SERVED IN THE SIEGE OF BOSTON

Colonel Greaton was in command of that
portion of the Patriot army which was
located at Roxbury in 1775, and his name
occurs many times in connection with mill-

THE GUSHING ELM

tary movements in that vicinity during the
"siege/' Pastor John Brown was a Harvard
graduate of the class of 1741, and was or-
dained pastor of the second parish in Hingham
Sept. 2, 1747. He died in 1791 at the age
of sixty-seven years.1

The Hingham chapter of the Daughters
of the American Revolution selected the
inscription and placed it upon the tree a
number of years ago. It commemorates one
event, probably among a large number of
others that were never recorded; for Hing-
ham, during Revolutionary times, was the
scene of more than ordinary activity, and
the road on which the tree stands led directly
to Cohasset and other coast towns further
south. In 1775 the town maintained a regu-
lar garrison at Broad Cove, and was also
one of the sea-coast towns called upon for
assistance in protecting its neighbors from
British attack. The terrible strain of long-
continued service began to be felt in 1776,
and in March of that year the town council
appointed General Lincoln as its agent to

1 " Hist, of Hingham," published by the town, vol. 2, p. 94.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

appeal to General Washington for relief.
But as the historians of Hingham grimly
point out, "the general seems to have had
better use for his troops, both then and
later. For on Sunday, March 17, General
Howe evacuated Boston and General Put-
nam and General Ward entered the town.
The next day General Heath with five regi-
ments was ordered to New York, and with
him went our townsmen under the two
Captain Cushings."1

The name of Gushing has been justly
bestowed upon the "ancestral elm." The
family came from Hingham in old England
and settled in Hingham in New England
as early as 1638. Opposite this elm tree,
on the other side of the street, stands a fine
old colonial house owned by Mr. Samuel
Gushing whose ancestor, Stephen Gushing,
planted the tree in 1729, three years before
the birth of Washington. Stephen Gushing
was the son of Peter Gushing, who built
the house in 1678. The tree originally stood

1 Capts. Peter and Pyam Gushing, " History of Hingham/*
Vol. i, p. 294.

£283

THE GUSHING ELM

on the same side of the street and was several
feet in height when transplanted to its
present site.

At the age of nearly two hundred years
it stands a marvel of strength and symmetry,
a monument to the illustrious dead who
went from Hingham to fight for their coun-
try, and the pride of their descendants who
now hold it dear.

Some idea of its striking appearance may
be had from the photograph. George B.
Emerson gives an excellent word picture on
the Gushing Elm in his work, '"The Trees
and Shrubs of Massachusetts." He says:
"On the 25 of July, 1839, I measured it in
company of Mr. Wm. Oakes, a botanist of
Ipswich. It was 13 feet in circumference
at 4^ feet from the ground. At from 10
to 12 feet eight large branches are thrown
out, which sweep upwards in a broad curve,
making a noble round head sixty or seventy
feet high. The immense roots which, be-
ginning at three or four feet above the surface
stand out like abutments in all directions,
chiefly east and west, give an idea of per-

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

manency and vast strength. The extreme
spread of the limbs is 45 feet from the trunk,
making the breadth of the head more than
90 feet. In the angle of one of the branches
when I measured it, was growing a current
bush, bearing ripe fruit."

So it stands to-day, in full vigor, and with
considerably increased dimensions. Only one
of the eight huge limbs has died out; the
spread of the branches is over 100 feet, and
the circumference of the trunk, when the
author measured it in the summer of 1916,
was i6| feet, 4! feet from the ground.

There are many other beautiful trees in
Hingham, some of which might be called
historic, though very little has been re-
corded concerning them. The elm in front
of the town offices is 16 feet 2 inches in cir-
cumference at breast height, and has a
height of 60 feet and a spread of 100 feet.
The old buttonwood on Leavitt street is 14 \
feet at 2j feet from the ground, at which
point the first limb is thrown out in an
easterly direction; the height is 55 feet,
and the spread of branches 80 feet. On

C303

THE GUSHING ELM

Main street, South Hingham, on the lawn of
Mr. Brown's estate, there is an old elm
which was transplanted in 1772. Its cir-
cumference at breast height is n feet, 7
inches, its height 55 feet and the spread
of its branches 80 feet.

CHAPTER V
THE LAKEVILLE ELMS

The after-quiet — the calm full fraught;
Thou too wilt silent stand, —
Silent as I, and lonesome as the land.

Herman Melville

IN a broad field near Middleboro, on the
road to New Bedford, there are standing
at the present time two beautiful and
towering "wine glass" elms. As you ap-
proach them from the north they give the
impression of being so close together that
the tips of the branches interlock; but
upon entering the field by way of the cart
road leading in from the main highway they
break upon the view as two separate columns,
seventy-five feet apart, lifting their heads
upward into the sky. Each is slender and
graceful, not possessed of great age, but
singularly beautiful in its isolation from
everything save field and sky and distant
woods.

THE LAKEVILLE ELMS

They are considered historic in that they
stand in the middle of what was once a
training-field, where the soldiers of this com-
munity were mustered for service in the
Civil War.

The men who enlisted from Middleboro
and its environs served their country with
honor and distinction, notably among the
first battles of the war. The towering elms,
ever a fitting memorial to the brave, stand
here as if rapt in silent reflection, garlanded
almost to the ground with green leaves,
overlooking the place where some of the
boys in blue prepared themselves for the
great crisis.

The larger tree of the two has a height of
60 feet, a spread of 65 feet and a circum-
ference, at breast height, of 8| feet. The
smaller tree is 60 feet in height, 50 feet in
spread and 7 feet in circumference.

CHAPTER VI
ISLAND GROVE

Lift again the stately emblem on the Bay State's rusted shield,
Give to northern winds the Pine Tree on our banner's tattered

field* Wbittier

THIS beautiful stand of white pine
trees at Abington has come to be
known locally as Island Grove, but
generally as Abolition Grove, and is often
pointed out to the stranger within our midst
as "the place where the Civil War began."
Here, in the open air, sheltered only by the
whispering pines, great men, and women,
too, stood and delivered speeches in the
cause of abolition comparable to any that
were delivered in the celebrated halls of our
great cities, and that produced an effect
comparable to John Brown's raid or Uncle
Tom's Cabin.

Webster, "a man who loved mountains,
and great trees, wide horizons, the ocean, the
western plains, and the great monuments

c/)

ISLAND GROVE

of literature and art," 1 spoke in this historic
place; and Garrison, who for many years
"toiled o'er his types one poor unlearned
young man," was heard by the worthy
people of Abington and the surrounding
towns beneath these same white pines. Here
on the first of August, 1854, he said, when
speaking on the subject of West Indian
Emancipation, ---"The great event which we
celebrate to-day, shows that slavery can only
be overthrown by adherence to principle." 2

The full list of those who spoke here
includes .some of the greatest minds of the
Civil War period. Most of the speeches
were never preserved, and the historian must
search through many sources to find even
a record of the dates on which they were
delivered.

A huge boulder within the grove marks
the spot where the orators were wont to
stand when they spoke; and upon this
boulder a large copper plate bears the fol-
lowing inscription:

1 Lodge, " Life of Webster," p. 353.

2 From the Selectmen's Annual Report, 1854.

C3S3

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

MEETINGS IN THE CAUSE OF ABOLITION

OF SLAVERY WERE HELD IN THIS GROVE

YEARLY FROM 1846 TO 1865. ON THIS SPOT

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON,
WENDELL PHILLIPS, EDMUND QUINCY,

THEO. PARKER, FRANCIS JACKSON,
PARKER PILLSBURY, GEORGE THOMPSON,

ABBY KELLY FOSTER, LUCY STONE
AND OTHERS ADDRESSED THE PEOPLE.

SUFFERING ALL MANNER OF ABUSE

THE ABOLITIONISTS STOOD STEADFAST UNTIL

THE SLAVE WAS MADE FREE

Reader take beed, stand for the right,

though power and wealth and all your

Jellows turn against you and persecute you.

I am in earnest — / will not equivocate
I will not excuse — / will not retreat
A single inch — and I will be beard.

Garrison

ERECTED BY AN ABINGTON SOLDIER

WHO SERVED AND WAS WOUNDED
IN THE WAR WHICH ENDED SLAVERY

The Abington soldier who presented this
memorial to the town was Moses N. Arnold.
Among the invited guests who were present
and participated in the exercises were:
Judges Robert O. Harris and G. W. Kelley,
Hon. A. E. Pillsbury, Francis Garrison, Wm.
Lloyd Garrison, (Mrs.) Helen B. Coggeshall
and Henry B. Blackwell.

To the abolitionists belongs the distinction
of rendering the grove historic. In addition,

C363

ISLAND GROVE

the people of Abington have increased its
fame by gathering beneath its shade for the
celebration of all anniversaries commemor-
ating the founding of their town, as well as
for other noted events.

In 1862 a celebration in commemoration
of the incorporation of the town was attended
by the Governor and members of the State
departments, and by some of the veterans
of the war of 1812. The opening words of
Governor Andrew's speech are worthy of
quotation here:

"Well have the men and women of Massa-
chusetts met and performed the solemn task
of dreadful war. More than forty thousand
of her sons — bravest and best — have been
poured from her teeming lap. Fighting to-
day they stand, wherever floats our coun-
try's starry banner, on land or sea."

This event was followed, in 1865, by a
reception to the returned soldiers and sailors
from Abington and "the day was ushered
in and closed by the ringing of bells and
the firing of cannon." 1

1 From the Selectmen's Annual Report 1865.

C373

•
THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

The most recent celebration held at Island
Grove was that of the two-hundredth anni-
versary of the founding of the town, June
10, 1912. On this date the beautiful bridge
and gateway leading to the grove were
dedicated to the public use.

C383

THE ENTRANCE TO ISLAND GROVE

THE ELIOT OAK

CHAPTER VII
ELIOT OAK AND OTHER TREES OF SOUTH NATICK

For underneath thy shade, in days remote,
Seated like Abraham at eventide
Beneath the oaks of Mamre, the unknown
Apostle of the Indians, Eliot, wrote
His Bible in a language that hath died
And is forgotten, save by thee alone.

Longfellow

JOHN ELIOT, justly styled Apostle to
the Indians, and founder of Natick,
both in church and state, first gathered
the red men together "from their scattered
kind of life into civil society" within the
shades of the forest, and preached to them
beneath a white oak, now a mighty tree,
universally known as the Eliot Oak.

While established as a teacher of the
church in Roxbury, about 1632, Eliot was
"moved to compassion for the ignorant and
depraved state of the Indians," and re-
solved to devote a part of his time to their
instruction. He undertook the almost hope-
less task of learning their language and

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

found that the length and harshness of their
words were almost overwhelming. Cotton
Mather says that men would stand aghast
at some of the instances — sighting as an
example the expression "our lusts" which
requires a word of thirty-two letters in the
Indian language. "Behold, ye Americans,"
says he, "the greatest honor that ever ye
were partakers of! The Bible was printed
here at our Cambridge; and is the only
Bible that ever was printed in all America,
from the very foundations of the world.
The whole translation he writ with but one
pen, which pen had it not been lost, would
have certainly deserved a richer case than
was bestowed upon that pen with which
Holland writ his translation of Plutarch." l

In loyalty to the man who did so much
for them, the Indians built the first meeting-
house near the spot where their apostle
was accustomed to speak to them. The
white oak stood at its easterly end. At the
westerly end there was a red oak of vast
proportions. In 1850 when this tree was

1 Mather's " Magnalia," B III, p. 197.
C403

ELIOT OAK AND OTHER TREES OF SOUTH NATICK

cut down it measured 17 feet in circum-
ference at 2 feet from the ground.1 The
Eliot Church (Unitarian) in South Natick
now marks the spot where stood the Indian
meeting-house.

Several interesting stories have come down
through the years concerning Eliot's first
efforts among the red men. There is no
record to prove conclusively whether they
originated at the foot of the oak tree, or
within the little chapel, but they carry with
them a background of spreading branches,
green leaves and acorns; and we can imagine
the venerable preacher, Bible in hand, his
back to the tree trunk, and Indians seated
in groups upon the ground in the midst of
the forest.

"While engaged in the translation of his
Indian Bible, Eliot came upon the following
passage in Judges v, 28: 'The mother of
Sisera looked out at the window and cried
through the lattice.' Not knowing an Indian
word to signify lattice, he applied to several
of the natives, and endeavored to describe

1 Bacon, "Hist, of Natick," p. 12.

C40

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

to them what a lattice resembled. He de-
scribed it as framework, netting, wicker,
or whatever occurred to him as illustrative,
when they gave him a long, barbarous and
unpronounceable word, as are most of the
words in their language. Some years later,
when he had learned their dialect more
correctly he is said to have laughed out-
right, upon finding that the Indians had
given him the true term for 'eel pot.' 'The
mother of Sisera looked out at the window
and cried through the eel pot!'"1

"One of these sons of the forest is said to
have discovered a more appropriate emblem
of the Trinity than even the triangle itself.
The missionary had been lecturing on this
sublime and incomprehensible mystery, when
one of his red auditors, after a long and
thoughtful pause, thus addressed him, 'I
believe, Mr. Minister, I understand you.
The Trinity is just like water and ice and
snow. The water is one, the ice is another,
and the snow is another, and yet they are
all water/"2

1 Bigelow, p. 84. 2 Bigelow, p. 85.

ELIOT OAK AND OTHER TREES OF SOUTH NATICK

The high esteem in which Eliot was held
by the Praying Indians passed on as a heri-
tage to some of the ministers who were called
to Natick at a later time. In 1722 a depu-
tation of Indians came to the Rev. Mr.
Peabody's house bearing two elms on their
shoulders. These they presented to their
minister and desired permission to set them
out in front of his door as "trees of friend-
ship." They flourished for ninety years when
one was struck by lightning, and the other
declined rapidly and was removed. They
measured twenty-one feet at one foot from
the ground, and thirteen feet at the smallest
part of the trunk.1 In 1753 a like request
was made by the Indians of their minister,
Mr. Badger, and the same ceremony took
place. The Hon. John Welles observes,
(1826), "These trees are now in full vigor,
having been set out seventy-three years.
They are about fifteen feet in circumference
near the ground, and have given in circum-
ference nearly i| inches in growth a year."
The elm now pointed out as the remaining

1 Bigelow, p. 12, Bacon, Chap. 10.

£433

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

"tree of friendship" in front of the Badger
house measures loj feet in circumference
at breast height. There is, however, an
elm near the road, to which Welles may have
referred, that is 13^ feet in circumference
at breast height, and a little over 15 feet
near the ground. The tree in the yard is in
direct line with the stump of a larger tree
claimed to have been its companion.

Several other trees have become identified
with the history of the town. An elm,
described by Bacon as the finest of all blew
down only a few years ago. The spread of
its branches was over one hundred feet.
The elm which stands on the margin of the
Charles River, not far from Eliot's monu-
ment, is one of the most magnificent speci-
mens of its kind to be seen anywhere. The
curves of its powerful branches, were it
situated on higher ground, would be visible
for miles. Other characteristics are its ap-
parent health and strength.

A very beautiful elm may be seen about
a quarter of a mile further up the street.
Under this tree Washington stood and con-

ELIOT OAK AND OTHER TREES OF SOUTH NATICK

gratulated Major Hesekiah Broad for his
services in behalf of the Colonies. The
circumference is 11 feet, 8 inches, the height
65 feet, and the spread 85 feet.

On the rising ground to the northwest
stands the "Carver Hill Chestnut," a huge
and towering tree, the last survivor of a
chestnut ridge that made its owners wealthy.
Mention may also be made of the Hartwell
Oak on Pleasant Street, noted for its re-
markable shape and for the wide spread
of its branches; and of a very old and beauti-
ful oak near the road on the way to Wellesley
from South Natick. The latter is also claimed
to mark the site of one of Washington's rest-
ing places, and is 15 J feet in circumference.

Among all this interesting collection the
Eliot Oak holds the first place in the minds
of travelers to the locality of South Natick.
It is not so large as might be expected from
its age, and like Holmes' s old elm of Rhode
Island, must tremble sometimes as the tape
is applied to its trunk. But the white oak
is seldom conspicuous for rapid growth, and
we are not in any way disappointed with the

C453

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

dimensions of this one; its age is plainly
written upon its noble frame. The circum-
ference of the trunk is 15 feet, 2 inches, the
height is 61 feet, and the spread of the
branches is 100 feet.

CHAPTER VIII
AVERY OAK AND OTHER TREES OF DEDHAM

That old familiar tree,
Whose glory and renown
Are spread o'er land and sea —
And wouldst thou hew it down?
Woodman, forbear thy stroke!
Cut not its earth-bound ties;
Oh, spare that aged oak
Now towering to the skies!

IN the days when navies were composed
entirely of wooden ships, and America
was known as a great source of ship-
building materials, the white oak was one of
the most sought-after of all our New England
trees; and in spite of the great quantity of
virgin timber that still remained among the
colonies at that time, the price was unusually
good for individual trees whose size and shape
made them suitable for ship-construction.

If all the stately white oaks which were
built into the sturdy frame of "Old Iron-
sides" could be accounted for, we would
have a list of historic trees whose adventures
would fill a thrilling volume. But history

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

is silent, except in a few instances, concerning
where the trees were bought whose trunks
composed the old-time frigates. A white
oak near Danvers, known as "King George's
Whipping Post," because condemned per-
sons were often tied to a ring in its trunk
and flogged according to the seriousness of
the crime, was purchased for use in the con-
struction of the frigate Essex. It is said that
the iron ring was actually found in the trunk
of the tree when the timbers were hewed.1

The oldest white oak in Dedham bears
the distinction of having once been selected

THE SALEM FRIGATE
TAKE NOTICE

1 Ye Sons of Freedom ! all true lovers of the Liberty of your
Country! step forth, and give your assistance in building the
Frigate, to oppose French insolence and piracy. Let every
man in possession of a White Oak Tree, be ambitious to be fore-
most in hurrying down the timber to Salem, and fill the comple-
ment wanting, where the noble structure is to be fabricated,
to maintain your rights upon the Seas, and make the name
of America respected among the nations of the world. Your
largest and longest trees are wanted, and the arms of them for
Knees and Rifing Timber. Four trees are wanted for the
Keel, which all together will measure 146 feet in length, and
hew 1 6 inches square. Please to call on the Subscriber, who
wants to make contracts for large or small quantities, as may
suit best, and will pay the READY CASH.

ENOS BRIGGS

oa/em, Nov. 23, 1798

AVERY OAK AND OTHER TREES OF DEDHAM

as suitable material for the celebrated and
much honored frigate that still lies at an-
chor off Charlestown — Old Ironsides. The
amount offered was seventy dollars. The
offer was refused because the owner's wife,
Mrs. William Avery, who greatly admired the
tree, prevailed upon her husband to spare it.

This took place in the eighteenth century,
and the Avery oak is still with us, gnarled
but vigorous. Along the whole length of the
trunk, and well into the main branch, may
be seen a deep furrow, ten inches wide or
more near the ground, evidently caused by
lightning. A healthy cambium, and some
surgical assistance, have enabled the tree
to practically outgrow the adversities of
former years.

A record for the year 1847 gives the size as
sixteen feet in circumference near the ground.1
The present circumference at one foot above
the ground is twenty-three feet, five inches,
and the circumference at breast height is
now sixteen feet, nine inches. To these
figures may be added the height, which is

1 Mann, "Annals of Dedham," p. 125.

C493

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

sixty-eight feet, and the spread of branches,
which is ninety-three feet.

The tree is older than the town, and is
claimed on the basis of tradition to mark
the site of the first religious meeting ever
held in Dedham. Dr. William Avery, for
whom the tree was named, caused a chair
to be made from some of the branches which
blew off, and as an accompanying memento,
a table, constructed of timbers from the
old Avery house. The chair and table he
presented to the Dedham Historical Society.
The tree also has the distinction of being
adopted as a model for the town seal. In
1886 Mr. Joseph H. Clark presented the
tree, and the ground on which it stands,
to the Historical Society, and it is still owned
and cared for by that organization. The
location is on East street, a short distance
from the point of its intersection with East-
ern avenue, and near the Fairbanks house.

There seems to be no recorded history
of the faithful old white oak that stands
within the village pound on High street.
Surely this oak with its great age could

AVERY OAK AND OTHER TREES OF DEDHAM

relate a good Pickwickian story were it
endowed with the gift of tongues. At any
event it is considered historic and has been
decorated with a legend —

THIS POUND BUILT

ABOUT I7OO

CIRCUMFERENCE OF OAK
19 FEET

The circumference of this tree at breast
height is 16 feet, 3 inches; the height is
45 feet, and the spread of the branches 60
feet.

Three English elms greatly esteemed by the
people of Dedham are still standing on Court
street. They are now declining but retain
much of their original beauty. The largest
is 15 feet, 10 inches in circumference. The
other two have a girth of 13 feet. The
famous "Wart Tree," also an English elm,
succumbed and was removed in 1908.

CHAPTER IX
THE HOLLISTON ELMS

Be it ours to meditate,
In these calm shades, thy milder majesty.

Bryant

WHEN the Honorable Levi Lincoln
was Governor of Massachusetts
(1825-34) he was accustomed to
drive, at certain intervals, from the capital
in Boston to his home in Worcester by way
of the road leading through Natick, Sherborn
and HoIIiston. He was a lover of nature,
and elected to travel where his itinerary
brought him in closest communion with his
favorite trees and hills. Governor Bullock,
speaking before the Worcester Agricultural
Society, of which Mr. Lincoln was president
during the later period of his life, said of him,
that "trees, above all things, Governor Lincoln
believed in and admired."

Chief among the elms which attracted

THE HOLLISTON ELMS

his attention during the years of his ad-
ministration of the State government were
the two trees towering, then as now, close
to the highway near East HoIIiston. It
was the Governor's habit to request his
driver to stop where the trees might be
viewed to the best advantage, and there,
for a few silent moments, His Excellency
would absorb the influence of their omnipres-
ence; he would then drive on with uncovered
head, deeming that such manifestations of
the work of the Great Craftsman deserved
the respect and admiration of all men, what-
ever their rank and station in life.

Governor Lincoln was not the only high
public official on whom the HoIIiston Elms,
even at that early date, had made their
impression. The great Washington had
passed this way in 1789, and had rested
beneath their shade. The Father of His
Country was far from demonstrative, but
it is known that he sincerely revered the
great monuments of nature, and, either by
chance or design, selected his ground, when
a halt was called, with the instinct of a true

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

naturalist — at least if we are to judge
from the number of times he is reported to
have rested under great trees.

The elms at HoIIiston were planted about
the year 1747. They may have been six or
seven feet in circumference during Washing-
ton's time, and were probably approaching
the size of second-class elms when Governor
Lincoln first noticed them. They seem to
have escaped the attention of those who
would have given them a place in literature
— as suggested in the following newspaper
clipping from the Framingham Tribune in
possession of Col. G. A. Flagg of HoIIiston.

Editor of the Tribune:

There are two elm trees in HoIIiston which should be classed
among the big trees of the state.

I have seen no mention of them in any account of the famous
trees of Massachusetts. They are situated on the Main street
between HoIIiston and East HoIIiston, in front of what is known
as the Col. Whiting place, now owned by Mr. Flagg. We made
an accurate measurement of them to-day. The smallest meas-
ures one foot from the ground, nineteen feet in circumference,
four feet from the ground, sixteen feet in circumference.

The shape of this tree is something remarkable. The trunk
is almost square, having four sides. Three of the sides measure
about five feet each.

The larger of the two trees measures, one foot from the
ground, twenty-four feet, the large roots spreading outward.
Four feet from the ground it measures seventeen feet in cir-
cumference. The trees appear perfectly sound, and the branches

C54H

v -1 Y i

THE HOLLISTON ELMS

not spreading outward, or overhanging, but towering to a height
of one hundred feet.

I know of no trees in this section that will compare with them.

These magnificent elms were planted by Aaron Phipps during
his apprenticeship to Dea. James Russell (blacksmith) between
1747 and 1751 (see Morse's history of Sherborn and HoIIiston).

It is said Washington rested under these trees on his return
from Boston in 1789. He spent the night in Uxbridge, and,
HoIIiston being halfway between Boston and Uxbridge, he very
likely stopped here to dinner.

Yours truly,

THOMAS A. DICKINSON

The larger of the two trees is quite as
"remarkable" in its way as the smaller,
and is certainly more "magnificent." It
is one of those elms whose habit it is to cover
its trunk with small twigs, and appears,
in summer, like a fountain of leaves rising
out of the earth. Unquestionably no pair
of elms in Massachusetts can surpass these
in size and grandeur; none give greater hope
of preserving their beauty far into the future.

The author's measurements are the follow-
ing: for the larger tree the circumference
at breast height is i8J feet, the height is
92 feet, and the spread 80 feet. For the
smaller the circumference is i6J feet, the
height 85 feet, and the spread 85 feet.

By way of comparison, a pair of elms in

1:553

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

the town of South Chelmsford, another in the
town of Lincoln may be briefly referred to.
For, in some respects, the first named are
more beautiful as a group than even the Hol-
liston elms, while the latter have that pecul-
iar interest and charm that arise from great
age. The South Chelmsford elms are on the
W. R. Winning farm not far from Carlisle
Station. Each is 14 feet in circumference,
and the combined spread of the branches is
125 feet. They are always conspicuous for
the number of birds that nest in their
branches, chiefly orioles and vireos. The
elms in Lincoln stand directly in front of
the oldest house in the town about seventy-
five yards from the State road leading from
Concord to Boston, and approximately two
miles east from Concord. They are about
15 feet in circumference, and are beginning
to decline. The branches have a highly
muscular appearance but have suffered some-
what from insect pests.

THE ROBY ELM

CHAPTER X
THE ROBY ELM

Over our heads the branches made
A canopy of woven shade.

Charles Henry Luders

THE Roby Elm, so named from Parson
Roby who planted it about the year
1770, stands on Main street in the
town of Saugus.1 Its circumference is 15
feet, 2 inches, spread 100 feet, and height
75 feet. The trunk is of unusual length,
being about 30 feet, and numerous large
branches sweep upwards for at least twenty
feet more before spreading to form the
crown.

It is related that the parson selected
and dug this tree with great care, placing
it in his house, still a fine old residence and
one of the landmarks of Saugus, where he

1 The reader will be interested in comparing this tree with
the Marlboro Elm described in Chap. XV both as to its form and
the events with which it is associated.

C573

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

kept it until the following morning, and
planted it in a suitable spot in his yard.

The parsonage was a favorite rendezvous
for the Patriots of this locality, and Mr.
Roby was a well-known personage among
those with whom he labored for more than
half a century. He was evidently one of
those ministers who believed it his duty
to fight as well as to preach, and had the
honor of being presented to Washington at
Newhall Tavern in East Saugus, where the
General stopped on his way towards Boston
along the Newbury turnpike road.

Parson Roby died in the eighty-third year
of his age, and the fifty-third of his ministry
here, in 1803. He was stricken while preach-
ing to his people.

As a matter of passing interest it may be
said that in this old town there is a beautiful
specimen of the black walnut, an older tree,
supposedly, than the Roby Elm, concerning
which the author of "Our Trees" (of Essex
County) 1 says, "It is quite among the possi-
bilities that Cotton Mather could have

1 John Robinson.

THE CHEEVER WALNUT

THE ROBY ELM

stopped to rest beneath the shade of the
'Cheever Walnut' on his way on horseback,
from Boston, to witness the witchcraft exe-
cutions on Gallows Hill in Salem in 1692."
It stands on Center street, and measures 13!
feet in circumference, 65 feet in height,
and 87 feet in the spread of its branches.

CHAPTER XI
THE BOXFORD ELM

'Twas my forefather's hand
That placed it near his cot.

George Pope Morris

AMONG the famous Indian characters
whose names and deeds are indelibly
written upon the pages of New Eng-
land history, was an old "sagamore" named
Masconomet of Agawam. The territory over
which he held sway was bounded on the
north by the Merrimac River, on the west
by Naumkeag, generally known as Massa-
chusetts, which means, — "at or near the
great hill," and on the east and south by the
Atlantic Ocean. From this old sagamore,
Governor John Winthrop procured, in 1638,
a deed of the whole tract of land then in-
cluded in the town of Ipswich, which also
included the present town of Boxford. Mas-
conomet died about the year 1658, and was
well known as a friend of the white men.

THE BOXFORD ELM

Nearly fifty years later, in 1700-01, his
three grandsons, Samuel English, Joseph Eng-
lish and John Umpee, claimed title to and
demanded money for the territory included
in Boxford. The town bounds at that time
were substantially the same as now. On
Jan. 15, 1701, a town meeting was held,
at which John and Thomas Perley, John
Peabody, Thomas Hazen and Joseph Bridges
were chosen a committee to treat with the
Indians relative to their demand, and were
given full authority to settle the claim. All
of these men were influential in the life of
the town. The two Perleys and John Pea-
body had served as representatives in the
General Court, and Hazen and Bridges were
at that time serving as selectmen of Boxford.

The committee met the Indians at Thomas
Perley's tavern, which stood on the site later
occupied by the so-called Hale residence, now
owned by Mr. Harry S. Perkins of Howe's
Village, East Boxford, Mass., and conspic-
uously marked by a huge elm tree. In ex-
change for a new deed of the property in
question, the Indians received eight pounds

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

paid in money to Samuel English, and "two
shillings and sixpence in silver and Rum
and vittles enouf," paid to their two kins-
men.

This transaction settled for all time the
question of title to the town of Boxford,
and rendered the site of the Thomas Perley
tavern historic ground. When Mr. Perley
died in 1745, his property was divided
between his two sons, Thomas and Asa
Perley, the latter receiving the portion on
which the homestead stood. In 1760 Asa
Perley took down the old tavern and erected
upon the spot a new dwelling house, and
planted directly in front of it "the sapling
elm." Both house and tree have since re-
mained as cherished landmarks of Boxford,
as well as of Essex County.

Out from the shade of the elm tree, where
they had played as children, seven stalwart
sons of Asa Perley marched forth to the
Revolution; and General Israel Putnam,
who was a step-son of their grandfather,
Thomas Perley, by the latter' s marriage to
Elizabeth Putnam, widow of Joseph Putnam,

THE BOXFORD ELM

spent many a happy day beneath this same
tree, both before and after he became famous.
The sapling elm gradually developed into
a great tree — one of the greatest in Massa-
chusetts. It has, at the present time, a
circumference at breast height of fourteen
feet, four and a half inches; a height of
seventy feet, and a spread of one hundred
feet. At about ten or twelve feet from the
ground the trunk divides into five large
branches which in turn subdivide to form
a broad crown, overtopping the old colonial
residence, and lending its charm to the whole
country-side.1

1 The authority for the historic facts contained in this chap-
ter is Mr. Sidney Perley who has written several books on the
town of Boxford, among which are: "History of Boxford,"
"Indian Land Titles of Essex County," and "Dwellings of
Boxford."

1:633

CHAPTER XII
THE ENDICOTT PEAR TREE

The days that are no more, and come no more,
When as a child you sat upon my knee,
And prattled of your playthings, and the games
You played among the pear trees in the orchard.

Longfellow

WHEN selecting a young tree for
planting as a permanent, living
monument, capable of occupying
a given spot for from one hundred to five
hundred years, one would hardly choose,
out of all the available species, a fruit tree.
And yet John Endicott, the earliest pioneer
of the Massachusetts settlement under the
patent, has left behind him a pear tree which
he planted about the year 1632, and which
still " bears more fruit than the whole town
can eat " as the people say in Danvers.

Endicott in addition to being a devout
Puritan, and an intrepid and successful leader,
was also a lover of trees and shrubs, with
an especial leaning toward the fruit-bearing

THE ENDICOTT PEAR TREE

varieties. Mr. Higginson, who came to the
colony in June, 1629, records the fact that
"Our Governor hath already planted a vine-
yard, with great hopes of increase. Also
mulberries, plums, raspberries, currants,
chestnuts, filberts, walnuts, small nuts, hurtle
berries and haws of white thorn, near as
good as our cherries in England — they
grow in plenty here." *

This unusual variety of good things was
probably transferred to the "Orchard Farm,"
so called, consisting of three hundred acres,
given to Governor Endicott as the first
grant in 1632, and confirmed by the Colonial
Authorities in that year. It was called "a
necke of land lying about three miles from
Salem," and was known by the Indians
as Wahquamesehcok (birchwood).2

Authorities differ as to the probable date
of the planting of the pear tree, which has
survived all of its companions. According
to a family tradition, Endicott's dial, bearing
date of 1630, and the fruit trees, including

1 See "Memoir of John Endicott" by Chas. E. Endicott.
1 Hanson, " Hist, of Danvers."

1:653

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

the celebrated pear, were ordered at the
same time. If this is true it is reasonable
to suppose that the trees were planted at
the Governor's residence in 1630, and in their
permanent places at Orchard Farm as soon
as that land was under cultivation, about
1633. Hanson's "History of Danvers" quotes
Joselyn, 1639, as savmg» "There is not a
single apple tree or pear tree in all the
colonies " and adds that either the shoot was
brought over subsequent to 1639 or Joselyn
did not know of its existence. The writer's
own opinion is that 1630 is the probable
date for the arrival of this tree in America.
For out of all that wealth of trees and shrubs,
particularly fruit-bearing species, with which
the Governor surrounded himself from 1629
to 1633, he would hardly have overlooked
the apple and the pear. These trees may
have been in the minority, and therefore
overlooked by the outside observer.

There is not much left of beauty or come-
liness about the venerable tree which still
maintains its layer of living bark from year
to year around a hollow trunk, and still

C66]

THE ENDICOTT PEAR TREE

drops down its golden fruit into the laps
of Endicott's grateful descendants and ad-
mirers. Could the old Puritan see it at
this time he would say, with Touchstone,
"An ill-favored thing, sir, but mine own";
and he might well add, "Rich honesty dwells
like a miser, sir, in a poor house." When
in leaf, however, the tree possesses a youthful
appearance, as the photograph will show.

The local historian, J. W. Hanson, pays
a fitting tribute in his "History of Danvers"
when he says, "The man of the present
day who stands beneath its shadow cannot
repress the mingling emotions which rise in
his Soul. In its nestling boughs he surveys
the past and beholds the light of other days."

Measurements have no value and convey
no meaning, as applied to this tree. Soil
has gradually collected about the trunk until
the two main branches appear to rise from
the ground as separate trees. They evidently
join under a heavy covering of sod. Sur-
rounding them is a fence which acts as an
effective protection. When the author
photographed the tree it was covered with

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

green fruit. It may be seen in a field near
Endicott street at Danversport, and is worth
turning aside to behold, for it is one of the
most quaint and strangely impressive of all
the historic trees.

C68I1

CHAPTER XIII
LEXINGTON AND CONCORD TREES

Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

Emerson

AMONG that small band of patriots
who placed themselves across the
path of the advancing British army
at Lexington Common, on the iQth of April,
1775, was a lad of seventeen — Jonathan
Harrington. He was the fifer of Capt. Par-
ker's company, and, with his brave com-
panions-in-arms, responded to the famous
command, "Stand your ground, don't fire
unless fired upon, but if they want to have
a war let it begin here!"

In the fight which followed, the percentage
of killed and wounded, in relation to the
number of men engaged on the side of the
patriots, was greater than in almost any
other famous battle of our history; and

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

among the dead were found two worthy
representatives of the name of Harrington.
They fell, the one upon his own door-step,
and the other while escaping from the
meeting-house where the military supplies
were stored.

Jonathan Harrington, the fifer, came out
of the battle of Lexington unscathed, and
lived to the ripe old age of ninety-six, being
the last survivor of those who took part.
His death in 1854 produced a remarkable
effect, both on the community and through-
out the state. His funeral was attended by
the Governor and his Council, the Lieutenant-
Governor, the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives, and by many prominent citizens.
Two companies of militia, ordered out by
the Governor for the occasion, fired a volley
over the grave.

The distinction Jonathan Harrington en-
joyed, as the result of his long and interesting
career, has shed its glow upon a certain
favorite tree, planted by his father. It bears
the name of "The Harrington Elm," and
stands in front of the L. A. Austin place

*:«**> • fVHMHMHHHHi

THE ELM AT MONROE TAVERN, LEXINGTON

LEXINGTON AND CONCORD TREES

on Massachusetts Avenue, East Lexington,
A legend upon its trunk informs us that

THIS TREE

WAS PLANTED IN 1732
BY JONATHAN HARRINGTON
FATHER OF THE LAST SURVIVOR
OF THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON

It is seventy feet in height, sixteen feet,
four inches in circumference and ninety feet
in the spread of its branches. At about ten
feet the trunk divides into four great limbs.
One of these, on the northerly side, divides
again into four branches. There were origi-
nally five sub-divisions to the trunk, but one
fell in a heavy gale. The wound has been
treated and is properly healing.

As you pass on from the Harrington Elm
towards the historic common, the "Old Mon-
roe Tavern" presents itself to your view
on the left side of the road. Directly in
front of it may be seen another beautiful
elm, slightly smaller in girth, but nearly
equal in height and spread to the elm just
described. Here, on the day of the battle
horses were tied to a series of iron spikes,
driven at intervals of several inches, around

C7O

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

the tree. One of these, over which the
bark has not yet closed, may still be seen
about an inch and a half below the surface.
This spike is exactly four and a half feet
from the ground. The circumference of the
tree at this point is fourteen feet and five
inches.

Another tree which is sure to arrest the
attention, even of the casual observer, is
the ash which stands near the monument
on Lexington common, where the remains of
those who fell in the battle were finally
brought and buried. It is reasonable to
suppose that this tree was standing when
the battle of Lexington was fought. The
circumference is fourteen feet.

Here the advance of the British ceases
to be associated with great trees until Con-
cord is reached, where several ashes, elms,
buttonwoods and oaks may be found, bearing
upon their forms the marks of antiquity.
But strangely enough not one has been
selected and classified as historic.

The elm in front of the town hall must
have towered above the British army as it

LEXINGTON AND CONCORD TREES

halted in the center of the town. It is
fifteen and a half feet in circumference.
The buttonwood in front of the Jesse C.
Brown house, and the elm in the middle of
the sidewalk in front of the C. F. Haywood
place, both on Lexington Road, must have
looked sternly down upon the tramping
throng as it came and departed. Each tree
is more than twelve feet in circumference,
and the elm increases by huge abutments
until, at the ground, the circumference is
nearly doubled.

On the bank of the Concord River, just
beyond the Monument Street bridge, and
not far from the famous "monument of the
minute-man" there is a very old willow tree.
Its girth is greater than that of any tree in
Concord, and it is known to have been a
sizable specimen even in Revolutionary
times. The circumference at breast height,
measured from the upper side is twenty-
two feet; from the lower side it is eighteen
feet and eight inches; the height is forty-
three feet and the spread sixty-three feet.
At the point where the branches emerge

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

from the trunk the circumference is nearly
thirty feet.

There are yet other trees in historic Con-
cord, but they belong to a later time, and are
associated with the years of peace and ac-
complishment rather than with those of war.
They seem to have been more cherished than
any of the others. The writer refers to the
two old elms in front of the Louisa May
Alcott house, and the little grove of pines
and spruces just beyond it. Under the shade
of the elms once lived the author of "Little
Women," and among the whispering pines
Hawthorne walked, thought and wrote, or
conversed with his friend Thoreau.

The elm at the left of the door as the
visitor approaches the old house is thirteen
feet in circumference, and the one at the
right is fifteen feet. Their height is about
sixty-five feet. The spread of the branches
is not imposing, as one of the trees has lost
nearly half of its limbs.

The pines and spruces are tall, with
clean boles and healthy crowns; within
their deepest shades an attractive boulder

C743

THE OLD WILLOW AT CONCORD

w

O
H

8 «

c^ £

W <
ffi ffi

s§

O

LEXINGTON AND CONCORD TREES

has been placed, which bears the following
inscription :

THIS TABLET PLACED
AT THE CENTENNIAL EXERCISES

JULY 4, 1904
COMMEMORATES
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.
HE TROD DAILY THIS PATH TO THE HILL

TO FORMULATE
AS HE PACED TO AND FRO

UPON ITS SUMMIT
HIS MARVELOUS ROMANCES

CHAPTER XIV
THE ANCIENT OAKS AT WAYSIDE INN

By noon and night the panting teams,
Stop under the great oaks that throw

Tangles of light and shade below,
On roofs and doors and window-sills.

Longfellow

ABOUT twenty miles west of Boston,
in the town of Sudbury, there is a
very old and very famous inn known
as Longfellow's Wayside Inn. It is cele-
brated for its beautiful collection of antiques,
its remarkable fire-places and the attractive
arrangement of its many rooms; but chiefly
for the lure that surrounds it by reason of
the noted personalities who have been asso-
ciated with the place and its vicinity. Wash-
ington and Lafayette stopped there during
Revolutionary times, and there the beloved
American poet Longfellow found the in-
spiration for some of his best poetical works.
Opposite the .east wing, and on either
side of the State Road, stand the Ancient

THE ANCIENT OAKS AT WAYSIDE INN

Oaks, measuring 18 feet, 2| inches, and 17
feet, 7 inches respectively, and spreading their
powerful branches over a space of more than
200 feet. They are so nearly alike in form
and in the color of the bark that they are
usually mistaken for white oaks, and con-
sidered the largest pair of this species in New
England. But upon more careful study it
will be noted that the smaller tree, i.e., the
one within the bounds of the highway, is a
red oak, while the one within the grounds of
the Inn is a white oak.

These trees were standing here in June,
1775, when Washington passed on his way
to Cambridge to take command of the
Patriot army; and again about a century
later they were rendered famous by Long-
fellow in his "Tales of a Wayside Inn,"
when

Through the ancient oaks o'erhead,
Mysterious voices moaned and fled.

The age of the Ancient Oaks is unknown,
but it is claimed that they existed full grown
before the Inn was built, and are at least 500
years old. The white oak is hollow, and

C773

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

would house several persons within its trunk.
Tree-surgeons have removed the dead wood
from within and braced the walls of the
trunk against the elements and the strain
of the great branches. Seed continues to
be borne in abundance each year, and the
surrounding fields contain many large and
beautiful oaks — the children and grand-
children of these giants of the forest primeval.

CHAPTER XV
THE MARLBORO ELM

Lean close and set thine ear against the bark;

Then tell me what faint, murmurous sounds are heard.

Charles Henry Luders

THE road over which Washington
passed on his way to Cambridge
is still the favorite highway between
Springfield and Worcester, and between Wor-
cester and Boston. It has now become the
popular automobile route between those
cities, and many a beautiful tree greets the
traveler with its grateful shade. After pass-
ing the old oaks at Wayside Inn, going
towards the west, you enter the town of
Marlboro. A large sign informs you that
this town is the seventh in shoe production
in the state, and that it is "clean, healthy
and prosperous." Near the end of West
Main street, on the lawn of the Stevens
place stands an old elm tree, the dimensions
of which are quite extraordinary: circum-
ference at breast height, 17^ feet, height,

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

74 J feet, spread of branches, 100 feet. The
roots on the southerly side rise from the
ground like an abutment, increasing the
circumference at one foot from the ground
to 29^ feet. The branches are unusually
large, and in a pocket of earth which has
collected among them at the top of the
trunk, a currant bush has been bearing fruit
for sixty years. This fact is vouched for by
Mr. William Arnold who worked for William
Gibbon, a former owner of the property
on which the tree stands, when a boy.

The tree is historic on account of its con-
nection with the old house just behind it, and
its age dates back as far, at least, as 1740,
when it was much prized by a Tory minister
of Marlboro, the Rev. Aaron Smith. "The
house was erected by the town for the Rev.
Aaron Smith upon his settlement here in
1740. At the time of the Revolution, this
man was suspected of Tory sentiments, and
one night two loaded muskets were fired into
his window, probably as a threat or warning
by individuals who, actuated by the spirit
of the time, gave vent to their detestation

THE MARLBORO ELM

THE MARLBORO ELM

of anyone who could possibly make harder
the struggle of a feeble province, almost
without arms and ammunition of war against
the then most powerful nation of the earth.
The bullets fired lodged in a beam, and
were extracted and preserved by Mr. Samuel
Gibbon. Rev. Smith, becoming less popular,
and because of impaired voice resigned the
ministry here and in 1778 removed to Way-
land where he died three years later. In
1784, Mr. Samuel Gibbon came with his wife
from Dedham and bought this old house, im-
proving it in many ways. He was a trader, a
prominent citizen and many years a Justice of
the Peace. He also represented the town in
the Legislature. Samuel Gibbon willed the
old homestead to his son who cared for his
father to his death. The property eventually
passed into the hands of William Gibbon's
daughter Mary, who married Frank Howe,
and, in 1903, the place was purchased by Dr.
Ralph E. Stevens who with his family resides
in this, one of Marlboro's oldest landmarks." 1

1 Ella A. Bigelow, " Historical Reminiscences of Marlboro,"
Chap. 2.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

When the writer visited the property for
the purpose of taking measurements of the
tree he was shown one of the old musketballs
referred to. It was of lead, about as large
as a medium-sized hickory nut, and would
unquestionably have produced a more rag-
ged wound, had it struck the Rev. Smith,
than the steel- jacketed variety of modern
times. Judging from the angle at which the
bullets entered the beam they were fired
from a point a few feet to the right of the
tree.

Another elm that has become a favorite
with many people on account of its sym-
metry and great size, stands near the State
Road a few miles further on, or about mid-
way between Northboro and Shrewsbury.
The circumference is about 15 feet.

£823

CHAPTER XVI
THE GRAFTON OAK

— not a prince

In all that proud old world beyond the deep
E'er wore his crown as loftily as he
Wears the green coronal of leaves with which
Thy hand has graced him.

Bryant

WHILE the Patriots in Boston were
rallying beneath the branches of
Liberty Tree and the Great Elm,
events of a similar nature were taking place
in one of the small towns in the center of
the state.

Not far from the town square in Grafton,
on a street leading down the hill on the
northerly side, stands a very fine red oak,
bearing an inscription on a copper tablet:

UNDER THIS TREE

BEFORE THE OLD TAVERN

PATRIOTS OF THE COMMUNITY

GATHERED TO PLEDGE THEIR

SERVICES IN THE CAUSE OF

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.

THIS TABLET PLACED BY

OLD OAK CHAPTER

DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
JUNE 14, 1914

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSE ;S

This oak is 14 feet, 5 inches in circ
ference, 62 feet in height, and 75 feet n ti.e
spread of its branches. It has witnessed
some stirring scenes, among which may be
mentioned the departure of the two com-
panies of volunteers, composing "the whole
efficient male population of the town" on
the day of the battle at Concord and Lexing-
ton; and in later years the departure of
Company G of the Fifteenth Regiment,
Massachusetts Volunteers, at the opening
of the Civil War. According to Pierce* s
History of Grafton, when this later company
was being formed, upon receipt of the news
of the attack on the Massachusetts Sixth
Regiment at Baltimore, a soldier of the
Revolution, Benjamin Smith, ninety-eight
years old, attended the meetings and spoke
from the platform of the town hall. A
monument in the town square records the
names of fifty-nine victims which Grafton
gave for the life of the nation.1

1 Pierce, "Hist, of Grafton," pp. 105-6.

THE GRAFTON OAK

CHAPTER XVII
THE WASHINGTON ELM AT PALMER

In June 'tis good to lie beneath a tree.

Lowell

WHEN the old elm at Cambridge
has at last been added to the list
of the historic trees of the past,
there will still be standing a tree of the same
species, bearing the same name; for just
beyond the town of Palmer, a quarter of
a mile from the railroad bridge, and near
the center of a broad curve of the main
road to Springfield, is a wide-spreading elm
of the oak-tree type, comparatively strong,
and most pleasing in its proportions.

Beneath this tree Washington rested and
refreshed himself, and delivered a short ad-
dress only three days previous to taking
command of the army at Cambridge. A local
historian informs us that the place was an old
tavern-stand once owned by Daniel Graves
who obtained a license to keep the house of

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

entertainment before 1760, which later was
renewed to his son Aaron, in 1761. This son,
as Captain, served in the Revolutionary War
and afterward rose to the rank of major.
He kept the tavern during his lifetime.1

"The elm took its name from the tradition,
apparently well attested, that General Wash-
ington, accompanied by his Staff, General
Lee and the deputation sent from Cambridge
to Springfield to meet and escort him to
headquarters, halted with his party under
the shade of this tree to rest and lunch about
noon, June 30, 1775. Very naturally the
party ordered milk and other necessaries
from Captain Graves's tavern."1

There is a granite monument a few feet
from the base of the tree which bears the
following inscription:

UNDER THIS ELM

WASHINGTON

PASSED JUNE 3O, 1775

AND AGAIN OCT. 22, 1789.

ON THE FIRST DATE TRADITION SAYS

HE ADDRESSED THE CITIZENS OF

PALMER.

ERECTED BY THE

PALMER .HISTORICAL SOCIETY

JUNE 3O, 1906

1 Temple, " History of Palmer."

THE WASHINGTON ELM AT PALMER

Like many trees of its kind this elm has
developed greatly at the base. At one foot
from the ground the circumference of the
trunk is nineteen feet. At breast height
it diminishes to fourteen feet and one inch,
and increases again as the branches are
approached. The height is fifty-five feet,
and the spread of branches ninety-five feet.

CHAPTER XVIII
THE LAFAYETTE ELM

Sirs, cover the while; the duke will drink under this tree.

Shakespeare

AMONG those few trees which, in
point of size, may be called elms
of the first class, is the Lafayette
Elm. This tree is situated southwest of
the village of Ware, on the road to Palmer,
and is twenty feet, seven inches in circum-
ference, seventy-five feet in height, and one
hundred and ten feet in the spread of its
branches. The enormous trunk divides at
about ten feet into three branches, the
largest of which subdivides into four more.
The smallest of the four is fifteen inches
in diameter. In general appearance the tree
is slightly over-developed on the east side,
one great limb stretching in this direction
for more than sixty-five feet.

Tradition says that, during Revolutionary
times, Lafayette rested underneath this tree

THE LAFAYETTE ELM

while on his way to meet Washington, and
at a later date the elm was named for the
famous Frenchman.

When the republic was firmly established,
and Lafayette honored it with an extended
visit, he stopped for a brief time in Ware
and was entertained at the Old Tavern
House.1 Among those who met him at that
time was Mrs. Cynthia Loomis, a life-long
resident of the town, who recalls that, when
he took her hand, he said to her and her
companions, "I rejoice to see you, my chil-
dren, enjoying the liberty for which we
fought." 2

1 Where Hitchcock's block now stands.

2 Chase, "Hist, of Ware," p. 120.

C89;]

CHAPTER XIX
THE ELM AT COURT SQUARE, SPRINGFIELD

And I, who have always known
Peace with her dove-like ways,
Am gripped with his martial spirit
Here in the after days.

Richard Burton

THE city of Springfield has, from early
times, possessed large numbers of
beautiful trees, mostly elms. The
old Springfield Elm, now gone, was famous
throughout Massachusetts, and another tree
not quite so large is mentioned by Holmes in
his comments in the "Autocrat" on elms of
the second class, as "the queen of them all."1
There was also a "giant celtis," often mis-
taken for an elm, according to some authori-
ties the finest tree of its kind in this part of
the country. At West Springfield there was,
until quite recently, a great tree known as
the West Springfield Elm.

1 Dr. Holmes considered a circumference of 14 ft. at 5 ft.
from the ground, large, for elms; 16 to 18 ft., very large; 20 ft.
exceptional.

THE SPRINGFIELD ELM

THE ELM AT COURT SQUARE, SPRINGFIELD

When these celebrities passed out of exist-
ence, the locality in which they stood ceased
to be considered, by many, as the home of
any trees possessing remarkable size or special
marks of beauty; and yet some few have
struggled bravely through the years, filling
the places formerly occupied by their noble
companions. One at least may be said to
be historic, and as for size, it now measures
up to all the requirements of an elm of the
first class. It is the last survivor of a little
group that stood in Court Square near the
Old Tavern, "allowing the old yellow-bodied,
thorough-braced stage just room enough to
swing around to the front door in fine style!"1

General Washington rendered the elms his-
toric by his visit there when on his way
between New York and Cambridge, and he
rendered one more famous than the others,
i.e., the elm that stood directly in front of
the tavern door, for here it was that he sat
and "drank his flip."

The city may well be proud to call the
survivor of the group The Springfield Elm.

1 King, " Hist, of Springfield," p. 234.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

It stretches its branches part way across Main
street, where its green foliage may be seen in
summer for a long distance as one approaches
in either direction on the busy thoroughfare.

Its dimensions are surprising and grati-
fying— height 102 feet, spread 112 feet,
circumference at breast height, 19 feet, 9
inches. At five feet from the ground the
circumference is a little over twenty feet,
which, to some authorities, would mean more
than the breast height measurement. Dr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes would concede that
this, in truth, constituted an exceptional elm.
The tree has suffered severely from pruning,
but is still sending out an abundance of
foliage, and has the appearance of possessing
great strength and durability.

Within a radius of a few miles from this
point are three other trees which deserve
mention here. One is the finest specimen
of the hackberry that the writer has ever
seen in New England. It stands, unfortu-
nately, in an inconspicuous place, shut off
from view by buildings, so that a good
photograph is extremely difficult to obtain.

THE ELM AT COURT SQUARE, SPRINGFIELD

The easiest way by which to direct the
reader to this tree is to say that it stands
directly in front of the jail. The distance
is not far from the center of the city, and a
view of the tree will repay any person for
the journey. The circumference is 13 feet,
10 inches, the height 78 feet, and the spread
80 feet — unusual, certainly, for this species.

In West Springfield, on the right hand
side of the road leading to Westfield, stands
an old elm which is now in the early stages
of decay. It is 95 feet in height, 17 feet,
9 inches in circumference, and 75 feet in the
spread of its branches.

At the end of Franklin street, in Westfield,
where the tourist makes his last turn before
ascending into the Berkshires, stands a large,
old elm of the drooping type, possessing
almost perfect proportions, against whose
permanence and beauty no apparent inroads
have been made. If this tree escapes accident
from wind and lightning, it should live for at
least another century. It has now reached
the second class — circumference, 16 feet, yj
inches, height, 72 feet, spread, 100 feet.

C933

CHAPTER XX
THE SHEFFIELD ELM

Here still an aged Elm aspires,
Beneath whose far projecting shade
(And which the shepherd still admires)
The children of the forest played.

Philip Freneau

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, in
speaking of his "tree wives," in-
cludes, among those of greatest size,
beauty and symmetry of form, the elm at
Sheffield, and adds that "size, first of all
and chiefly" constitutes a first class elm.

Doubtless the Sheffield elm was so classi-
fied on account of its great beauty and
spread of branches, for it fails to show twenty
feet of clear girth at five feet from the ground
even at the present time. It has always
been considered as one of the most beautiful
elms in Massachusetts, and though old age
has at last crept upon it, the individuality
in the arrangement of its numerous branches
C94]

THE SHEFFIELD ELM

THE SHEFFIELD ELM

continues to produce a strong, graceful and
pleasing appearance.

Looking back over a period of seventy-
two years we find that "the great Sheffield
Elm had, in 1844, at the ground, a girth
of twenty-two feet six inches; at two feet,
eighteen feet six inches; at three, sixteen
feet nine inches; at six, sixteen feet seven
inches, above which it rapidly enlarges, and
divides at ten or twelve feet into three large
branches which soon subdivide. Its spread
westward from the center is forty-nine feet
six inches, and it is nearly equal on every
side; height sixty or seventy feet."1

At least three and a half feet had been
added to these measurements in July of
1916. The three- foot circumference had in-
creased to twenty feet and three inches,
and the six-foot circumference to nineteen
feet and seven inches. At breast height the
tree was nineteen feet and three inches.
The spread westward was fifty-four feet and
the height eighty-two feet.

1 Emerson, "The Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," vol. 2,
p. 328.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

The historic traditions are even more in-
teresting than the measurements. "The old
elm" was standing when the town was
settled (1725-6) and an Indian trail leading
into Connecticut passed near its trunk.
There is a story to the effect that this trail
was marked on either side by numerous
apple trees which sprang from seeds dropped
by the Indians in their wanderings.

A little to the southeast of the tree the
first settler of Sheffield, Mathew Noble,
camped for a time with his daughter. They
came on horseback from Westfield, and the
young lady, anticipating great cold, brought
with her a feather-bed. At one time town
meetings were held under the tree, and at
another yearly town picnics were in vogue.
The maple trees planted in the near vicinity
of the elm were for the purpose of producing
more shade for the picnickers. A local poet
has written of the tree, setting forth some
of its early Indian traditions.

Unfortunately, Washington, who brought
into prominence, so many of the trees of New
England, passed this one by. But in this

THE SHEFFIELD ELM

connection it may be said that he once
passed over another road not many miles
distant, on his way to Salisbury and Egre-
mont; and an ancient willow is still pointed
out as the spot where 'he watered his horses.

CHAPTER XXI
DEERFIELD TREES

Happy are they and charmed in life
Who through long wars arrive unscarred
At peace.

Herman Melville

THE name Deerfield suggests, to the
average New Englander at least, all
manner of things historic; and one
glimpse of the main street of this town,
with its quaint houses and the arching
branches of its trees, is sufficient to establish
in any visitor's mind, a never-to-be-forgotten
picture. In the writer's opinion, one of
the highest tributes which can be paid to a
New England town is this — that it com-
pares favorably as to beauty with "Old
Deerfield."

If all of the larger trees should be removed,
the old houses, many of which were built
during the time of fierce struggle with the
Indians, would still lend their enchantment

DEERFIELD TREES

to the locality. The preservation of the arts
of weaving and basketry, practiced by those
brave women who were the wives of the
pioneers and the mothers of their children,
constitutes another marked characteristic.

But the finishing touch of beauty is to be
found in the spreading elms, the maples
and the button woods. They blend into the
picture as they do into the whole history of
the settlement. Standing at the head of
the street as one approaches from the direc-
tion of Greenfield, is a huge elm, seventeen
feet in circumference and one hundred feet
in height. This tree was without question
standing here when Capt. Lothrop and his
band of young men, the heroes of Bloody
Brook Massacre, passed by. And from this
point, on to the other end of the town, trees
equally as old may be seen.

It is difficult to select a single tree, which,
from all standpoints, may be considered as
representative of the historic trees of Deer-
field. But since the great "Willard Elm,"
which stood in the northeast corner of the
old-time barricade, is no longer standing, the

C993

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

honors may perhaps justly be divided be-
tween the buttonwood in front of the
academy, and the elm on Albany road.

The buttonwood is now eighteen feet in
circumference, and one hundred feet in height
and spread. It stands within the bounds
of what was once the enclosure of the fort
which was built in 1689, and which remained
until 1758. If size is any test of a tree's
age this buttonwood was standing at the
time of the Indian wars, for its circum-
ference is larger than that of the Charlemont
buttonwood (under which the pioneers slept
in 1741) by about two feet.

Many thrilling events took place within
a radius of fifty yards from the spot occupied
by the tree. Almost within reach of its
shadow stood the "Old Indian House," built
by Ensign John Sheldon in 1698, and the
Stebbins house, where, on the 29th of Febru-
ary, 1703-4, "seven men, besides women and
children, held two hundred soldiers and one
hundred and forty Indians at bay (under
a French officer of the line) for three hours." 1

1 From inscription on monument.
100

THE DEERFIELD BUTTONWOOD

"THE ELM BY THE LITTLE BROWN HOUSE"
DEERFIELD

DEERFIELD TREES

In connection with the elm tree on the
Albany road it is worthy of note that the
Indians usually led their captives past this
tree to a ford in the river, and thence to
the Mohawk trail. The tree is known as
"the elm by the little brown house."
Thickly growing bushes and vines conceal
its huge abutments, which stretch out on
each side of the tree to a distance of seven
feet. In girth this tree qualifies as an elm
of the first class, being twenty feet in circum-
ference; the height is eighty-two feet, and
the spread one hundred feet. With the
exception of a few dead branches the tree
appears to be in good health.

Strangely enough, there is hardly a spot
in historic Deerfield marked by a monument
which is not also marked, at no great dis-
tance, by an old tree; and one ponders, as
he reads the various inscriptions, upon the
number of living trees that were witnesses
of the events commemorated by tablets of
stone.

The country to the north and south of
Deerfield is dotted with many beautiful

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

trees. There are several rows of ancient
sugar maples along the road to South Deer-
field, while at Greenfield, elms abound in
large numbers, the most conspicuous being
those in front of the library and the post
office.

1:102:1

CHAPTER XXII
THE CHARLEMONT BUTTONWOOD

In the outskirts of the village,
On the river's winding shores,
Stand the Occidental plane-trees,
Stand the ancient sycamores.

Wbittier

ONE of the most picturesque spots
on the "Mohawk Trail" may be
found in the westerly portion of the
little town of Charlemont, just beyond the
old covered bridge which crosses the Deerfield
River. At this point a buttonwood tree
stands on the side of the slope a few feet
above the road, and leans slightly forward
as if to protect a spring of sparkling water
near its base.

Here the first pioneer settler of the town-
ship slept when he came to take possession
of the land which he had purchased for
himself and his family; and not far away,
on the side of the hill above, he finally per-
ished at the hands of the Indians.

£103:1

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

Captain Moses Rice, to whom belongs
the honor of establishing the settlement,
was a native of Sudbury. He married Sarah
King in that town, Nov. 16, 1719, and their
first child, Samuel, was born there Aug.
10, 1720. Soon after, the family removed
to Worcester, where the remaining children,
six in number, were born. While at Worces-
ter Captain Rice commanded a company of
cavalry, and in 1724 was posted with others
at Rutland, Mass., in a garrison commanded
by Captain Samuel Wright.

His selection of Charlemont as a frontier
home came about through a speculative
enterprise on the part of the town of Boston.
The Boston Township No. i, as it was called,
comprised over 23,000 acres, and finally
passed, almost entire, into the hands of two
men. From one of these, who had acquired
the power of attorney, Captain Rice bought
2200 acres, on the 23rd of April 1741, and
came with his family in 1743 to take up
life on the frontier.

Some time between the purchasing of
the land and the coming of the Captain's

C 1043

THE CHARLEMONT BUTTONWOOD

THE CHARLEMONT BUTTONWOOD

family, he visited his property in company
with his sons, for the purpose of clearing
a portion of land for meadow, and build-
ing a house. This journey gives us the
basis in history for the part which the
buttonwood plays in the story. A state-
ment has been handed down by Sylvanus
Rice, son of the Captain, to Mrs. Fuller, his
daughter, a later inhabitant of Charlemont,
that "he had slept under the Buttonwood
tree when there was not another white per-
son in town."1

In spite of the bitter struggle which began
in 1744 between the British and French,
in which the Indians took an active part,
Captain Rice and his family remained in their
exposed position unmolested until August,
1746, and their house was a favorite stopping
place for the soldiers and wayfarers on the
border. On the 20th of August 1746, Fort
Massachusetts was invested by the French
and Indians, and Captain Rice moved his
family to Rutland just in time to avoid a
massacre. Upon his return he found his

1 From Joseph White's "Charlemont as a Plantation."

£105;]

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

house burned and his property destroyed.
He repaired to Rutland for three years but
returned at the end of that time and rebuilt
his house. Another was erected on the
meadow for his son.

Other settlers arrived at this time, and the
Rice family, together with the Taylor and
Hawks families, developed prosperous fron-
tier settlements. Peace prevailed so long
as the treaty of Aix-Ia-Chapelle was in force.
But the three pioneer families lived in a
state of preparedness during the period,
and fortified their homes against future at-
tack. When the storm finally broke it car-
ried off Captain Rice; but the settlement was
not destroyed, and prompt action on the
part of the Province prevented a recurrence,
and confined the French to their own terri-
tory further north.

The thrilling events which resulted so
disastrously for the family of Captain Rice
occurred within sight of the old buttonwood.
The tree stands between the site of the first
attack and that of the Captain's final struggle
and fall.

THE CHARLEMONT BUTTONWOOD

"On Wednesday morning the nth of
June 1755, Captain Rice, his son Artemus
Rice, his grandson Asa Rice — a boy nine
years of age — Titus King, Phineas Arms
and others, went into the meadow which
lies south of the present village road ... for
the purpose of hoeing corn. Captain Rice
was ploughing and the boy riding the horse.
The others were engaged in hoeing, except
one who acted as sentinel — passing through
the field . . . with musket in hand, while
the firearms of the others were placed against
a pile of logs near the western brook. . . .
Meanwhile a party of six Indians, as tra-
dition informs us, having carefully observed
their victims from the neighboring hill, stole
cautiously down the western brook; and
concealed by the thick brush-wood upon
its banks, watched till the working party
were . . . farthest from their firearms, when
they suddenly fired and rushed upon the
defenseless party. Arms fell dead in the
corn-field; Captain Rice received a severe
wound in the thigh and was taken prisoner,
together with the lad, Asa, upon the horse,

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

and Titus King, a young man, and a relative
of Captain Rice. Artemus Rice escaped, after
a hot pursuit, and reached Taylor's fort
at noon. The Indians . . . withdrew with
their captives to the high plain. Here the
wounded man was left alone, with a single
savage, to meet his fate. After a fearful
struggle he fell beneath the tomahawk, and
was left, scalped and bleeding, to die. Late
in the day he was found yet alive, and was
brought to his son's house, where he expired
in the evening. The other prisoners were
led to Crown Point and thence to Canada.
The lad was ransomed; . . . King ... at
length returned."1

On the slope of the hill there are standing
at the present time several very old head-
stones which mark the graves of Captain
Rice, his family, his grandchildren and Phin-
eas Arms. The two oldest monuments are
of slate, and time has almost obliterated the
records. With the help of a putty-knife
and a magnifying glass the following in-
scriptions were deciphered:

1 White, "Charlemont as a Plantation."

THE CHARLEMONT BUTTONWOOD

IN MEMORY OF CAPT. MOSES

RICE, WHO WAS KILLED

BY THE INDIANS IN THIS

PLACE, JUNE YE IITH,

1755, IN YE 6lST YEAR OF

HIS AGE, AND LIES AT THE RIGHT HAND.

IN MEMORY OF MR. PHINEAS
ARMS, WHO WAS KILLED BY THE INDIANS
IN THIS PLACE, JUNE YE IITH, 1 755,

IN YE 24th YEAR OF HIS
AGE, AND LIES AT THE LEFT HAND

SACRED TO THE

MEMORY OF DEAN AARON

RICE AND FREEDOM HIS WIFE,

WHO, HAVING SUSTAINED THE

HARDSHIPS OF AN INFANT FRONTIER

IN TIME OF WAR, HAVING"

REARED A FAMILY OF ELEVEN CHILDREN,

NINE OF WHOM HE INTERRED IN THIS

GROUND, AND LIVED TOGETHER IN

HAPPY WEDLOCK 54 YEARS,
DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE FIRST,

DEC. 2, l8o8, AGED 84
YEARS & THE OTHER, SEPT. 15, 1 809,

AGED 79. AND THEY WERE BOTH

RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD, WALKING IN

ALL THE COMMANDMENTS AND ORDINANCES

OF THE LORD BLAMELESS.

These graves were exhumed some years
ago, and the bullet which killed Phineas
Arms was found lodged in his skull. It may
be seen at the historical rooms in Deerfield.
In the midst of the crumbling slabs of slate
stands a large granite monument of more

£109 3

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

recent origin, intended as a permanent me-
morial to the first settler of Charlemont.

But more fitting than any other, while it
remains, will be the living monument of
the buttonwood tree. Its topmost branches
reach to a greater height than the graves on
the hill, for the tree is ninety-eight feet
high. Beneath the branches, which spread
themselves over eighty-five feet of space,
passes the "trail"; and near the massive
trunk, sixteen feet in circumference, still
bubbles the crystal spring water.

CHAPTER XXIII
THE SUNDERLAND BUTTONWOOD

It is a sense of kingly isolation,

Of rough beauty and enchanting grace,

Proclaiming from the earliest creation
The power and pride of race.

Tracy Robinson

SUNDERLAND possesses a gigantic
"Old Buttonwood" (in place of the
conventional "old elm" of many New
England towns), the largest described in
the present collection, and the largest, doubt-
less, in Massachusetts. While surpassed in
size by a few elms, this old tree holds an envi-
able position, and justly so, for in point of
size the species stands preeminent among the
trees of the New England forest.

The great limbs, stretching upward for
a hundred feet, more or less basket-shaped,
and spreading to an equal distance, are
plainly visible from Sugar Loaf Mountain,
and from several points along the highway
leading north. Their characteristic color

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

stands out conspicuously against the green
background of other trees. More marked
than any other particular feature is the
ponderous trunk. It reminds one of an
elephant. The girth at breast height is
20 feet, 6 inches, and it is very nearly uniform
to the dividing point, which comes at about
fifteen feet.

Historically, the tree ranks with those of
Deerfield, although no battles are actually
known to have taken place in its immediate
vicinity. The train-band men used it as a
meeting place, and, by reason of their activi-
ties, placed it on record as a celebrated tree.

Among the amusing questions asked by
the uninitiated of the present day is that of
the man who desired to know "who white-
washed the branches?"

In connection with this locality two elms
are of interest on account of their great size.
They are standing, close together, near the
other end and on the opposite side of Main
street, and the larger of the two is nearly
equal in girth to the old buttonwood.

THE SUNDERLAND BUTTONWOOD

CHAPTER XXIV
THE OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES PINE

What didst thou sing of, thou melodious sprite?

Pine forests, with smooth russet carpets spread,
Where e'en at noonday dimly fades the light,

Through gloomy blue-green branches overhead.

Frances Anne Kemble

THE glory of the Berkshires is in its
mountains and its trees. Standing
on any one of the many peaks in
autumn you are impressed with the vast
wealth of color stretching for miles about
you, and realize that every variety of tree
peculiar to the Great Northern Forest is
growing there before your eyes. You recall
passing elm after elm, huge and towering,
in Great Barrington, Stockbridge and Lenox,
and, passing along the winding roads, among
the valleys and around the lakes, you dis-
cover new and unfamiliar shapes and colors
where distant species have been brought in
to add to the already beautiful picture.
Why ask for historic trees in this land where

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

people play and rest and work? Is it not
enough that they are beautiful, and that they
are unlimited in quantity?

And yet, as you walk along the old road
to Lenox, you will mark in a wide sweep of
lawn the lone and superb pine so much
loved by Dr. Holmes. "Canoe Meadow"
was a carrying place of the Indians, and held
everything that he most delighted in. His
house stood on the soil owned by his great-
grandfather, Jacob Wendell, Colonel of the
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.
Here were half a hundred acres of forest
trees, some of them probably five hundred
years old; above their foliage the Berk-
shire Hills reared their silent heads, and
the Housatonic River made its course in
a thousand fantastic curves through the
meadows. 1

Here at last is an historic pine, one of the
favorite trees of a noted personage, and an
excellent representative of our great New
England conifer.

1 Abbott, "Old Paths and Legends of the New England
Border."

THE OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES PINE

THE OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES PINE

You measure its trunk and find that it is
1 6 feet 4 inches in girth; you wonder at the
great depth of its shadow and find that the
spread of the branches is nearly 90 feet;
and you look upward to its topmost branch
and find, if you have a measuring instrument,
that it is 97 feet from the ground.

There may be a larger white pine than
this somewhere in Massachusetts; but where
shall we look for it? In the few remaining
stands of virgin timber some trees remain
whose height reaches one hundred feet and
over, but these are lumber trees, having a
long, tapering bole, and only a wisp of needles
at the top. Such a tree was the gigantic
pine, 17 feet in circumference, that once
stood near the turnpike road between Read-
ing and Andover in Essex County, and which
was spared by the lumberman because it
was the largest tree on the lot. Even in
the practice of forestry the pine is protected
only for what it will yield in less than seventy-
five years as a timber crop, and pines of
large girth are now few and far between.

The Pittsfield pine is still apparently sound

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

in spite of its great size and age. Dr. Holmes
has not described it as one of his "tree
wives," nor "gilded with a rhyme its house-
hold name," but it remains as a heritage
to us, like his portrait of Dorothy Q.,

"And lives untroubled by woes and fears
Through a second youth of a hundred years/*

CHAPTER XXV
OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

Father, thy hand

Hath reared these venerable columns, thou
Didst weave this verdant roof. Thou didst look down
Upon the naked earth, and, forthwith rose
All these fair ranks of trees.

Bryant

AMONG the largest and most beauti-
ful trees in all Massachusetts are
those noble old monarchs of the
forest which, by reason of sheer excellence
alone, have established for themselves a
permanent place in the list of truly great
trees. They need no specific event to render
them historic; they are in themselves his-
toric by reason of their age, size and refining
influence upon mankind.

A book written entirely in the spirit of
this suggestion might well include every
extraordinary specimen of tree in the Com-
monwealth. The present volume was, how-
ever, originally intended to include only

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

"historic trees" in the established sense of
the term, and for this reason a separate
chapter is added here, in which the "un-
heralded and unsung" may have a place,
through the medium of their worthy repre-
sentatives.

Berkshire County

The preceding chapter, dealing with the
Oliver Wendell Holmes Pine, left the reader
in the far end of the state, after an imagi-
nary trip from sea-level west. It now remains
for us to journey back hastily, admiring an
individual tree in one place, a group in
another, and to those that must of necessity
be left behind, be this the parting word —

O, flourish, hidden deep in fern,
Old oak, I love thee well!
A thousand thanks for what I learn
And what remains to tell.

There is a stately old elm on the back road
to Stockbridge, a few miles out of Lenox.
This tree is i6J feet in circumference, 97
feet in height and 87 feet in spread. Tra-
dition credits it with having sheltered with
its branches a meeting of Revolutionary
generals about 1776, but there seems to be no

OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

recorded proof of this assertion. The shape
of the tree is somewhat unusual, being that
of a vase more or less broadened near the
base; and it stands not far from one of the
most beautiful of Berkshire views — a point
commanding a view of Greylock on the one
side and Mt. Everett on the other, with
just the turning of one's head.

In the northern Berkshires the most typical
tree is the elm standing near the roadside as
you go from South Williamstown to Hancock.
This elm is iyj feet in circumference, 94
feet in height and 115 feet in the spread
of its branches.

In the town of Savoy there is a remark-
able curiosity in the form of a spruce tree
only five feet high, but possibly a century
old. Frank N. Blake's article and photo-
graph in the Springfield Republican of May
24, 1914, first introduced the tree and boulder
in which its roots are embedded to the gen-
eral public. In a letter received from Mr.
Blake in May, 1918, the following description
was given:

"There is a spruce tree near South Pond,

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

Savoy, growing on a rocking boulder; it is
five feet high, and an old resident, born near
by and living there until recently, told me he
remembered it as a boy as being the same in
appearance over fifty years ago. The boulder
I measured and estimated the weight to be
twenty-nine tons, yet it is so nicely poised
that I could rock it with the pressure of one
finger. The tree grows in a fissure and has no
connection with the earth, and my impression
is that it must suffer from dry weather and
cold in winter; no wonder that it does not
grow — the wonder is that it lives."

Hampden County

We descend to the region of Springfield,
where most of the big trees have already
been sought out and described in the pre-
ceding chapters, and we pass on to the
towns about Wilbraham. Here a whole day
might be spent in going from one to another
of the aged landmarks. A list submitted
by Henry I. Edson, forest warden at North
Wilbraham, includes no less than a score
of super-trees. The most beautiful of all

OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

is the Baldwin Maple at North Wilbraham;
the largest of all is a chestnut 22 feet in girth
standing on the land of Addison Bennett
about a mile and a half south of North
Wilbraham on the Glendale road; and the
one tree on the list that most nearly
approaches the historic is the "mile tree"
at Wilbraham Green, where, in times past,
the men of the locality were assembled
for military training. There is a big elm
in town and several old oaks, a very old
hickory and two notable apple trees. One
of the latter is the so-called Hancock Green-
ing. The family whose house stood by this
ancient tree claims descent from the brother
of Governor John Hancock.

Worcester County

Passing on to the middle of the state we
find two very old elms, each of which has
laid claim to the title of Central Tree. A
glance at the map will show that the geo-
graphical center of the state lies somewhere
within the confines of the townships of Rut-
land and Paxton, and, as the two elms are

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

the largest to be found in their immediate
vicinity, each has been decorat d in years
gone by with a legend in token of its dis-
tinction. The pine board cling ig to the
trunk of the Paxton Elm is no • r old and
weather-beaten and should of necessity be
replaced with another, stating that the king
is dead. The tree still stands, almost entire,
with its columnar trunk 14 feet in circum-
ference, and its branches towering into the
sky 60 or 70 feet. The Rutland Elm clings
tenaciously to life, but its most beautiful
branches are gone and its visage is battered
and warlike. The circumference at breast
height is 12 feet and 4 inches. These trees
have been patient in adversity, braving the
cold winds of many winters in a place where
proper treatment is expensive and difficult
to obtain. They have served as an example
of fortitude to many persons who have gone
in quest of health to the high elevations on
which they stand.

The town of Lunenburg lies within this
upland district of the center of the state,
and takes pride in two remarkable trees of

OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

advanced age. It was originally planned
to devote t~ chapter to the old buttonwood

r

near the and-stand in the town square,
because of the tradition that this tree was
planted 01 the 4th of July 1776; but no
substantial data were found by which it
could be linked in immortal memory with the
Declaration of Independence! The oldest
inhabitant was at last appealed to, but his
information may be summed up in the words,
"I wa'n't here, so I don't know." The tree
is not over 12 feet in circumference. But
the pride of the town, "Old King Arthur,"
a white oak that stands by the side of a
country road a few miles out from the center
of the town, was probably there some years
in advance of the first pioneer settler. It is
about 1 6 feet in circumference and spreads
its branches over a space of about 90 feet.

On the northern border of Worcester
County, at Royalston, a large elm has long
been standing on the top of a high hill.
It is known, locally; as the "Sentinel Elm,"
and is a good example of its species growing
on the higher slopes.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

The town of North Brookfield possesses sev-
eral remarkable elms along the main street.
One is exceptional, having a circumference of
nearly twenty feet, and very broad shoulders
where the branches emerge from the trunk.

In the town of Oakham there is standing
a white oak from which the town seal was
fashioned. While only eleven feet in cir-
cumference this oak is claimed to be very
old, and has the added distinction of being
almost perfect in its proportions. The lo-
cation is a pasture along the road leading
from Oakham to Coldbrook.

The Lancaster group, of elms, oaks and
maples, has for many years held a leading
place in the annals of great trees; but the
great Lancaster Elm, once the largest tree
of its kind in the State, is no longer standing;
the famous Cunningham Maple and the
Carter Oak are both in advanced stages of
decay, and appear "like veteran warriors,
beaten down in battle, bearing up their
banners to the last." The Beaman Oak
remains in all the glory of its strength, and
is claimed to be the largest red oak in Massa-

THE BEAMAN OAK

THE RUGG ELM

OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

chusetts. It marks the place where Gama-
liel Beaman, an early settler, built his house
in 1659. The measurements are as follows:
circumference at the ground, 29 feet; at
breast height, 20 feet; at five feet from the
ground, 19 feet, 9 inches; height, 75 feet;
spread of branches, 90 feet.

Middlesex County

The Rugg Elm (also known as the Gates
Elm) at Framingham, situated about two
hundred yards from the turnpike road, be-
tween Framingham and Fayville near the
grounds of the Country Club, is the largest
elm herein described. If, indeed, it is a
single tree, and not two trees springing from
a common root system, it is without doubt
the largest elm to be found anywhere in
New England. The circumference at one
foot from the ground is twenty-eight and
a half feet, and at about three feet from the
ground the trunk divides into two parts,
one of which, at breast height, is seventeen
feet, and the other fourteen feet in circum-
ference. Between these two trunks there is

£1253

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

a peculiar woody formation, or "nubbin,"
which may at one time have been the be-
ginning of a third section. It has been
literally squeezed out of existence. At the
point where the main trunk divides and this
dwarfed formation emerges, the circumference
is twenty-five and a half feet. The two
gigantic trunks subdivide at about eight
feet into three large branches each, and,
in combination, form one of the most re-
markable crowns that can be conceived of.
The spread of the branches is one hundred
and forty-five feet, and the height of the
tree is seventy feet. The age of the Rugg
Elm has been variously estimated at from
three hundred to four hundred years. Pro-
tected from severe storms by a sheltering
rise of ground, it has succeeded in preserving
all of its limbs, which, but for their supports,
would rest for a portion of their length upon
the ground. The owner of the tree, Mr.
Dennett, has spared no effort to protect the
landmark, and it has during recent years
received the best of care and some assistance
in the way of tree surgery. The work has been

C 126;]

OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

so skilfully done that no artificial effect has
been added to the general appearance of the
tree and it bids fair to last for another century.
The only tree in Massachusetts which, at
maturity, has ever approached the Rugg Elm
in the grandeur of its spreading branches
is the elm which stands on the Knowlton
farm in West Acton. This super-elm lost
over half of its branches about three years
ago, when they fell of their own weight in
a very ordinary gale. Timely assistance
would have preserved this tree for more
than a generation. It has long been credited
with possessing the greatest spread of any
elm in this section of the country, and the
remaining half section covers fully a hundred
feet of ground. The largest limb, which
was shorn off and still lies where it fell,
is ii feet and 4 inches in circumference.
It would seem as if strength had been sacri-
ficed for beauty, and as if a noble head had
at last fallen from shoulders too weak to
support it. The trunk is fourteen feet, eight
and a half inches in circumference and
thoroughly sound. The height of the tree

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

is sixty-seven feet. Its earlier development
was along much the same lines as that of the
Lafayette Elm at Ware, described in another
chapter. But the latter has laid a more
permanent foundation in the form of a pon-
derous trunk, of which the largest branch is
a continuation.

The towns of Weston and Wayland are
rich in beautiful trees, at least one of which
is connected, traditionally, with Washington
and his escort, and their journey to Cam-
bridge in 1775. This favored tree is a white
oak, and stands on the side of the slope a
little to the left of the State road as one
enters Weston from the east, and its branches
extend over the driveway leading to the
Winsor estate. The most conspicuous tree
in Wayland is the elm in the turn of the road
at the eastern end of the town. It is a fine
example of the oak-tree type of American
elm and has a spread of nearly i oo feet.

The Waverley group, of twenty-five white
oaks, which for many years has been con-
sidered famous, under the name of "The
Waverley Oaks," is composed of remarkably

CI28]

OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

large trees, and the "old giant" ranks with
the greatest of white oaks. These trees
are associated with James Russell Lowell
and the "Vision of Sir Launfal." At the
present time nearly all of the tops are "stag-
horned" and their beauty is rapidly passing.
The splendid tree at the entrance to the
park in which they stand is about the aver-
age size for the group and seems to be in
better condition than any of the others. The
circumference is fourteen feet, two inches, the
height is sixty feet and the spread ninety feet.
The great white oak at Billerica, while not
strictly historic, has witnessed the founding
of that town, and Washington and other
noted persons have passed beneath its shade.
It is fifteen feet in circumference, sixty-five
feet in height and ninety feet in spread, and
is decorated with the following inscription:

THIS TREE WAS HERE

WHEN
GEORGE WASHINGTON

PASSED THROUGH
BILLERICA, NOV. 5, 1789,

DURING A TOUR OF
NEW ENGLAND, AND IS ONE

OF THE
ORIGINAL FOREST TREES

i: 129:1

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

Extract from
Washington's Diary —
"Mr. Pbelps accompanied

me from Andover through

Billerica to Lexington.

A mile or two Jrom Andover

you descend into a pine level,

pretty, sandy, and mixed with

swamps through which you

ride several miles till you

descend the heights on which

the town of Billerica stands,

which is so pleasantly situ-
ated 10 miles Jrom Andover."

THIS INSCRIPTION PLACED HERE

BY THE
BILLERICA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1896

Among the towns in eastern Middlesex,
just north of Boston, notably Medford and
Winchester, there are many beautiful trees
of all kinds. The two most remarkable
specimens are the elm near the railroad
station in Winchester and the black walnut
near Grove street in West Medford. The Win-
chester Elm is not among the largest of our
famous trees, being only ten and a half feet
in circumference, but no more beautiful tree
may be found in this section. It has adapted
itself to the conditions of our modern city
streets and flourishes in the very center of

THE WINCHESTER ELM

THE BLACK WALNUT AT WEST MEDFORD

OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

one of the main thoroughfares of Winchester.
The black walnut at West Medford is four-
teen and a half feet in circumference, eighty
feet in height and seventy-five feet in spread.
There is some local history attached to it,
the best summary of which may be found
in a short article written by a suburbanite
for the Boston Globe of June 22, 1918:

ANOTHER LARGE TREE

Editor People's Column:

There is a notably large black walnut tree at West Medford.
A brief description of the tree is given on pages 500-501 of Charles
Brooks and James M. Usher's History of Medford. According
to that description in 1884 the tree measured 19 feet and 8
inches in circumference at its base and had a limb which measured
9 feet and 3 inches in circumference. For many years previous
to the death, in 1799, of Thomas Brooks, his house — which
long ago disappeared — stood in front of the tree. When Mr.
Brooks' negro slave Pompey slaughtered his master's hogs
he used to hang the carcasses on the above-mentioned large
limb of the tree. The tree, notwithstanding its extreme age,
seems to be still full of vigor, and apparently it is destined to
live for a long time to come. The tree is east of and some 125
feet distant from that part of Grove st. which is a few rods
north of the junction of that street and Jackson Road, being
opposite to that part of the street which is skirted by a brick
wall, still standing, which Pompey built in front of his master's
house about 1765. Of that brick wall, which, as well as the big
black walnut tree, is quite a notable historical landmark, a
picture is given on page n of "Medford, Past and Present,"
and on an unnumbered page facing 230 of "Proceedings of the
Celebration of the 275th Anniversary of the Settlement of

Medford."

Suburbanite

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

Essex County

A "splendid old wreck of an elm" at North
Andover, known as the Hubbard Elm, is the
peer of Essex, and may be considered as
a strong contender for the title of the largest
elm now standing in Massachusetts. The
dimensions fall slightly below those of the
Rugg Elm, but if a distinction is made be-
tween elms having a single and those having
a double trunk, this tree possesses the largest
girth of them all. Though hollow it com-
mands the greatest admiration and wonder,
and its mighty abutments stretch out for
several feet on all sides, as if inviting the
beholder to step thereon and grasp the
deep- furrowed bark in a fond embrace! On
the ground about the tree lie several of the
once powerful limbs in varying stages of
decay where they have fallen. The complete
picture produces in the observer the keenest
of emotions, and he leaves it with regret,
knowing that the time will not be long during
which he may be permitted to gaze upon
so mighty an elm. The circumference is
twenty-four feet and five inches at breast

THE HUBBARD ELM

OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

height, and the height is ninety-eight feet.
The spread is not over sixty-five feet, prob-
ably a little more than half of what it was
before the beautiful, long limbs fell to the
ground.

A movement was at one time started,
but came to no effect, to rejuvenate and
preserve this tree by surgery. The tree
would respond to treatment even now, and
there is abundant precedent for so good a
cause — for example the action taken by the
Winthrop Improvement and Historical Asso-
ciation to perpetuate the memory of the old
Gibbons Elm.

The Gibbons Elm stood near the dwelling
of Major General Edward Gibbons, who was
one of the fifteen men to whom PuIIen Point
was allotted in 1637, and one of the founders
of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com-
pany. When the 275th anniversary of the
allotment was observed, in June, 1912, a
service was held in special honor of the elm
tree which had witnessed so much of the
history of the town of Winthrop, and which
had grown so old as to render its removal

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

imperative. Accordingly, some 3000 people
assembled at one of the most remarkable
gatherings ever held in honor of a tree.
Charles Francis Adams was the orator of
the day, and Denis A. McCarthy read a
poem on "The Old Elm." The Ancient and
Honorable Artillery Company then planted
a new elm to take the place of the old.

Norfolk County

The towns of Medfield, Wrentham and
Unionville doubtless possess the largest of
the Norfolk county trees. The St. Edwards
Elm in Medfield stands in front of the church
bearing the same name; the representative
elm of Wrentham stands in front of the
Cheever Inn; the Unionville Elm is opposite
the Unionville post office in the township
of Plainville on the edge of a broad green
field. To describe these beautiful trees in
detail would be largely a repetition of what
has gone before, as they possess in large
measure the good points of typical elms
already described with no marked peculiari-
ties of their own. They are nearly uniform

1:134:1

OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

in size and the dimensions may be found
in the index.

Bristol County

The white oak on Somerset Ave., Taunton,
is Bristol's contribution to the list of famous
trees. This oak ranks in size with the
white oaks of Waverley, being fifteen feet
in circumference and over ninety feet in
spread. No other tree in this section is
so large, and like most of the aged white
oaks of our cities it witnessed the found-
ing of a settlement when the country was
very young.

Plymouth County

We have now retraced our steps from
Berkshire to the sea, and the last of the
famous trees is also one of the most magnifi-
cent in the whole collection. Behold an
apple tree having the sinews of an oak, the
spread of an elm, and a crown surpassing
both in the beauty of its leaves and blos-
soms! Let the reader imagine it in full
bloom, its blossoms nearly the size of wild
roses, its largest limbs nearly six feet in

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

girth stretching out thirty feet on every side;
its trunk ten feet in girth at the smallest
part and fourteen and a half feet at the
ground; and he must envy those fortunate
residents of Cape Cod who boast that they
played under this "umbrella tree" when
children and climbed in its branches. It
stands on the estate of Mr. Livermore of
Marshfield Hills and is known to be more
than one hundred years old, having been
planted by Stephen Sherman who was a
resident of Marshfield for nearly ninety years.
At this point the author feels that his book
may properly be called completed, and the
time for the final word is at hand. It is
this — many efforts, both organized and
individual, have been made during recent
years toward the preservation of all manner
of things historic. No effort of any wide
scope has yet been made toward the per-
petuation of those living monuments which
Nature has erected to our past and present
history, the famous trees. Therefore, since
most books either begin with an object, or,
ending, point a moral, be it the purpose of

OTHER WELL-KNOWN TREES

this volume to create, if possible, a sentiment
toward the protection and preservation, not
only of the historic trees of Massachusetts,
but of every state where abound these faith-
ful friends of the Nation.

THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS

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