New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-03-05

blasts OF t00 W0oCa0s Az. O0ns~sSSs $50
| wearied 1t last with endurance. in tho
! summer Of A. d. 1882 it yielded to tho
| craeh Of the vinde, and four Of its largo
limbs vere 20 far detached from the tree
| that thew rested partially upon the ground;
but being raised and bolted together,
| though the bolts Of iron are still visible,
tho limbs, at nearly this helf century away,
seem to have grown oeck me INC n
again. On tho twenty ninth OF June, A. -:
| 1860. after . terrible storm of rain and
| wind. the rum0r ran around the city that
| the old elm was down, and hundreds OF
! naople camo to the Common to find that
| one Of ito large limbs was gone-e LIMB
| which measured fforty-two inches in cir
conference. ''1t 10 not often," ssye Dr..
Shurtletf, that IN occurrence OF sucn I'M ";
| mort nce % the destruction Of tree VIII
cause no much SORROW and regret - did this
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the Great Tree" Pieces
| of branches were gathered up. by the
| crowd. and even the leaves carried away -
relics. to be kept tor mementoes OF tho
| Olden time.
DESPITE the mutilations of decay. and the
rayages of storm, the tree has continued TO
| grow and increase in size, until 1t 10 lsrger
| now than it was ever before. In ADDITION
| to the measurement already given, George
| B. Emerson, Eco, and Professor Asa Gray,
the distinguished botanists, obtained the
| following. A. D. 1874: 'At the ground,
| tventv-three feet six inches; and 1t i've
| feet sixteen feet one inch" In accordance
| with tho wish of DR.. Warren, A. D. 1855,
| the tree was very accurately measured by
the city engineer, who recorded tne olmen,
sons a. follows: Height, seventy-two and
one-half feet; girth oae foot above the
| ground, twenty.t two and one. half feet; girth
| four feet above the ground, seventeen feet;
| average diameter of greatest extent OF
| branches, one hundred and one feet" The
| latest measurement taken by DIR. Shurtleff
a few months before tho storm A. D. 1860,
gave twenty-fo feet girth at the ground;
eighteen and One-fOurth feet at three feet;
| and sixteen and one-hslf feet ct i've feet,
showing an increase of girth, though Of only
| about five inches in sixteen years.
The associations connected with the Old
Elm have put it to almost every purpose
| under the sun, from . gibbet Of infamy to
| .1liberty tree"o of the Revolution. Under the
| law banishing Quakers from the colonies,
and puniehiDg them with death It they re-
| turned, William Robinson and Marmaduko
| Stevenson were convicted and hanged on
the common, and most probably upon this
trees. Mary Dysr. who was rePrieved
through the intercessi0ns of her son, after
her foot was on the fatal ladder, only e.
CAPPED to meet similar fate tho next year.
And "the lifeless forms of Margaret Jones,
of Ab5ie Higgins, ana perhaps other victims
Of judicial mu der, may have depended
from these Same limbs during the reign OF
the witchcraft horrors"
The late Samuel g. Drake, Esq, in his
"History of Boston" narrares an early in
cidept connected with the history of this
tree, which occurred July "a, A. d. 1876.
He says: Another of the Nipmuck Sachems,
called Sycamore john Influenced about
one hundred and sixty Indians to surrender
at Boston. One among them, Old Matoonas,
- 80, k~ hal
cords.' He was Immediately condemned to
death; for he was not only the father OF him
who was hung in Boston several years be-
fore, but he was charged with being the
first to commit murder in Massachusetts
colony in this war. His betrayer, Saga
more john was DESTROYS that he and his
men might be the executionere; wherefore
and being tied to tree" doubtless the old
elm, ''they then shot him to death.
Very near the Powder House, which also
stood in close proximity to the tree, ON tho
third of July. A. d. 1928. occurred the duel
between BENZ amin Woodbridge and Henry
Phillips, young men of the highest re-
spectability, who both loved and lost q
young lady for whom they fought. Wood
Bird 20 was run through with word and left
dead on the feld, while Phillips was hur-
ried on board the man-of- war Sheernese,
and out of the country, by his brother
and Peter Faneuil, man who is widely
known for q better matter. The afa.C
originated the well known, but not toe
rigid law Of New England, on duelling.
During the struggle of the colonies for
their independence the neighborhood Of the.
Great Elm was one of the places Of resort
for the Sons of Liberty, who frequently
terms on evenings OF rejoicing and festal oc-
casiOns. 1t also served the purpose of ex-
hibitions of popular feeling and indignation,
for many has been the Tory who has been
hung in ef6gy from its branches. Perhaps
on this acc Dunt it acquired the name Of
Liberty Tree," which it bore A. D. l7S.,
the tree originally bearing the name having
been taken down, a. 1t is designated OF
map of Boston engraved that year.
varied history OF nearly two centuries, this
locality should be sanctified to more peace
full memories and that the tree in its old
age should obtain more hall0wed history
than even that secured to it in the efforts
of national liberty.
The Rev. Jesse Lee gave to the tree re-
liglous association in fitting contrast with
the deeds Of bigOtry and persecution enact
ed in the name of religion, when the great
elm served NO higher purpose than : gal,
the Lord poured out His fury upon the
trees of the field, that they should burn
and not be quenched," as the people 90
sacrilegiously imagined it. We, therefore,
date q new era, and period of better
things. from the evening Of Sunday, July
IL, A. D. 1890.
Boston has given no better evidence of
her veneration for the Old Elm, than in the
care che has 90 continuously bestowed upon
it. The soil has frequently been raised ct
it's roots, which for many years have been
carefully guarded with . fence. The ho,-
low in the trunk Of the tree q long tine
ago was filled with fifteen barrels Of clay,
mixed with other substances, and then
covered by q canvass fastened around it.
To what extent the interior has been re-
paired it is impossible to determine, but .
portion of the cavity was obliterated by the
formation of new woody fiber, twenty
years ago.
The mayor of Boston, A. D. 1854, foupd .
special delight in pruning, and otherwise
caring tor the tree. The old wooden de-
tense he caused to be removed, and in its
stead erected an octsgonal iron fence, which
bears upon an oval tablet, secured to tho
gate, the following inscription:
THR OLD ELM
THIS tree has been standing here for An unknown
the eettlement Of Boston, being full
grown in ira. Rxhibtesd marks Of
old age in ,772, ard Wa des-
troyed by STERN in 1879.
Protected by IN iron
". G. SMITH, Mayor
In the spring, A. D. 1860, IN of-shoot
was discovered started from ono OF tho
roots on the westerly side of the main
tree. Great care has been shown by the