The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 18??-1882, 1881-09-23
The Weeping Willow.

W. y Oil oOCli ttuililOd OlN
weeping willow tree-the Salix Baby
lonica-upon which the captive He
brews hung their harps when they sat
down by the rivers of Babylon and
swept when they remembered Zion"
1t is native of the Garden of Eden,
and not of America, and will tell you
how it emigrated to this country.
More than one hundred and fifty
years ago merchant lost his fortune.
He went to Smyrna, a seaside city of
Asia Minor, to recover it. Alexander
Pope, one of the greatest poets of Eng
land, was the merchants warmest
friend, and sympathized with him in
his misfortunes.
Soon after the merchant arrived in
Smyrna he sent to Pope, as a present a
box of dried figs. At that time the
poet had built a beautiful villa at
Twickenham, on the bank of the
Thames, and was adorning it with
trees, shrubbery and Towering plants.
On opening the box of figs, Pope dis
covered in it small twig of tree. 1t
was stranger to him. AS it came
from the East, he planted the twig in
the ground near the river, close by his
villa. The spot accidentally chosen
for the planting was favorable to it's
growth, for the twig was from the
weeping willow tree-possibly from
the banks of one of the rivers of Baby
lon which fleurishes best along the
borders of water courses.
This little twig grew vigorously, and
in few years it became a large tree,
spreading wide it's branches and droop-
ing, graceful sprays, and winning the
admiration of the poets friends as
well as strangers. 1t became the an
cestor of all the weeping willow trees
in England.
There was a rebellion in the English
American colonies in 1775. British
troops were sent to Boston to put down
the insurrection. Their leaders expect
ed it to end in few weeks after their
arrival. Some young officers brought
fishing tackle with them, to enable
them to enjoy sport after their brief
war. Others came to settle on the con-
fiscated land of the rebels.
Among the latter was young officer
on the staff of General Howe. He
brought with him, wrapped in oil silk,
a twig from POpe's weeping willow
tree at Twickenham, which he intend
ed to plant on some stream watering
his American estate.
Washington commanded an army be-
fore Boston and kept the British i'm
prisoned in that city a long time against
their will. On his staff was his step
son John Parke Custis, who frequently
went to the British headquarters, un-
der the protection of a flag, with dis
patches for General Howe. He became
with the young officer who
had the willow twig, and they became
friends.
Instead of "crushIng the rebellion in
six weeks, the British army at Boston,
at the end of an Imprisonment of nine
were glad to fly by sea for their
life and liberty, to Halifax. Long be-
fore that flight the British subaltern,
satisfied that he should never have an
estate in America to adorn, gave his
carefully preserved willow twig to
young Custis, who planted it at Abing-
don, his estate in Virginia, where it
grew and hourished, and became par
ent to all the weeEi-S willow trees in
the United States.
Some time after the war General
Horatio Gates, of the Revolution, set
tied ON Rose Hill Farm on New York
Island, and at the entrance to the lane
which led from the country road to his
house he planted twig from the Wig
orous willow of Abingdon, which he
had brought with him. That country
road is now Third Avenue, and the
land is Twenty-second Street. Gates
mansion built of wood and two stories
in height, stood near the corner of
Street and Second Av-
enue, where / saw it consumed by fire.
The tree which grew from
the sprig planted at the entrance of
Gates lane remained until compara-
lively few years ago. 1t stood on the
Northeast corner of Third avenue and
Street. 1t was direct
descendant, in the third generation, of
Pope's willow, planted at Twicken-
ham ahout 100 : Re,leo9l ~ LOssiI0