Morning journal and courier., 1883-10-09
Price Three Cents

Herrick oak In the college campus. This tree is what ig called the Scarlet oak aud was
 planted there by MT. Herrick to mark ths
 home of bis youth. On his decease 1t was designated by his name to honor his mem- ory. And now that we have incidentally brought in some facts about the oak, and have, perhaps, awakened an interest in the subject of trees generally in the minds of some who had previously given it but little thought, we will devote the remainder of this chapter to this subject, beginning with an extract from a city paper describing 'the Northford, about eight miles from our city, and dating perhaps back almost to the time of the rise of Christianity: ''Northford is announced as the rival of Woodbridge in the matter of aged oaks. The great white oak near what is known as the Benjamin Johnson corner, about mile west from the village on the road to the depot of the Air Line road, is the patriarch oak of Connecticut, if not the old est on the continent. Twenty years ago careful measurements of the tree were made. At it's base the tree measured 30 feet in cir conference and the spread of it's branches was found to be III feet east and vest and 1O7 feet north and south The Woodbridge oak (blsck) measures one foot from the base tTenty-seven feet and the branches cover an area of niHety feet, while Abraham's oak in Hebron is twenty two and
  nine feet of branches The Northford oak has two branches which extend horizontally hfty-hve feet from the trunk and several which extsAd fifty feet. The measurements of twenty years ago have been compared by Maltby Fowler, of Northford, with measure ments made by him within few days, and he discovers no difference. Estimating the increase of circumference IS one inch in ten years, the size of the tree shows it to be twelve hundred years old, but the fact of no growth in twenty years puts aside this basis of cal culation and indicates 8 much greater age. The tree is entirely sound and promises to continue for centuries to come."
 It will gratify some of the readers of the foregoing to learn that pleasant portrait of 'the Northford patriarch'' with it's surround ings painted in oil by Mrs. M. W. Linsley, New York artist, is now on exhibition in the art store of Evarts Cutler. Mrs. Linsley we understand is a native of Northford, and the painting of this noble product of her own home soil has been with her 8 labor of love.
 We have spoken of ''the Gospel oaks" of Britain, so called because the oak being a long living treeswas often selected as the boundary of parish. We once had Cos pei oak in New Haven, and it is the first tree spoken of in it's history. It stood near the corner northeast of George and College streets. It land where the famous progeniTress of the Beecher famf- ly settled She was widow lady and in the AAo CA bJ thNA OooIuoE: NAo HaS OoIu oA eAAo spot, she is thus described in document copied therein: "There was one Hannah Beecher, 8 widow Iady-HhosO husband had died just before they sailed-snd her son John. She was about to leave the enterprise on her husbands death, but being a midwife they promised her if she would come her husbands share in the town plot. This prom ise YVES kept and it was under large spread ing oak that grew on her land that they kept their first Sabbath, April 15, 1638, and MT. Dav- enport preached the first sermon from Matt. K. i, Then Jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the deyil''' p