The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-10-05
SOM FAMOUS
AMERICAN |. | TREES
Charter Oak, Washington Elm.
Liberty Tree, ArnoId's Willow.
THREE NOTED Il lip POP LARS
The Twig Which Montgomery Planted
Stands To>Day Handsome
WiIlow-Tells of the
Revolution.
THREE NOTED TULIP POP LARS

Trees from the earliest ages have been
landmarks of history. They have recorded
the location Of historical events, and have
been venerated by the people until de-
stroyed by the elements or some vandal
hand. England, for instance, had two
memorable trees-the Shelton oak. from
whose top Owen Glendower is said to
have witnessed the battle between Henry
{ ~. and Harry Percy in 1903, and the
Kings Oak, which sheltered Charles Il.
from his enemies.
The historical trees of our own country,
though few in number, are yet numerous
enough to deserve special mention, and
we shall content ourselves with those con-
nected with Colonial and Revolutionry
history. The first to be named is the
famous Charter Oak, which grew in the
city of Hartford. 1t obtained its notieriety
in 1857, when Sir Edmund Andross, the
first Governor General of Connecticut,
went to Hartford to demand the surren-
der Of the Colonial charter. The demand
was cunningly debated until evening,
when the charter was produced; but all
at orco the lights in the hall were extin-
guished and Capt. Henry Wadsworth, Of
Hartford, seized the precious document
and hid 1t in an oak tree which stood in
y y
MAGISTRATE Sir Edmund searched in vain
for the charter, but the old oak and the
people kept the secret and it was not re-
covered.
William PENIS treaty tree stood in Ken
sngton until 1910. when a storm blew it
down During the Revolution the tree
came near falling a prey to British forag-
ing parties in search of wood. and II Col
Simmons, of the Queen Rangers, had not
hove 10
low. A monument to Penn and ms treaty
stands on the site ofNthe tree.
The Washington elm at Cambridge Is
one of the great historical trees of our
country. On the morning of July s. ITO,
the Father of His Country left his head
quarters at Cambridge, and, marching 70
the elm which stood majestically near
by. drew his sword and assumed cohl-
mand OF the American armies. otanuisis
with barred head under the ola tree,
Washington is said to have looked the
picture of resolution ana courage anu
thus he gave that day t othe elm q laiiie
which his own will not outiast
rrbe elms of New Haven are historical
ma have conf erred upon it the ute OIL
tto CITY of the 1clms The trees We're
,,1a nted bv the Rev. David AUSTIN ano
the Hon. James Hillhouse two prominene
spirits of the colony.
The Liberty Tree, Oh boSloh. we, a
landmark until its ruthless destruction
H.. the British. 1t, too. was an elm, and
stood at the corner of Washington ana
Essex Streets. AS early as s1l65 it was
the rallying point for the Sons OF l4iher-
ty. and more, than once effigies Of some
of the most prominent advocates oil the
Stamp Act were suspended from its
boaehs. It continued to be a Mecca of
pa triotism until the coming of General
Cage in liza. The tree and its assoc'a-
lions were too obnoxious to the general
and his soldiers, and one day they as
saulted it with axes and leveled it to
the ground The noble old tree furnished
fourteen cords of wood, and one of the
soldiers who was engaged in telling it
was killed by a. falling branch.
Near the city Of Charleston, S. c.,
stood Lincolns council tree, a lordly
magnolia, so called because beneath its
hcuehs General Lincoln. of Revolutionary
fame. held his councils of war during
the siege of 1850. One would think that
a tree with such a history would have
been preserved, but more than sixty years
after the war the owner Of the land upon
which it stood cut it down for firewood.
when he had other timber in abundance.
Ec should have been imbued with the
sentiment of Morris immortal lines: