Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-08
THE OLD ELM IN BOSTON.
History Of This Landmark, Which
Wind Destroyed.

Trom the Boston Budget
February 10. 1876. was a sad day for local
historians in Boston, for the newspapers
announced the next day that at about @
o'clock the previous evening the Old Elm.
on Boston Common. had been destroyed by
great storm. which swept over the citv
at that time. So many eulogies. both
oral and written. were delivered on this
most ancient Of Bostons landmarks, and
1t was realized that a connecting link with
the remote past was gone forever.
1t Is not known when the tree began to
grow. but an old Boston tradition was that
the wife of Thomas Hancock. the eminent
merchant, who was Lydia Henchman be-
fore her marriage, claimed that her grand
father. Hezekiah Henchman. planted the
tree when he was a boy. This would have
made the tree just about 200 years old at
the time of its destruction
1t Is probable that some of the many
persons on record as being publicly exc
cuted on Boston Common looked on the
fair world for the last time when standing
beneath its branches for 1t was one of the
largest. II not the largest tree in the town,
and 1t stood on its outskirts; and also in
1722 1t must have been prominent object
in Boston, for Bonner's map Of the town,
published in that year, shows 1t as fea-
ture.
In 1926 the first recorded measurement of
the Old Elm showed Its dimensions to be
as follows: Height, IS feet; circumference,
81 feet inches at feet 6 inches from
the ground. and the extreme diameter CT
the branches was SO feet. At this time it
was said of the tree that this pride OF our
common is pronounced by judges to be as
handsome In form as 1t Is large In size and
venerable in age, and 1t may be worth the
remark that Notwithstanding all the buffet
ing 1t has received from storms and hurri-
canes for more than a century its original
beauty and symmetry have not been I'M
paired, although It has at times lost many
Of its branches"
The tree was accurately measured by the
city engineer OF Boston In 1855 and 1t was
fou-d that 1t was considerably larger than
This showed that It was still growing in its
extreme old age.
The first serious damage the tree received
was in 1882. when the largest of ite limbs
was so rent asunder that three branches
rested on the ground; but at much cost and
labor they were replaced in their former
positions and held together by iron rods
and bolts. The great gale in June 1850,
injured the tree to such an extent that its
former symmetry was destroyed, and at
this time the cavity in the trunk was filed
with several loads OF material. On one Of
the branches which were torn off at the
time 1870 rings were counted. which indi-
Gated the great age Of the tree.
The opening of the centennial year of the
republic, 1876, found the tree alive. but de-
crepit. and 1t would probably have been
decorated on Evacuation day and the
Fourth OF July. but, as stated at the begin
ming of this article. February Is saw It's
destruction.
The Old Elm fell at 1911 o'clock in the
evening, its trunk pointing toward the Park
Street Church, and the force of the fall
shattered the trunk. while the branches
were scattered in every direction. The mel
ancholy news spread like wildfre through
kIn 1T o,,I
fallen monarch was surrounded by relic
hunters Armed with saws. hatchets and
knives. they quickly detached pieces of the
branches to preserve as souvenirs. Persons
were seen in the theaters laden with boughs
and 1t was a common sight that evening
to see men in the streets carrying limbs
several feet in length and as large around
as stovepipe. Much Of the tree was made
into veneer. and one book. at least, of local
history has on its back cover a large We
neer from the tree. bearing on its face q
hfe-like engraving Of the same.
So passed the Old Elm and Boston
mourned for its passing.
DR.. jerome V. C. Smith. mayor of the
city In 1854, showed his interest In the Old
Elm by having the tree carefully pruned
and cleaned, and he caused to be placed
around 1t an ornamental iron fence, octag-
onal in shape. On the entrance gate was
attached an oval tablet, bearing the follow
THE Old Elm.
unknown period 1t is believed to have
existed before the settlement OF Boston
being full grown in 1722; exhibited marks
Of old age In 1892 and was nearly destroyed
by a storm in 1892 Protected by an iron
Enclosure in 1854.
II. v. C. SMITH, Mayor
Soon after the falling of the Old Elm
young tree of the same species was planted
in the center of the Enclosure, and today
1t has attained large and sturdy growth.
Coming generations of Bostonians may be
familiar with second old elm On Boston
Common. but 1t will always be the first
old elm which witnessed. very possibly, the
first settlement of Puritan Boston in 1880.