The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1905-12-26
A BOSTON LANDMARK
HISTORY OF A FAMOUS OLD ELM
DESTROYED BY THE WIND.

2MAB OGAGWE8tG0 4EC0f DCkAGNG& ~
Have Existed Before the Settlement
of the City, Was Blown Down In
the Great storm of 1875.
Feb. 10, 1876, was a sad day for 10
fal historians in Boston, for the news
papers 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 city at that time. So
many eulogies, both oral and written,
were delivered on this most ancient Of
Boston's landmarks, and it was real
ICED that 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 before her marriage, claim
ed that her grandfather, Hezekiah
Henchman, planted the tree when he
was boy. This would have made the
tree just 200 years old at the time Of
fits destruction.
1t Is probable that some Of the many
persons ON record as being publicly
executed on Boston Common looked On
the fair world for the last time when
standing beneath its branches, for 1t
was one of the largest trees, II not the
largest, In the town, and It stood on
its outskirts, and also In 1722 1t must
have been q prominent object In Bos-
ton, for Bonner's map Of the town,
published in that year, shows It an q
feature.
In 1926 the first recorded measure
ment Of the old elm showed Its d.
mensions to be as follows: Height, 65
feet; circumference, 81 feet inches at
feet inches from the ground, and
the extreme diameter of the branches
was SO feet At this time it was said
Of the tree that this pride of our Com
mon LIS pronounced by judges to be as
handsome In form as it is large in size
and venerable In age, and it may be
worth the remark, Notwithstanding all
the buffeting it has received from
storms and hurricanes for more than
a century, its original beauty and sym
metry have not been impaired, al
though it has at times lost many of its
branches"
The tree was accurately measured by
the city engineer of Boston In 1856, and
1t was found that it was considerably
larger than In 1926, its height being
figured at seventy-five feet This
ahoTxo5 That - xr,o~ e,4fYr <~~oxvsx,r. a.. a.
extreme old age.
The first serious damage the tree re-
ceived was In 1882, when the largest Of
its 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, 1860, injured
the tree to such an extent that its for
mer 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 OF at the time 100 rings were
counted. which indicated the great age
Of the tree.
The opening of the centennial year Of
the republic, 1876, found the tree alive.
but decrepit, and it would probably
have been decorated on Evacuation
day and the Fourth of July, but, as
stated at the beginning of this article,
Feb. 10 saw its destruction.
The old elm fell at TIT o'clock In the
evening, its trunk pointing toward the
Park Street church, and the force Of
the fan shattered the trunk, while the
branches We're scattered In every d.
rection. The melancholy news spread
like wildnre through the city. and soon,
despite the storm, the fallen monarch
was surrounded by relic hunters. Arm
ed with saws, hatchets and knives.
they quickly detached pieces of the
branches to preserve as souvenirs. Per-
sons were seen In the theaters laden
with boughs, and it was a common
sight that evening to see men In the
streets carrying limbs several feet in
length and as large around as a stove
pipe. Much of the tree was made into
veneer. and one book at least of local
history has on It's back cover q large
veneer from the tree, bearing on its
face lifelike 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 care
fully pruned and cleaned, and he
caused to be placed around 1t an orna-
mental iron fence, octagonal in shape.
On the entrance gate was attached an
oval tablet bearing the following In
scription:
THE OLD ELM.
This tree has been standing here for
an unknown period. 1t is believed to have
existed before the settlement Of Boston,
being full grown in 1722; exhibited marks
OF old age in 17s2 and was nearly destroy
ed by a storm in 1892 Protected by an
iron Enclosure in 1854
J. ". c. SMITH, Mayor.
Soon after the falling of the old elm
a young tire of the same species was
planted In the center of the Enclosure.
and today it has attained a large and
sturdy growth. Coming generations of
Bostonians may be familiar with a
second old elm on Boston Common, but
it will always be the first old elm
which witnessed, very possibly, the
first settlement of Puritan Boston In
1630.-Boston Budget
DiscOuragfng.