Smyrna times., 1905-11-29
DESTRUCTION OF FAMOUS
OLD BOSTON LANDMARK
.hSTORY ;OF THE FAMOUS OLD ELM
ON BOSTON COMMON DESTROYED BY WIND
This Famous Tree. Believed to 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 To-
cal historians in Boston, for the news
papers announced the next day that at
about Z 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
BOstOns landmarks, and it was real
ized 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 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
its 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 it's branches, for it
was one of the largest trees, if not the
largest, in the town, and it stood on
its outskirts, and also in 1922 it must
have been a prominent object in Bos-
ton, for Bonners map of the town,
published in that year, shows it as a
feature.
In 1925 the first recorded measure
ment of the old elm showed its di-
mensiOns to be as follows: Height, 60
feet; circumference, 81 feet s inches at
2 feet inches from the ground, and
the extreme diameter of the branches
was Sc feet. At this time it was said
Of the tree that this pride of our Com
mon is 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 1855, and
it was found that it was considerably
larger than in 1926. it's height being
figured at seventy-five feet This
showed that it was still growing in its
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
thee 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 off 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 decorator on Evacuation
day and the Fourth of July. but, a.
- stated at the beginning of this article
Feb. 10 saw its destruction.
The old elm fell at 7:17 o'clock in til,
evening, its trunk pointing toward tn,
Park Street church. and the force o
the fall shattered the trunk, while tn
branches were scattered in every di
rection. The melancholy news spreat
like wildfire through the city, and soon
despite the storm, the fallen monarcl
was surrounded by relic hunters. Arm
ed with saws, hatchets and knives
they quickly detached pieces of tn
branches to preserve as souvenirs. Pei
sons were seen in the theaters lade
with boughs, and it was a cOmmo
sight that evening to see men in th
streets carrying limbs several feet
length and as large around as a stov'
pipe. Much of the tree was made int
veneer, and one book at least of loci
history has on its back cover a lare
veneer from the tree, bearing on il
face lifelike engraving of the same
So passed the old elm, and Bosto
mourned for its passing.
DR. Jerome V. C. Smith. mayor
the city in 1854. showed his interest
the old elm by having the tree car
IullY lTuHeu anu CledneU, ana
caused to be placed around it an orn
mental iron fence, octagonal in shap
On the entrance gate was attached &
oval table. learing the following /
scription:
THE OLD ELM
This tree has been standing here (
an unknown period. 1t is believed to ha
existed before the settlement Of BostC
being full grown in 1922; exhibited mar
OF old age in 1892 and was nearly destro
ed by a storm in 1892. Protected by
iron inclosure in 1854.
]. V. c. SMITH, Mayor
Soon after the falling Of the old el
a young tree of the same species W
planted in the center of the inclosul
and today 1t has attained a large a
sturdy growth. Coming generations
Bostonians may be familiar with
second old elm on Boston Common. b
A. -. L.