Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-10

| 1889 the document reappeared in the same
mysterious manner, and continued to be
| the organic law Of Connecticut during the
| remainder of the colonial period
History tells US. and 1t is accepted as the
| truth. that the lights in the assembly
chamber were extinguished by pre-con-
certed signal. and that one Capt. Wads-
worth of Hartford seized the charter, crept
through the door and secreted the docu-
ment in a large hollow tree in front OF the
house Of Samuel WHY'S. secretary Of the
colony. whose descendants succeeded him
in that Office generation after generation
for more than a hundred years The OLD
oak continued to be venerateo as sacred
until it fell in 1855.
Strange to say, there are two copies OF
the charter, very nearly alike. one OF
them occupies a handsome frame In
steel-lned, fireproof case in the library at
the state capitol. The other Is In the mu-
scum Of the Connecticut Historical Society.
in the Wadsworth Athenaeum, near the
center of the city. There Is no historical
or documentary evidence, however. to sus-
tain the accepted story. although there is
no question that the charter disappeared
at the time mentioned in the tradition. and
remained out of sight for years. But who
seized it, who hid 1t, or where 1t was hidden,
or how long 1t was concealed. or who took
1t out of its hiding place and returned 1t
to the governor nobody knows.
Mr.. Albert c. Bates, secretary OF the
Connecticut Historical Society, who has
made a thorough study of this fascinating
and dramatic tradition, said in reply to my
inquiry the other day
Story Based Wholly on Tradition.
THE charter oak story is based entirely
upon tradition. There Is no contemporary
record or correspondence or other writing
Of the time in which 1t is alluded to. al
though l have heard that there Is In ex
istence a diary OF a resident Of Hartford at
that period which has never been printed
and Is known to only few people" Mr..
Bates was rather mysterious in his allu-
any further information about 1t, but talked
in an interesting manner about other ref
erences to the incident.
1.-The first printed statement concerning
the charter oak" he said, appears in
history of Connecticut printed in 1871 by
Samuel Peters of Hebron. He was a tory
during the revolution. and his fellow-towns-
men drove him out of the state. He went
life, spending part of his time In writing
history Of the colony In which he tried
to get even with his neighbors for the treat
ment he had received. He villifed the
state and everybody in 1t. He says that
the charter was hidden in hollow elm, but
does not give the location.
I'm 1907 Benjamin Trumbull published
history in which he said that the charter
was hidden in an oak which stood on the
side of the street in front Of the residence
of Mr.. WHY'S, secretary Of the colony"
Where was the building in which the
assembly metz" asked.
There is a dispute about that" replied
Mr. Bates. Some authorities claim that
the meeting with Andres was in a tavern
on the main street which occupied the site
of the present Aetna Insurance build
Ing Others think 1t was in the upper story
of the meeting house. on the public square.
There is no way of determining which was
the place, but the probabilities are in favor
Of the meeting house.
Much confusion has also been caused by
the fact that there were two copies of the
charter There Is not the slightest doubt
is in the library at the state house. and
the other is in the Wadsworth Athenaeum.
preserved in the Identical box in which 1t
was brought from England The state
house copy was kept in England for time
and brought over later. The records of the
clerk of the Hanaper in England show
that two copies were engrossed and sealed
and paid for The clerk of the Hanaper
was a sort Of custodian of the records. A
hanaper was a basket, the same as hamper
The clerk of the rolls kept his records in
baskets in those days: hence he was known
as the clerk Of The hanaper. The amount
OF the fees and the date on which they were
paid appear upon his records.
The man who secured the charters was
them in 1861. He secured them in 1862
and sent one copy to Hartford in the fall
of that year by the hand Of an agent of
the Massachusetts colony who was coming
nome In advance OF mis- return. Ihat is
probably the copy that is here in the Athe-
naeum, and it was probably brought in
that same box. In 1886 William Whitney,
an agent Of the colony, who was going to
England on business. took letter to James
Porter, another agent, residing in London,
instructing him to deliver the other copy
Of the charter, which was left with Porter
by Gov. Winthrop twentyfour years pre-
vious. That is positive evidence that there
were duplicates"
pavmant %o Cant Wode-or%b