The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-10-17
FAMOUS CYPRESS TREE
LINKS PAST and PRESENT
New Bern's Tree Whose Wide Spreading Boughs Span
The History of Colony and Stakeholder Trees
Famous In History.
Famous In History.

worn story of the conversation be-
tween the two Governors Of h Caro-
linas.
1t is now incumbent upon me to
prove that New Bern's great cypress
is not o~utclassed by these celebrated
trees. To the view it is a goodly
tree, ten feet in girth and a hundred
feet in the breeze. 1t stands a short
distance from the edge OF Neuse
River upon the land Of Mr.. S. w.
|Smallwood, who considers himself its
guardian. The land upon which the
tree grows once belonged to Governor
Spaight and later to Judge Thomas.
accurately say, but doubtless it was
a thrifty stem before the Swiss and
Palatines arrived. It is almost old
enough to be a fable. At any rate
tradition says that the first boat ever
built in these waters was ribbed,
sheathed and calked beneath it's
shade. and thence was showed into
the water that came up to it's roots:
That the tree grew and flourished
in those dim days should speak for
itself, but it is in the Revolutionary
time hat the tree became a person.
ality, living in the clear light of
facts. It's birth to fame was in the
year 1871, the dreary time when
Lord CORVALLIS had completely de-
ICdIeO Gates ana 1nuceO ndu proven
the prophecy that his northern
laurels would turn to Southern will
lows. Then came Nathaniel Greene,
the Quaker parsons sOn Of Rhode
Island, he who saved the patriot
army at B~randyWine. There was only
a wreck of the army Of the South.
There must be a great effort made
to reconstruct the force. Money
must be secured. The crisis must be
met. General Greene came to New
Bern to met Governor Spaight. The
two men met and it is recorded hat
a long and earnest conversation was
held beneath h great cypress, n
that on that spot the Governor
pledged the resources of the State
and also his private means to the
cause of liberty. The army was re-
organized. A defensive campaign en-
sued. Finally the opportunity came
and the British were routed at Eutaw
Springs. the hardest fought battle Of
the war, n the successful general
was voted a medal by Congress and
given large grants Of land.
Now the tree had made it's rep
No doubt its green branches were
more proudly lifted. But there was
more to come. General George Wash
ington after becoming President of the
Republican he had made, came on a
visit to New Bern town. The incidents
OF the P~reSldentS visit nave all come
down to us, and it is related that
When he was told the story Of the
important meeting of Greene and
Spaight, tho President asked to be
shown the spot and walked over to
the cypress and rested under it's
shade. It is nOt surprising that
Washington this interest, for
General Greene was his intimate
friend, and none knew better than
Wa Chin OtOn tho CaSr1tc Of that oor
f%erence.
Many other interesting vents
which would be too numerous to
chronicle have occurred beneath the
shade of this mighty tree. There is
a chance that all of us hat live will
go, but that the cypress will keep on
living and will witness the solving
of other great problems. Here's to
it's health and may it live long and
prosper.