The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1936-09-17

wood tree where Washington
watered horses" A horse chest
nut tree, planted by Washington,
still stands in the yard of Ken
more, the Fredericksburg (Va.)
home of Betty Washington Lewis,
his sister. 1t is the last of Is such
trees which he planted there to
represent the Thirteen Colonies
and to shade the walk between
the cottage of his mother, Mary
Ball Washington, and Kenmore.
Eight years ago a Washing
ton Friendship Grove" of 13
horse chestnut trees was planted
In the National Capital. They
sprang from the seeds of a tree
which for more than $50 years
stood in Bath, Pa, as an emblem
of friendship between Washington
and Gen. Robert Brown. The lat
ter was a frequent visitor to
Mount Vernon and at the end of
one such visit, IN 1871, Washing
ton with his own hands dug from
his garden two young horse
chestnut trees which he pre-
sented to his friend. Brown car
ried the young saplings across
the mountains to his home where
he planted them on the lawn
Only one of the trees, however
survived but it grew to a height
of 20 feet and had an 85-foot
spread of its branches.
Tree of Two Nations
On the grounds of the Capitol
in Washington is an elm under
which the first President is said
to have sat while watching the
progress in the building of that
edifice. On the grounds of the
White House stands a tree which
is also associated with the name
of Washington and which links
the past and the present in an
unusual manner.
This tree is the outgowth of an
acorn brought from Russia, and
because of this and its unique
lineage it is known as the Russo
American Oak.
The tree from which the acorn
was obtained stands in Lenin-
grad. It grew from an acorn
produced by tree at the
tomb of Washington, at Mt. Yer
non. The Mt. Vernon acorn was
sent to the car of Russia by Sem
ator Charles Sumner, of Massa-
chusetts, and planted in the
grounds of the imperial palace
by the car as symbol of Russo
American friendship. In 1898, the
tree which had grown from Sem
ator Summers acorn was located
by Ethan Allen Hitchcock, then
American Ambassador to St.
Petersburg. Gathering and plant
ing some of the acorns from this
tree, the ambassador sent a sap
ling of the new generation to
President Roosevelt for planting
in the White House grounds. The
planting took place on April 6,
1904, exactly thirteen years be-
fore the day on which the United
States joined hands with Russia
and other European countries In
the greatest conflict the world
has ever known-a conflict which
led to the destruction of the old
Russia and the assassination Of
the royal family. The young tree
was planted by President Roose-
welt himself.
In several parts of the country
are trees famous for their asso-
citation with Washington's friend,
Marquis de Lafayette. One La
fayette tree on the battlefield of
Brandywine derives its prestige
from the fact that when the cele-
brated French general was
wounded at Brandywine his in
juries were given first aid under
this tree. AT Annapolis is a tree
under which a reception to La
fayette was held, with a distin-
guished company in attendance.
In the form of trees planted by
his own hand, General Lafayette
left many mementoes of his trav-
els in America. One of these IS
now standing at Concord, New
Hampshire. Another is at York
town, Va, near house in which
are still to be seen cannon balls
in the tinbers during
the siege of Yorktown.
G Western Newspaper rnion-