{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_64762/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_64762","id":"gutenberg_64762","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64762","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - American","Category: Nature/Gardening/Animals","Trees -- Folklore","Trees -- United States -- History"],"text":"Some Historic Trees\n\n\n    [Illustration: Boards of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen\n    County]\n\nOne of a historical series, this pamphlet is published under the\ndirection of the governing Boards of the Public Library of Fort Wayne\nand Allen County.\n\n           BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SCHOOL CITY OF FORT WAYNE\n\n  _B.F. Geyer, President_\n  _Joseph E. Kramer, Secretary_\n  _W. Page Yarnelle, Treasurer_\n  _Mrs. Sadie Fulk Roehrs_\n  _Willard Shambaugh_\n\n                 PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD FOR ALLEN COUNTY\n\nThe members of this Board include the members of the Board of Trustees\nof the School City of Fort Wayne (with the same officers) together with\nthe following citizens chosen from Allen County outside the corporate\nCity of Fort Wayne:\n\n  _James E. Graham_\n  _Arthur Nieneier_\n  _Mrs. Glenn Henderson_\n  _Mrs. Charles Reynolds_\n\n\n\n\n                                FOREWORD\n\n\nFrom earliest times, trees have served and interested man. Primitive man\nfound trees to be a source of food, fuel, clothing, and building\nmaterial. In the dim, distant past certain trees were considered sacred\nas the habitat of woodland deities. Today, some giants of the forest are\nknown for their great age and as landmarks; they are often associated\nwith historical events.\n\nThe first portion of this pamphlet was published in the FORT WAYNE\nSENTINEL on July 11, 1891, and describes historic trees of the Colonial\nand Revolutionary periods. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation have been\nchanged to correspond with current usage. The second part was written by\nthe Library Staff; stories of notable trees of the Old Northwest are\nrelated.\n\nThe Boards and the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen\nCounty present this publication in the hope that it will prove\nentertaining and informative to citizens of the Summit City.\n\n\nThere has been no Methuselah since the flood. Man seldom lives longer\nthan one hundred years. Only the elephant and the tortoise feebly\nimitate the longevity of the antediluvians. But there are living things\nthat outlive them all\u2014things far more stately than the tallest man or\nlargest quadruped\u2014living things that were companions of the gray beards\nbefore the flood and lived to bless their grandchildren.\n\nThe only living links between us and the remote past are trees\u2014grand old\ntrees with clustering memories like trailing vines. In the shadows of\nthe dark forest, in the light of the lofty hills, in the warmth and\nbeauty of the broad plains of the great globe, they stand in matchless\ndignity. But they are few. They are patriarchs of the vegetable kingdom,\nreceiving the homage of myriads of children. With what mute eloquence do\nthey address us? With what moving pathos do the trees of Olivet\ndiscourse of Jesus, his \u201cbeautiful life and sublime death\u201d? How the\ncedars of Lebanon talk of Solomon and Hiram, and the great temple of\nJerusalem! In our own country and in our own time, ancient trees have\nbeen, and still are, intimately connected with our history as colonies\nand as a nation; they command the reverence of every heart.\n\nProbably the most ancient of these living links connecting the present\nand the past was the Big Tree that stood on the bank of the Genesee\nRiver, near the village of Geneseo, New York. When first seen by the\nwhite man, it was the patriarch of the Geneseo Valley and was so revered\nby the Senecas that they named their village \u201cBig Tree.\u201d It also gave\nname to an eminent Seneca chief, who was the friend of Washington and\nhis cause. During a great flood in the Geneseo Valley in 1857, the Big\nTree was swept away and buried in the bottom of Lake Ontario. The trunk\nmeasured twenty-five feet, nine inches in circumference.\n\nProbably next in age to the Big Tree was the famous Charter Oak in the\ncity of Hartford, Connecticut. It was standing at the height of its\nglory and was estimated to be six hundred years old when the seeds of\nthe commonwealth were planted there. Connected with it is a curious\nepisode. When James II ascended the English throne, he took measures to\nsuppress the growth of free government in America; he sent over Edmond\nAndros to take away the charters from the colonies and to rule over them\nas governor general. Connecticut refused to give up her charter. When\nAndros attempted to seize it during a night session of the Assembly,\nCaptain Wadsworth bore the charter away and secreted it in a hollow of\nthe old oak. After James II had been deposed and Andros had been\nbanished from New England, the charter was taken from its hiding place\nand the government re-established. On a stormy night in August, 1854,\nthe old oak was prostrated.\n\nIn the Kensington area of Philadelphia, an old elm stood until 1810,\nknown as Penn\u2019s Treaty Tree, because under it the renowned Quaker made\nhis compact with the Indians. \u201cI will not do as the Marylanders did,\nthat is, call you children or brothers only,\u201d said Penn, addressing the\nIndians, \u201cfor parents are apt to whip their children too severely, and\nbrothers sometimes will differ; neither will I compare the friendship\nbetween us to a chain for the rain may rust it or a tree may fall and\nbreak it, but I will consider you as the same flesh and blood with the\nChristians, and the same as if one man\u2019s body were to be divided into\ntwo parts.\u201d\n\nUntil 1860 a venerable willow tree stood in New York City and it has an\ninteresting history. When Alexander Pope, the English poet, built his\nvilla at Twickenham, he planted a small twig that a friend had sent him\nfrom Smyrna. This little twig of the Salix babylonica, or weeping\nwillow, became the parent of all its kind in England and in the United\nStates. One of the British officers who came to Boston in 1775 to crush\nthe American Revolution carried with him a twig from Pope\u2019s willow to\nplant on American soil. The twig was presented to John Parke Custis,\nWashington\u2019s stepson, and was planted at Abingdon, Virginia. In 1790\nGeneral Gates planted a shoot from it on his farm on Manhattan Island,\nwhere it became in time a beautiful willow, the grandchild of Pope\u2019s\nwillow at Twickenham.\n\nSoon after the great conflict for American independence had begun,\nWashington was appointed Commander in Chief of the continental forces;\non July 2, 1775, he took up his headquarters at Cambridge,\nMassachusetts. The following morning he proceeded to a great elm tree at\nthe north end of Cambridge Common and drawing his sword, he formally\ntook command of the army. The old elm tree was known afterward as\nWashington\u2019s Elm.\n\n    [Illustration: Penn\u2019s Treaty Tree]\n\nNear the dividing line between North and South Carolina stood a famous\ntulip tree, marking the spot where the Americans defeated a part of Lord\nCornwallis\u2019 army in October, 1780. Because ten Tories were hanged from\nits branches after the battle, the tree was called afterward the Tory\nTulip Tree.\n\nUntil about 1852, a majestic pine tree stood by the highway between the\nvillages of Fort Edward and Sandy Hill (now Hudson Falls) on the Hudson\nin upstate New York. Upon its trunk was carved \u201cJane McCrea, 1777.\u201d The\ninscription memorialized the tragic fate of Jane McCrea. The daughter of\na New Jersey clergyman, she moved, after her father\u2019s death, to her\nbrother\u2019s home near Fort Edward. Here she became engaged to a neighbor\u2019s\nson. He was a loyalist who entered the army of Burgoyne. In 1777, Jane\nwas captured by Indians and was killed instantly when a bullet intended\nfor the savages pierced her heart. Her lover purchased the locks of his\nbeloved, deserted the army, and retired to Canada, where he bewailed his\nbetrothed\u2019s fate until the end of his life.\n\nIn 1779 Washington sent Mad Anthony Wayne to storm the fort on Stony\nPoint in the Hudson highlands. When asked by Washington whether he could\ncarry the fort, Wayne replied: \u201cI\u2019ll storm hell if you will only plan\nit!\u201d Under a black walnut tree, in the stillness of the night, Wayne\ngave orders to his men, and as stealthily as tigers they approached the\nfort and surprised it. In the early morning Wayne wrote to the Commander\nin Chief, \u201cThe fort and garrison and Colonel Johnston are ours.\u201d The\nwalnut tree has perished.\n\n    [Illustration: a black walnut tree at Stony Point]\n\nNear Seaconnet, Rhode Island, stood a venerable sycamore tree, the only\ngreat tree left in that section of the state by the British when they\nevacuated it in October, 1779. Seaconnet Channel was the scene of one of\nthe most dashing exploits of the War of Independence. The British had\nblocked the channel with the warship, \u201cPigot,\u201d which was armed with\ntwelve eight-pounders and ten swivels. Captain Silas Talbot undertook\nthe capture of the \u201cPigot.\u201d Embarking sixty men on the coasting schooner\n\u201cHawke\u201d which was armed with only three three-pounders and small arms,\nhe sailed under cover of darkness. Grappling the enemy, he boarded,\ndrove the crew below, coiled the cables over the hatchway to secure his\nprisoners, and carried off his prize to Stonington.\n\nIn Charleston until 1849 there was a beautiful magnolia tree which\nspread its branches over more than two hundred square feet. Under this\ntree General Benjamin Lincoln held a council in 1780 to determine\nwhether Charleston, then besieged by Sir Henry Clinton, should be\nevacuated. It was resolved to remain, but a few weeks later the\nAmericans surrendered to the British, who had been reinforced by Lord\nCornwallis.\n\nAt Lake Drummond in the Dismal Swamp in Virginia, there is a tall tree\nunder which Washington is reputed to have passed a night in Colonial\ntimes.\n\nWhen Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, visited Norfolk in 1834, he heard the\nstory of a young man who became mentally unbalanced on the death of his\nbeloved. Refusing to admit her death, he believed that she was living\ndeep within the swamp. Under that impression he wandered into its\nsolitudes and perished. Moore used this legend as the basis for his\ntouching ballad \u201cThe Lake of the Dismal Swamp,\u201d which commences:\n\n  \u201cThey made her a grave, too cold and damp\n  For a soul so warm and true;\n  And she\u2019s gone to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp,\n  Where, all night long, by a fire-fly lamp,\n  She paddles her white canoe.\n\n  And her fire-fly lamp I soon shall see,\n  And her paddle I soon shall hear;\n  Long and loving our life shall be,\n  And I\u2019ll hide the maid in a cypress tree,\n  When the footstep of death is near.\u201d\n\nThe last of our historical trees is a white oak in the eastern part of\nthe village of Flushing on Long Island a few miles from New York. George\nFox, the founder of the Society of Friends, preached under it in 1672,\nand afterward it was held in deep regard by the Quakers.\n\n\nFORT WAYNE SENTINEL, July 11, 1891\n\n\nHoosiers and other Midwesterners may well be proud of the interesting\ntrees of their states. These giants of the forest are interesting\nbecause of closely connected historical events or because of special\nfacets of their own histories. Indiana and her neighboring states have\nproduced great trees worthy of special mention.\n\nThe fame of a tree is perpetuated and frequently exaggerated or altered\nduring its lifetime. The natives consider the tree as a landmark; they\nproudly point it out and relate its history to strangers. All too often\nwhen the tree dies and is felled, it is unfortunately forgotten. The\nlegend also dies for succeeding generations.\n\nThe citizens of Indiana are indeed fortunate that their most famous\ntree, the Constitution Elm, has not been allowed to sink into oblivion.\nDelegates met at Corydon, Indiana\u2019s first capitol, on June 10, 1816, to\ndraft the first state constitution. The weather was unseasonably warm;\nthe heat may have influenced the committee to adjourn to the shade of a\nhuge elm on the lawn of the Statehouse. Under these sheltering branches\nspreading over one hundred feet, the delegates met each day until they\nhad completed that historic document on the twenty-ninth of June in that\nmemorable summer. The elm perished in 1925 from a fatal root disease,\nphloem necrosis, but the trunk was preserved and set in a sandstone\nmonument.\n\nAnother elm connected with the political history of Indiana grew at\nPlainfield. In 1842 Martin Van Buren toured the West, and his itinerary\nincluded Indianapolis and Terre Haute with a stop en route at\nPlainfield. Although 1842 was not a presidential election year, Van\nBuren undoubtedly had in mind the coming nominations of 1844, for he\nmade speeches at every stop and gave his political opinions freely. In\nIndianapolis he was given an enthusiastic reception by his friends and\nadmirers. But he also had political enemies in Indiana. The owners of\nthe stage coach lines were incensed because he had not favorably\nreceived legislation for road improvement.\n\n    [Illustration: the Constitution Elm ... Corydon, Indiana]\n\nThese enemies planned to mar his arrival at Plainfield and had little\ntrouble bribing the driver of Van Buren\u2019s coach to effect it. The\nNational Road led into Plainfield, and beside it towered an ancient elm.\nThe massive roots of the tree extended across the road. As the coach\napproached the tree, the driver whipped up the horses instead of slowing\nthem down. The wheels struck the obstacle; the impact upset the coach,\nand Van Buren landed in the muddy road. His political foes succeeded in\nspoiling his arrival at Plainfield and doubtlessly impressed him with\nthe urgent need for highway improvement! The local chapter of the\nDaughters of the American Revolution has since marked this elm with a\nplaque.\n\nThe patriarch of Fort Wayne\u2019s apple trees was bearing fruit long before\nGeneral Wayne appeared on the scene. When Chief Richardville of the\nMiami Indians was born in a hut near the tree in 1761, the apple tree\nstood in the midst of the Miami village, Kekionga. The city grew and\nprospered; late in the nineteenth century the venerable tree perished at\nan estimated age of one hundred and fifty years. Although the exact\nlocation is unknown, it stood in the Lakeside residential district of\nFort Wayne. An article in the May, 1862, issue of HARPER\u2019S NEW MONTHLY\nMAGAZINE reveals that the trunk of the ancient tree measured twenty feet\nin diameter in 1860.\n\nNew Harmony, Indiana, the scene of two remarkable social experiments,\nhad two trees worthy of mention. In 1803 the Harmonists, under the\nleadership of George Rapp, separated from the Lutheran church in Germany\nand migrated to Pennsylvania. In 1815 the sect moved again; the members\ndecided on a site which they called \u201cHarmonie\u201d on the Wabash River in\nIndiana. Upon disembarking at their destination, they slept under an oak\ntree, which was later named \u201cThe Rappite Oak.\u201d Rapp built his own house\nnear the tree. The Harmonists were so successful in their communal\nliving experiment that jealous neighbors made life unpleasant for them,\nand they returned to Pennsylvania in 1824. But the oak survived until\n1900 and outlived all of the Harmonists, whose numbers dwindled rapidly\nbecause of their strict adherence to celibacy.\n\nRobert Owen (1771-1858), another social experimenter, purchased the\nsettlement from Rapp and renamed it \u201cNew Harmony.\u201d Unlike the\nHarmonists, Owen and his followers were humanists. Their community did\nnot flourish long, but while in existence it was the home of a brilliant\ngroup of scientists. Among them were Thomas Say, a noted zoologist,\nThomas Nutthall, a botanist, and William Maclure, one of the world\u2019s\noutstanding geologists. All three men are commemorated by an Osage\nOrange tree planted in New Harmony in 1826. Say planted the tree and\nNutthall conferred its scientific name, \u201cMaclura pomifera,\u201d in honor of\nMaclure. The tree was still alive in the 1920\u2019s, a memorial to an\nexperiment, which, although short lived, has had a lasting influence\nupon American democracy.\n\nSeveral trees in the Great Lakes area were famous for their connections\nwith treaty negotiations between the white settlers and the Indians.\nJust two days after the signing of the Declaration of Independence,\nAlexander and William Macomb purchased Grosse Ile and several smaller\nislands at the mouth of the Detroit River. The Fox and Potawatomi\nIndians signed a treaty ceding the islands in return for tobacco,\nblankets, and a small sum of money. The document was signed under a\nlinden tree, which survived the event a century and a quarter. It was\nfelled by a violent storm on July 3, 1901; the site has been marked by a\ntablet.\n\nRelations between the Indians and settlers were not distinguished by a\nhigh code of honor; the unprovoked murders occasionally committed by\nboth white and red men are probably the ugliest testimony of that fact.\nChief Logan of the Mingo tribe has immortalized an elm tree by his reply\nto just such a treacherous mass murder. In the course of Dunmore\u2019s\ncampaign against the Indians in 1774, Colonel Cresap had killed all of\nLogan\u2019s relatives in spite of Logan\u2019s unblemished record as a friend of\nthe whites. After this unwarranted cruelty, the embittered chief joined\nthe battle against the settlers. The Indians were finally forced to make\npeace. Logan, standing beneath an elm tree in Pickaway County, Ohio,\nmade his famous and moving appeal to Dunmore\u2019s representative:\n\n    [Illustration: patriarch of Fort Wayne\u2019s apple trees]\n\n\u201cI appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan\u2019s cabin\nhungry, and he gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked, and he\nclothed him not? During the course of the last long and bloody war,\nLogan remained idle in his camp, an advocate for peace. Such was my love\nfor the whites that my countrymen pointed as I passed and said, \u2018Logan\nis the friend of the white man.\u2019 I had ever thought to have lived with\nyou but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in\ncold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even\nsparing my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the\nveins of any living creature. This called on me for vengeance. I have\nsought it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my\ncountry I rejoice at the beams of peace; but don\u2019t harbor a thought that\nmine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his\nheel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one.\u201d\n\nIn Webster County, Kentucky, a tree acquired a sinister reputation\nbecause of its association with an infamous criminal. Two notorious\nbrothers, Micajah and Wiley Harpe, came to Kentucky from North Carolina\nin 1799. Commonly known as \u201cBig Harpe\u201d and \u201cLittle Harpe,\u201d the men left\na trail of murder and plunder as they moved across the state. Arrested\nand imprisoned for murder, the desperadoes escaped and killed a boy and\nthree men. They finally climaxed their crimes by murdering an entire\nfamily of women and children.\n\nThe outraged citizens, led by Captain Leeper, organized a posse and rode\nin search of the outlaws. One of the party was Mr. Stigall, the husband\nand father of the last group of victims. The posse overtook the brothers\nin Webster County, at a point near the junction of Union and Henderson\ncounties. Captain Leeper shot and wounded \u201cBig Harpe,\u201d and Mr. Stigall\nkilled him; but \u201cLittle Harpe\u201d escaped unharmed.\n\nThe incensed men decapitated Harpe, and impaled his head on a sharpened\nsapling growing nearby. The tree continued to grow, branching around its\nshortened trunk. Underneath the head, a face was later carved into the\nbole of the tree. The sculptured effigy remained clearly visible until\nthe landmark was hewn down nearly a century later. The tree grew beside\nthe intersection of roads from Henderson, Hopkinsville, and Morganfield,\nand the crossroads became known as \u201cHarpe\u2019s Head.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                          Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\n\u2014Silently corrected a few typos.\n\n\u2014Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook\n  is public-domain in the country of publication.\n\n\u2014In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by\n  _underscores_.","title":"Some Historic Trees","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":3351}