SHADE AND ORNAMENTAL TREES. 89 



large ash that stood at the corner of Court and Main Streets, and 

 near the Stevens store. It was then aged, and many years ago 

 it was cut .down. 



Two or three small elms stood in front of the Stevens store, and 

 the house now owned by Dr. Warren. The very considerable elm 

 at the foot of Colonel Needham's grounds had not been set. Some 

 years later, probably between 1840 and 1850, the building^ after- 

 ward known as Liberty Hall was moved from the low land at the 

 foot of Willow Dale to the site of the Stevens store. In moving 

 the building it was drawn over the young elm, which yielded to the 

 weight without any apparent injury. 



The elm that stands near the cottage on the premises of Wm. 

 A. Lawrence, known as the Dr. Amos B. Bancroft place, was a 

 young tree, a volunteer growing in the old fence. 



On the other side of the street and in front of the Hollingsworth 

 place, now owned by Frank Lawrence Blood, are several large trees 

 that were volunteers and owed their continued existence to the fact 

 that they were protected by the fence in which they were growing. 

 The fence was irregular, as are the trees. One of them is on the 

 street side of the fence, two or three are in the Hollingsworth 

 grounds, and one or two are in the lot of Mrs. Ames. About the 

 year 1840 the county commissioners changed the street lines, and 

 the tree by the cottage became private property, and several of the 

 trees on the opposite side of the street fell inside of the street lines. 



Following the line of the street on the westerly side there was 

 not a tree of any considerable size between the one by the cottage, 

 and the elm-trees in the land of Charles Gerrish and to the south- 

 east of the house of the Misses Warren. 



From the cottage to the house owned by Mrs. Blitz, widow of 



1 The building was moved in November, 1844, to the corner of Main and 

 Court Streets ; and during the process it stood for one night over an elm sap- 

 ling at the junction of Main and Hollis Streets, bending it to the ground and 

 giving it a permanent list to the westward. The tree was set out a few years 

 before by Curtis Shepley, a well-known citizen ; and I remember when, together 

 with other lads, we watched the transplanting. After the job was finished, he 

 said, " There, boys. Curt. Shepley has done one good thing, even if he has never 

 done another." This was seventy years ago, though now it seems only a short 

 time. The tree stands near the site of the old town-pump which has disappeared 

 since the introduction of water; and I never pass it without thinking of some of 

 these facts. The elm still has an inclination to the westward, and is an un- 

 recognized memorial to the foresight of a kind-hearted native of the town. Mr. 

 Shepley was a son of Wilder and Phebe Shepley ; and he died on March 26, 1845, 

 at the age of 55 years, 9 months, and 3 days. — G. 



