THE HALL OF FAME FOR TREES 



THE trees pictured on the opposite page have been 

 nominated for the Hall of Fame for Trees because 

 of their connection with the history of America 

 or for some special reason which sets them apart dis- 

 tinctively as objects of interest and so worthy of a place 

 in this all-Amcrican gallery. The inserts are numbered 

 and their description follow : 



1. A great-grandson of Dr. Samuel Johnson, first 

 president, in 1754, of King's College, now Columbia 

 University, once owned the land on which this tree 

 stands. The Oak is nominated by Miss Helen Harrison 

 of Bound Brook, New Jersey. This tree stands about 

 half-way between Stratford and Bridgeport, Connecti- 

 cut, and experts say that it is 500 years old. A century 

 ago it stood on a 300-acre estate owned by Edwards 

 Johnson, son of Samuel William Johnson, who was a 

 son of Dr. Johnson of King's College. The property 

 changed hands many times, being owned by Joseph de 

 Rivera, a Porto Rican sugar planter; the Lawrences; 

 Wflliam Painter, and David Hollister. When the city 

 of Bridgeport opened up the land, W. R. Bates bought 

 the lot on which the tree stands and built a retaining 

 wall about the tree to help save it. 



2. CliiTord Van Tassel, a tree specialist of Tarry- 

 town, New York, describes this mammoth White Oak 

 as the monarch of New York treedom. Mr. Van Tassel 

 made this photograph, which is so indicative of the 

 sterling qualities of oak permanency and strength. 

 The tree, which is 14 feet 8 inches in circumference at 

 breast height, is 70 feet high and has the remarkable 

 spread of 118 feet. A large stub recently removed from 

 the trunk 35 feet up showed 112 annual rings. It is 

 estimated that the tree was standing when the first white 

 settler set foot on the soil that is now New York. It 

 has been placed in nomination for the American For- 

 estry Association's Hall of Fame for Trees by the New 

 York State College of Forestry at Syracuse, New York. 



3. In the beautiful Stewiacke Valley, in Nova Scotia, 

 stands the Whip Handle Tree, nominated by John Creel- 

 man of Hillbum, New York. The tree has taken a 

 beautiful vase-like shape, Mr. Creelman informs the 

 Association; is about 3 feet in diameter and 75 feet 

 high. This elm is over 200 years old, for, writes Mr. 

 Creelman, "more than 200 years ago my great-grand- 

 father, after a day of plowing, stuck his whip handle 

 or ox goad in the ground at the end of a furrow. In 

 those days oxen were used almost entirely tor farm 

 work, and the whip handle or goad had a sharp iron 

 brad in the butt end to remind the oxen at times that 

 more speed was needed." (Photograph by Cox.) 



4. Here is the Mystery Tree of Flushing, New 

 York. It is nominated for a place in the Hall of Fame 

 for Trees by Everett P. Martin of Flushing. This tree 

 stands in a field on the northerly edge of Flushing and 

 is in charge of C. H. Rintleman. A nursery was on this 

 spot 150 years ago, but when the tree was planted, or 

 by whom, whether it came from imported seed or as a 



tree, is not known. The tree is 62 feet 8 inches high 



and measures 75 feet from tip to tip. Seven feet above 

 the ground it is 13 feet in circumference. 



5. On this tree, just awarded a place in the Hall of 

 Fame for* trees with a history by the American For- 

 estry Association, Daniel Webster hung his scythe and 

 started for Dartmouth College. The nomination of the 

 tree for a place in the Hall of Fame is made by Frank 

 N. Hancock of Franklin, New Hampshire, who has 

 lived in the vicinity of the tree for 60 years, and H. E. 

 Zimmerman of Kansas City, Missouri. The graveyard 

 in the picture is one in which are buried Webster's 

 father and mother, as well as brothers and sisters. 

 Webster was bom on January 18, 1782. The path from 

 that tree when Webster abandoned the farm work to 

 seek an education led to the halls of Congress at Wash- 

 ington, to the laying of the corner-stone of the Bunker 

 Hill Monument, to the Secretary of State's ofifice, and 

 to the position, in the opinion of many, of being the 

 greatest orator the country has ever seen. Franklin, 

 then called Salisbury, is the birthplace of Webster. 



6. Here General Eraser, in command of the British 

 at Saratoga, fell, and when he was shot the rout of the 

 British forces was started. The tree has been nominated 

 by Charles A. Ingraham of Cambridge, New York, who 

 writes that "the second battle of Saratoga was fought 

 October 7, 1777. This tree is a second growth from the 

 original one under which General Eraser was sitting on 

 his horse at the time he was shot. The British line of 

 battle crossed the road. At about 3.30 P. M. the British 

 were in a critical situation, their right flank having been 

 forced back by Morgan's riflemen, one of whom, at the 

 direction of his commander, fired at General Eraser. 

 This calamity caused a panic among the British troops, 

 for Eraser was held in high regard. The ground shown 

 in the picture was quickly crowded with disorganized 

 men, closely followed by the victorious Americans. The 

 tree is about 14 inches in diameter." 



7. When old New York was young this White Oak 

 stood between Stony Brook and Setauket, in Suffolk 

 County, Long Island. The tree has been nominated 

 for a place in the Hall of Fame for trees with a history 

 by Wilmot Townsend Cox of 34 Pine Street, New York 

 City. The trees divides into many branches, Mr. Cox 

 points out, and this doubtless is the reason the early 

 day ship builders did not cut it down. As early as 1661 

 Setauket figured in history, for then it was that "ten 

 coats, twelve shoes, fifty muxes, ten fadom of wampum 

 and one pare of childs Stockins" figured in every pur- 

 chase of land made by John Underbill, Richard Wood- 

 hull, James Cock, Andrew Miller, Richard Floyd and 

 other settlers of Setauket. The famous old tree will 

 never see real estate change hands at those figures 

 again, at least not in that neighborhood. Lewis & Val- 

 entine inform the American Association that the tree is 

 the largest on Long Island. It is a trifle more than 19 

 feet in circumference four feet above the ground. 



(Continued on page 728) 



