256 History of the Endicott Pear Tree. 



succeeded, — thus leaving no opportunity for the usual mists 

 of antiquity to settle down upon its origin and history. Of 

 no spot in this country was the language of the late lamented 

 Lincoln more appropriate than of the orchard farm, when he 

 said, " The first step of civilized man on the New England 

 shore is so recent, that the outline of his earliest foot-print is 

 still uneffaced. Through the antiquity of two centuries, we 

 may view the origin of cultivation almost as distinctly as if 

 we could turn back the wave of improvement which has 

 swelled over the continent, until it again sunk down into the 

 little ripple by the rock of Plymouth." 



There is the same authority for the truth of the tradition 

 respecting this tree, as there is of the site of the first house 

 built here by the governor, and in which he resided ; and also 

 of that of his servants and retainers, — the cavities of whose 

 cellars are not yet entirely filled up. The family state that 

 the trees constituting the original orchard here, were imported 

 from England, in June, 1630, and came over in the "Ara- 

 bella," with Gov. Winthrop, or at least, in one of the ships 

 of the fleet which accompanied him. That they were packed 

 in boxes, with earth about them, and were quite small, prob- 

 ably not more than two or three years from the seed, and 

 perhaps considered too young to be grafted previously to 

 leaving England. Now as the grant of this farm was not 

 made until 1632, an interval of two years, it is a fair infer- 

 ence that these trees were first planted at his town residence, 

 where, the Rev. Mr. Higginson in 1629 informs us, "our gov- 

 ernor has a store of green peas growing, as good as ever I 

 eat in England," — where he also "had already planted a 

 vineyard with great hopes of success ; — also plums, mulber- 

 ries, raspberries, currants, chestnuts, filberts, walnuts," (fcc, 

 &c. After the grant of his farm, these trees were probably 

 removed to it, but the family have no tradition to this effect ; 

 but it is a fact, which goes to corroborate this supposition, 

 that plums, raspberries, black currants, gooseberries, filberts, 

 and grape vines were planted on the grounds immediately 

 surrounding this orchard, and the fruit of their descendants, 

 growing wild and uncultivated, within sight of this venerable 



