CHAPTER VII 



The Markham Elm — The Wethersfield Elm— A "Great Elm" of West 

 Virginia — The Neenah Council Tree — The Seneca Council Tree — 

 The Elm of Italy Hollow — The Fort Howard Elm — The Franklin 

 Elm — The Kingsport Elm — The Oberlin Elm — The Washington 

 Elm. 



The Markham Elm 



This great tree, believed to have lived through six centuries, 

 stands on the Markham estate two miles north of Avon, N. Y. It is 

 an elm of the variety known as weeping; that is, its long, graceful 

 branches, used as swings by the boys and girls of pioneer times, once 

 hung in graceful festoons to the ground. 



Its trunk measured forty feet around, its height was in propor- 

 tion, and as its shade covered an acre, the immense elm possessed great 

 beauty. The Indians of Western New York held it in great venera- 

 tion and made the spot a favorite camping-ground. It also served 

 as a resting-place for the early missionaries, scouts and traders. 



William Markham, great-grandfather of the present owner of 

 the estate,, is said to have first seen the old elm in 1764, while on a 

 mission to the Seneca Indians. In 1794, his son purchased the farm, 

 which has remained in the possession of the family ever since. More 

 than half a century ago, the old tree was accidentally set on fire, 

 according to one story, by a party of sportsmen; this is related to 

 have occurred during a January thaw, so that the high water sur- 

 rounding the elm prevented anyone going near enough to extinguish 

 the blaze, which consequently injured the trunk fatally. 



Decay set in, and progressed, so that when the Chief of the Divi- 

 sion of Forestry, of the Department of Agriculture, at Washington, 

 wished a cross-section of the trunk for exhibition at the World's Fair 

 in Chicago, it was impossible to comply with his request. About this 

 time, part of the trunk caved in, leaving a space through which a span 

 of horses could be driven. In 1893, the north side of the huge tree 

 blew down; this portion was sawed across, and three hundred and 

 seventy-five rings of annual grovv'^th were counted. An estimate of 

 the age of the part that had decayed near the centre of the tree, placed 

 its years at six hundred. 



Still, the veteran elm had not lost its vitality; in the spring of 

 1920, after bursting into leaf, and then losing every one through an 

 onslaught of canker worms, it rallied bravely and in a few Aveeks was 

 once more in full foliage. 



What tales, if Its old trunk could talk, 

 Would fall upon the listening ear, 

 Of the wild wolf upon his walk, 

 The red-man with his spear. 



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