THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 43 
the remnant: of an old tree with a trunk four feet in diameter, and still 
producing fruit. . 
‘The Orange pear tree which produced the specimens exhibited, was 
inherited by the present owner from his father, to whom it came from his 
wife. It had descended to her almost from the first settlement of Salem, 
but partly in the female line, so that the name of the owner sometimes 
changed. The house on the estate was built in 1812, having replaced one 
which was pulled down after standing 150 years. Within the period of a 
generation there were standing in Salem several trees of the Orange pear, 
some of which were reputed to be more than two centuries old, and all of 
which were undoubtedly very ancient, but they are all now gone except 
Capt. Allen’s, the last one having been blown down in the winter of 1874-75. 
I have heard a tradition that this last mentioned tree was one of several 
imported from England and planted in gardens at intervals on the northerly 
side of the principal street in Salem. This tradition may or may not be 
true with regard to these trees, but it would not apply to the Allen tree, for 
the height at which it was grafted forbids the idea that it was imported 
from England in a grafted state. . 
“The Anthony Thacher Pear. This tree stands near the meadows 
about a fourth of a mile north of the Universalist church in Yarmouth, 
where Anthony Thacher’s house formerly stood. It is a large, rotten- 
hearted old tree. It has lost nearly all its old branches, but has thrown 
out many new ones. The late Judge George Thacher, who, if now living, 
would be 120 years old, inquired into its history, and made the matter cer- 
tain that it was planted by Anthony Thacher about 1640. It is believed 
to be a grafted tree, as it contracts two or three inches at about a foot and a 
half from the ground. It is taken good care of and will probably last many 
years. It is now owned by the heirs of James C. Hallet. There are other 
trees of the same kind in the vicinity, but their age cannot be proved. 
“The fruit is of medium size, ovate pyriform, green, changing to 
yellow at maturity, of tolerable quality, ripening early in September. 
For the specimens exhibited, as well as the facts above noted, I am indebted 
to the kindness of Amos Otis, Esq., of Yarmouth Port, who had made the 
local history of Cape Cod his study for the last fifty years, and who died 
much lamented on the 19th of October last. 
“Anthony Thacher came from England in 1635, and after residing 
in Marshfield, removed to Yarmouth in 1639, being one of the three original 
grantees of land in that town. The late Dr. James Thacher, of Plymouth, 
author of the ‘ American Orchardist’ (published in 1821), was a descend- 
ant of Anthony in the sixth generation. Anthony Thacher accompanied 
his cousin, Rev. John Avery, in that disastrous voyage of which Whittier 
has perpetuated the memory in his ballad, ‘The Swan Song of Parson 
Avery.’ Anthony Thacher got ashore on Thacher’s Island, the headland 
