FAMOUS TREES 75 



The beautiful old elm in front of Elmshade at the head of the 

 green in Canton, Hartford County (66, p. 25), is nearly the size of 

 the Wethersfield elm. One owner of Elmshade has stated that the 

 elm was a good-sized tree when the house was built, in 1784. 



Eevolutionary Tree (an elm) at Redding, Fairfield County (66, 

 p. 19) , has a circumference of 30 feet 6 inches 1 foot from the ground. 

 Its branches have a spread of 112 feet. On the site near this elm 

 stood the house of the Widow Sanford where Continental officers 

 banqueted in 1779. 



Bolleswood, which contains a grove of ancient hemlocks, was 

 deeded to Thomas Bolles, of New London, by Owaneco, sachem of 

 the Mohegan Indians, in 1693. It has remained practically un- 

 touched since the days when the Indians held council there (66, p. 31). 



Cogswell Maple (species not given) at New Preston, Litchfield 

 County, is said to be the largest maple in Connecticut. It is on 

 property owned by a lineal descendant of William Cogswell. The 

 house on this property was once an inn where George Washington 

 was entertained on one of his trips to Connecticut (66, p. 12). 



Giant Oak, at West Ashford, (66, p. 33), was awarded the first 

 prize offered for the largest tree entered in a State tree contest in 

 1927. It has a circumference of 21 feet at breast height. Its height 

 is 95 feet, and its horizontal branch spread is 135 feet. 



At Easton (66, p. llf), there is a white oak about 300 years old 

 on the lawn in front of the house built in 1730 by Isaac Bennett. 

 The circumference of its trunk is 16% feet, and its branch spread 

 is 125 feet. 



Johnson Oak, at Northford (66, p. 21), stands on property pur- 

 chased by Nathaniel Johnson in 1714, which remained in the Johnson 

 family until 1916. The measurements of this tree in 1800 were as 

 follows: Circumference of trunk, 30 feet; branch spread, east and 

 west 111 feet, north and south 107 feet. 



"Cathedral Pines," at Cornwall, Litchfield County, had a maxi- 

 mum height in 1922 of 125 feet. They are known to have been in 

 the possession of one family for over 200 years. The United States 

 Geological Survey has said of them that "they are the finest bit of 

 original forest in the Eastern States and not surpassed in the Lake 

 States" (66, p. 13). 



A sycamore of good old age is the Revolutionary Sycamore, at 

 Danbury, Fairfield County. According to the record, this tree was 

 standing at the time of the settlement of Danbury in 1685 (66, p. 17). 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 



Twin sassafras trees, on Soldiers' Home Grounds, are said to be 

 the oldest living things in the District of Columbia. This was the 

 opinion of Humboldt, the German naturalist, verified by W. W. 

 Corcoran, whose estate adjoined the Soldiers' Home (52, p. 69) 

 (fig. 36). 



FLORIDA 



A so-called sovereign cypress in the dense swamp between San- 

 ford and Longwood, is supposed to have been a denizen of this 

 section before Ponce de Leon sought the Fountain of Youth (59). 

 There is space enough for a roadway to be cut through the trunk. 



