Charter Oak

In the 1630s, a delegation of local Indians approached Samuel Wyllys, the settler who owned and cleared much of the land around Hartford, to encourage preservation of the tree, describing it as having been planted ceremonially for the sake of peace when their tribe first settled in the area:

{{Blockquote|text=It has been the guide of our ancestors for centuries as to the time of planting our corn; when the leaves are the size of a mouse's ears, then is the time to put the seed into the ground.{{cite book |last=Keeler |first=Harriet L. |title=Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them |url=https://archive.org/details/ournativetreesa02keelgoog |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1900 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ournativetreesa02keelgoog/page/n357 328]–332}}}}

{{anchor|Charter Oak incident}}

File:Hiding-the-original-charter-in-the-oak.png

The name "Charter Oak" stems from the event in late 1687, when Connecticut colonists used it as a hiding place for the Charter of 1662.

King Charles II granted the Connecticut Colony an unusual degree of autonomy in 1662.{{Cite web |last=waltwould |date=2018-10-31 |title=October 31: Connecticut's Greatest Legend Happened Today.... or Did It? |url=https://todayincthistory.com/2018/10/31/october-31-the-legend-of-the-charter-oak/ |access-date=2021-04-23 |website=Today in Connecticut History |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423002119/https://todayincthistory.com/2018/10/31/october-31-the-legend-of-the-charter-oak/ |url-status=live }} His successor James II consolidated several colonies into the Dominion of New England in 1686, in part to take firmer control of them.{{Cite web |date=2014-04-23 |title=The Legend of the Charter Oak |url=https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/legend-charter-oak/ |access-date=2021-04-23 |website=New England Historical Society |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423002123/https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/legend-charter-oak/ |url-status=live }} He later appointed Sir Edmund Andros as governor-general over it, who stated that his appointment had invalidated the charters of the various constituent colonies. He went to each colony to collect their charters, presumably seeing symbolic value in physically reclaiming the documents. Andros arrived in Hartford late in October 1687, where his mission was at least as unwelcome as it had been in the other colonies.

The incident took place on October 31, 1687,[https://connecticuthistory.org/hiding-the-charter-images-of-joseph-wadsworths-legendary-action/ "Hiding the Charter: Images of Joseph Wadsworth's Legendary Action"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116190223/https://connecticuthistory.org/hiding-the-charter-images-of-joseph-wadsworths-legendary-action/ |date=2022-01-16 }}, ConnecticutHistory.org in the upper room at Zachariah Sanford's tavern.{{cite book |last1=Sargent |first1=Porter Edward |title=A Handbook of New England |date=1916 |location=Boston |page=117 |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofneweng03sarg/page/116/mode/2up?q= |access-date=10 Nov 2021}} Andros demanded the document, and the colonists produced it, but the candle lights were suddenly doused during the ensuing discussion.{{Cite web |date=2013-06-09 |title=Connecticut's "The Legend of the Charter Oak" |url=https://connecticuthistory.org/connecticuts-the-legend-of-the-charter-oak/ |access-date=2021-04-23 |website=Connecticut History {{!}} a CTHumanities Project |language=en |archive-date=2021-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421050036/https://connecticuthistory.org/connecticuts-the-legend-of-the-charter-oak/ |url-status=live }} The colonists spirited the document out a window, and Captain Joseph Wadsworth carried it to the oak tree.

In 1900, it was suggested{{by whom|date=May 2024}} that a copy was surreptitiously substituted for the original in June 1687 and the original was hidden in the oak lest Andros find it in any search of buildings.{{cite book |title=Charter of the Colony of Connecticut: 1662 |date=1900 |publisher=Case, Lockwood, & Brainard |location=Hartford |page=3 |url=https://www.cga.ct.gov/hco/books/Charter_of_the_Colony_of_CT_1662.pdf |access-date=10 Nov 2021 |archive-date=17 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917153322/https://www.cga.ct.gov/hco/books/Charter_of_the_Colony_of_CT_1662.pdf |url-status=live }} The Museum of Connecticut History credits the idea that Andros never got the original charter and displays a parchment that it regards as the original. The Connecticut Historical Society possesses a fragment of it.{{cite journal |title=The Charter of the Oak: Story of the Tree That Is Famous in the History of Our Country |journal=The Silver Standard |date=1907 |volume=3 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hh8oAAAAYAAJ&dq=parchment+copy+charter+oak&pg=RA3-PA6 |access-date=10 Nov 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412074335/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Silver_Standard/Hh8oAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=parchment+copy+charter+oak&pg=RA3-PA6&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}

Andros was overthrown in Boston two years later in the 1689 Boston revolt, and the Dominion of New England was dissolved.

{{Multiple image

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| caption1 = 1935 Connecticut Commemorative half dollar

| image2= Connecticut quarter, reverse side, 1999.jpg

| caption2 = The Charter Oak on the 50 States Series Connecticut quarter (1999)

| image3 = Connecticut tercentenary 1935 U.S. stamp.1.jpg

|caption3 = Connecticut 1935 tercentenary stamp

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File:Charter Oak Chair, made from the historical Charter Oak Tree, Hartford, Conn (68389).jpg

The oak was blown down by a violent, tempestuous storm on August 21, 1856, and its timber was made into many chairs now displayed in the Hartford Capitol Building. The desk of the Governor of Connecticut and the chairs for the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate in the state capitol were made from wood salvaged from the Charter Oak. Another chair was made by noted painter Frederic Church, a native of Hartford, and is still on display at his former home.{{cite journal |title=Review: Frederic Church and the Landscapes of Victorian America |journal=The New England Quarterly |year=2006 |volume=70 |issue=3 |last1=Capozzola |first1=Christopher |page=479 |quote=When a storm felled Hartford's Charter Oak in 1856, Church rescued some branches from the famed tree, which he had twice depicted, and fashioned them into an armchair still on display at Olana ... |jstor=20474469}}

Charter Oak Engine Co. No. 1 presented a wooden baseball made from the Charter Oak to the Charter Oak Base Ball Club of Brooklyn on September 20, 1860.{{cite news |newspaper=New York Herald |date=September 21, 1860}}

Supporters of President Andrew Johnson presented him with a cane made from a branch of the oak in January 1868, as impeachment proceedings were underway.The Tragic Era, Claude G. Bowers, page 171

In 1868, Mark Twain wrote of a trip that he took to Hartford and mused on the pride that his guide showed in the uses to which the lumber of the Charter Oak had been put:{{cite book |last1=Walsh |first1=William Shepard |title=A Handy Book of Curious Information |date=1913 |publisher=Lippincott |location=Philadelphia |page=195 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKYEAAAAYAAJ&dq=I+wanted+to+look+at+the+pictures%2C+but+he+conveyed+me+silently+to+a+corner+and+pointed+to+a+log%2C&pg=PA195 |access-date=10 Nov 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412074419/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKYEAAAAYAAJ&dq=I+wanted+to+look+at+the+pictures%2C+but+he+conveyed+me+silently+to+a+corner+and+pointed+to+a+log%2C&pg=PA195 |url-status=live }}

Anything that is made of its wood is deeply venerated by the inhabitants, and is regarded as very precious. I went all about the town with a citizen whose ancestors came over with the Pilgrims in the Quaker City – in the Mayflower, I should say — and he showed me all the historic relics of Hartford. He showed me a beautiful carved chair in the Senate Chamber, where the bewigged and awfully homely old-time governors of the Commonwealth frown from their canvas overhead. "Made from Charter Oak," he said. I gazed upon it with inexpressible solicitude. He showed me another carved chair in the House, "Charter Oak," he said. I gazed again with interest. Then he looked at the rusty, stained, and famous old Charter, and presently I turned to move away. But he solemnly drew me back and pointed to the frame. "Charter Oak," said he. I worshipped. We went down to Wadsworth's Atheneum, and I wanted to look at the pictures; but he conveyed me silently to a corner, and pointed to a log, rudely shaped somewhat like a chair, and whispered, "Charter Oak." I exhibited the accustomed reverence. He showed me a walking stick, a needlecase, a dog-collar, a three-legged stool, a boot-jack, a dinner-table, a ten-pin alley, a toothpicker —

I interrupted him and said, "Never mind – we'll bunch the whole lumber-yard, and call it—"

"Charter Oak," he said.

"Well," I said, "now let us go and see some Charter Oak, for a change."

I meant that for a joke; But how was he to know that, being a stranger? He took me around and showed me Charter Oak enough to build a plank-road from here to Great Salt Lake City....

{{Multiple image

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| image1= Connecticut Charter Oak Descendent marker - Simsbury, CT - DSC02239.JPG

| caption1 = Charter Oak descendent in Simsbury

| image2= Stump of the Charter Oak Scion in Bushnell Park.jpg

| caption2 = Stump of the Charter Oak Scion "Hoadley Oak" in Bushnell Park in 2023

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Charter Oak fell during a storm on August 21, 1856, and residents collected many acorns and planted them in cities and towns across the state. These trees are known as "Charter Oak scions," and they were often planted in parks, town greens, cemeteries, and near post offices and town halls. Many of them are marked with plaques and monuments, but others are anonymous. The total number of Charter Oak scions is unknown, but was probably near 100.

As these scions grew to maturity, their acorns and seedlings were distributed around the state to mark civic occasions. Such occasions included George Washington's 200th birthday in 1932, the 300th anniversary of the charter in 1962, the new state constitution in 1965, and the national bicentennial in 1976. Each of these celebrations was marked by the distribution and planting of Charter Oak seedlings in Connecticut and elsewhere. Two were even sent to France and planted at the Versailles palace.

The Hoadley Oak{{cite web |title="The Hoadley Oak" |url=http://oak.conncoll.edu:8080/notabletrees/ViewTreeData.jsp?selected=64063 |website=Connecticut's Notable Trees |publisher=Connecticut College Arboretum |access-date=24 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224162120/http://oak.conncoll.edu:8080/notabletrees/ViewTreeData.jsp?selected=64063 |archive-date=24 December 2023 |quote=This tree is dead}} is a Charter Oak scion in Hartford's Bushnell Park, estimated to be over 120 years of age. It was cut down by the city in February 2023 after "considerable rotting," perhaps due to an extended drought. A local artist plans to convert the remaining stump to an "interactive art piece".{{cite web |last1=LaBoissere |first1=Tao |title=Tree As Art - Another Life for the Charter Oak Scion |url=https://www.patronicity.com/project/tree_as_art__another_life_for_the_charter_oak_scion#!/ |website=Patronicity |access-date=24 December 2023}}

Lydia Sigourney published two poems on this tree. The first is {{ws|Wyllys' Hill and the Charter Oak}}, in her 1827 collection of poetry. Here she remarks that this poem was occasioned by the death of the last proprietor of the name of Wyllys, in whose family this estate had remained since the country's first settlement.{{cite web| last =Sigourney|first=Lydia|title=Poems|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=BsMRAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA206&hl=en| year=1827 |publisher=S. G. Goodrich}} The second is {{ws|The Charter-Oak, at Hartford}}, in Scenes in My Native Land (1845), which is accompanied by descriptive text.{{cite web|last =Sigourney|first=Lydia|title=Scenes in My Native Land| url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=KjsCAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA70&hl=en | year=1845 |publisher=Thurston, Torry & Co.}}

• List of individual trees

{{commons category|Charter Oak}}

Notes

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite news |last1=Underwood |first1=Stephen |title=A historic CT tree was cut down. There's a plan to turn it into a work of art. | url=https://www.courant.com/2023/11/14/a-historic-ct-tree-was-cut-down-theres-a-plan-to-turn-it-into-a-work-of-art/ |access-date=24 December 2023 |publisher=The Hartford Courant |date=14 November 2023 |location=Hartford, Connecticut}}

{{cite news |author1=Hartford Courant |title=Charter Oak's Offspring Keep History Alive |url=https://www.courant.com/2015/12/10/charter-oaks-offspring-keep-history-alive/ |access-date=24 December 2023 |publisher=Hartford Courant |date=10 December 2015 |location=Hartford, Connecticut}}

{{cite web |author1=Notable Trees Committee |title=Charter Oak Descendants |url=http://oak.conncoll.edu:8080/notabletrees/CharterOakDescendants.jsp |website=Connecticut's Notable Trees |publisher=Connecticut College Arboretum |access-date=24 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224154642/http://oak.conncoll.edu:8080/notabletrees/CharterOakDescendants.jsp |archive-date=24 December 2023 |date=2013 |quote=The following Connecticut trees are believed to be descendants of The Charter Oak.}}

}}

Bibliography

• [http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/Our_Country_Vol_1/governora_ii.html Excerpt from Our Country, vol. I, late 19th century]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040401135939/http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/colony.html Connecticut Colony Charter of 1662]

• {{Cite Americana |wstitle=Charter Oak |author=Albert C. Bates |short=x}}

{{Dominion of New England}}

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Category:History of Hartford, Connecticut

Category:Pre-statehood history of Connecticut

Category:Individual oak trees

Category:Symbols of Connecticut

Category:1850s individual tree deaths

Category:Individual trees in Connecticut