The Charter Oak, from a 1906 postcard

The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree growing, from around the 12th or 13th century until 1856, on what the English colonists named Wyllys Hill, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. The tree species Quercus alba, also called "white oak" is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or Year 1856 ( MDCCCLVI) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

Early history

The Dutch explorer Adrian (or Adriaen) Block described, in his log in 1614, a tree, at the future site of Hartford, understood to be this one. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Adriaen (Aerjan Block (c 1567 Amsterdam &ndash buried April 27 1627, Amsterdam was a Dutch private trader and navigator who is best In the 1630s, a delegation of local Indians is said to have approached Samuel Wyllys, the early settler who owned and cleared much of the land around it, encouraging its preservation and describing it as planted ceremonially, for the sake of peace, when their tribe first settled in the area.

Charter Oak incident

1906 postcard

The name "Charter Oak" stems from the local legend in which a cavity within the tree was used in late 1687 as a hiding place for the document that embodied the colony's charter. The British Empire utilized three main types of colonies as it sought to expand its territory to distant parts of the earth

This much regarding the charter is history:

• King Charles II, in 1662, granted the Connecticut Colony an unusual degree of autonomy. Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Colony of Connecticut was an English colony that became the U
• His successor, James II, consolidated several colonies into the Dominion of New England, in part to take firmer control of them. James II of England and Ireland James VII of Scotland (14 October 1633 &ndash 16 September 1701 was King of England, King of Scots, Later that same year James The Dominion of New England in America (1686-1689 was a short-lived administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America
• He appointed as governor-general over it Sir Edmund Andros who stated his appointment had invalidated the charters of the various constituent colonies, and presumably seeing symbolic value in physically reclaiming the documents, went to each colony to collect them. Sir Edmund Andros ( December 6 1637 - February 24 1714) was an early colonial Governor in North America, and head of
• Andros arrived in Hartford late in October 1687, where his mission was at least as unwelcome as it had been in the other colonies.

According to the dominant tradition, Andros demanded the document and it was produced, but during ensuing discussion, the lights were doused, concealing the spiriting of the parchment out a window and thence to the Oak by Joseph Wadsworth, ancestor of Jeremiah Wadsworth. Parchment is a thin material made from Calfskin, Sheepskin or goatskin. Jeremiah Wadsworth ( July 12, 1743 &ndash April 30, 1804) was an American sea captain merchant and statesman from Hartford

Two seldom cited documents, one contemporaneous and one from early in the next century, raise less dramatic possibilities, by suggesting that a parchment copy had been made of the true charter as early as June, in anticipation of Andros's arrival:

• It has been suggested that the copy was surreptitiously substituted for the original (and the original secreted in the oak lest Andros find it in any search of buildings), and that Andros left believing he had succeeded.
• Logically, such a copy (whether hidden in the oak or not) might instead have been the one kept, for the value it might have in propaganda, for morale, or in petitioning for its reinstatement. Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people Morale, also known as esprit de corps when discussing the morale of a group is an intangible term used for the capacity of people to maintain Belief in A petition is a request to change some thing most commonly made to a government official or public entity

The Museum of Connecticut History (a subdivision of the Connecticut State Library) credits the idea that Andros never got the original charter, and displays a parchment that it regards as the original. The Connecticut State Library is the state library for the US (The Connecticut Historical Society is said to possess a "fragment" of it. )

Later history

The Old Charter Oak

The Charter Oak was already in poor condition from the time of the incident it was named for, though it achieved a circumference of 20 or 30 feet before August 21, 1856, when it fell at night in a severe storm. Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan. Year 1856 ( MDCCCLVI) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year At sunset on the day of its fall, the bells of the city were tolled and a band of music played funeral dirges over its ruins. ^[1] Formal mourning was held for it, pieces of its wood were treated as relics (including three chairs, one of which is the ceremonial seat of the president of the Connecticut Senate). A relic is an object or a personal item of religious significance carefully preserved with an air of Veneration as a tangible memorial The Connecticut State Senate is the Upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U New trees sprouted from its acorns were planted, including an oak forest, and trees standing as of 1996 less than a mile (about a km. The acorn is the nut of the Oak tree (genera Quercus, Lithocarpus and Cyclobalanopsis, in the Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) ) away, outside the State Capitol and in Bushnell Park. The Connecticut State Capitol is located on Bushnell Park in the Connecticut capital of Hartford. Bushnell Park in Hartford Connecticut is the oldest publicly funded Park in the United States

A monument was built in 1909 near where the tree stood; it remains, as of 2000, as a feature of Charter Oak Tree Park at the corner of Charter Oak Avenue and Charter Oak Place (at the foot of South Prospect Street a block off Main Street, and half a block from the Historical Society's building). 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The tree is now held in the State Library in Hartford, CT.

Depictions of the tree

The Charter Oak on the Connecticut quarter.

The Charter Oak appears on:

• Four paintings by Charles Dewolf Brownell (1822 - 1909), including "Connecticut Charter Oak" or "Charter Oak" in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum, and one owned by the Connecticut Historical Society dated at 1855; at least one is dated 1857
• A 3-cent U. The Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest Public Art museum in the United States, with significant holdings of French and American Impressionist paintings S. postage stamp issued in 1935
• The obverse of a commemorative half-dollar issued in 1935
• The reverse of the Connecticut state quarter issued in 1999
• Two marble carvings - one of which includes the famous scene of Joseph Wadsworth hiding the state charter in it - on the north and east sides of the Connecticut State Capitol

Charter Oak State College, part of the state's university system located in New Britain, Connecticut, is named for the celebrated tree. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The 50 State Quarters program ( is the release of a series of commemorative coins by the United States Mint. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) The Connecticut State Capitol is located on Bushnell Park in the Connecticut capital of Hartford. Charter Oak State College is a 4-year public Liberal arts college in the Connecticut State system of higher education New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, US. It is located approximately 9 miles (14 km southwest of Hartford. Also, the Charter Oak Bridge, which connects Hartford, Connecticut and East Hartford, Connecticut over the Connecticut River, is named after the fabled tree. The Charter Oak Bridge is one of the three highway bridges over the Connecticut River in Hartford Connecticut. East Hartford (41n47 72w37 EST is a Town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The Connecticut River is the largest River in New England, flowing south from the Connecticut Lakes in northern New Hampshire, along the border

The Charter Oak as depicted above the east doors of the Connecticut State Capitol.

References