Ulmus americana Massachusetts (Palmer)
Item Information
- Title:
- Ulmus americana Massachusetts (Palmer)
- Title (alt.):
-
Tree habit
- Description:
-
Ulmus americana Massachusetts (Palmer). Washington Elm. Height 55 ft., girth of trunk 19 ft., spread of branches 95 ft.
- Photographer:
- Wilson, Ernest Henry, 1876-1930
- Collector:
- Wilson, Ernest Henry, 1876-1930
- Date:
-
May 3, 1924
- Format:
-
Photographs
- Genre:
-
Glass negatives
- Location:
- Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library
- Collection (local):
-
Photographs of Ernest Henry Wilson
- Series:
- New England Trees
- Subjects:
-
Elms
American elm
- Places:
-
Massachusetts > Hampden (county) > Palmer
- Extent:
- 1 negative : glass ; 15.5 x 20.5 cm.
- Permalink:
- https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/1r66j435p
- Terms of Use:
-
(c) President and Fellows of Harvard College. Arnold Arboretum Archives. Permission to publish archival materials and / or images in a publication, performance, or broadcast must first contact the library for permission < hortlib@arnarb.harvard.edu >. Our policies and forms for use of the library and archival materials can be accessed at http://arboretum.harvard.edu/library/services/
All rights reserved.
- Notes (historical):
-
Many different American Elms are associated with George Washington, with many fables associated with each one. It is important not to confuse them. This particular elm, in Palmer, Massachusetts, stood on the south side of Old Bay. It stood on the grounds of and old tavern stand owned by Daniel Graves and his son Aaron. George Washington supposedly visited the Palmer Washington Elm on two different occasions. On the first, undocumented visit of June 30, 1775, Washington was accompanied by his staff, General Lee, and deputation sent from Cambridge. They supposedly rested and lunched under the shade of this tree, ordeing "milk and other necessaries" from Mr. Graves' nearby tavern. There is considerably more evidence for the second visit in October 15-22, 1789, when Washington addressed the citizens of Palmer beneath the tree, as seen in the Mt. Vernon papers. E.H. Wilson's photograph of the tree shows a tombstone marker next to the tree. The marker commemorates the tree and reads "UNDER THIS ELM/WASHINGTON/PASSED ON JUNE 30, 1775/ AND AGAIN ON OCT. 22, 1789/ ON THE FIRST DATE TRADITION SAYS THAT HE ADDRESSED THE CITIZENS OF PALMER/ ERECTED BY THE PALMER HISTORICAL SOCIETY/ JUNE 30, 1805." There seems to be some historical confusion about when Washington addressed the citizens of Palmer, since Temple's "History of Palmer" says that he did this in 1789, but the Historical Society of Palmer says it happened in 1775 on the tombstone marker of 1805. (Josiah Howard Temple, History of the Town of Palmer [Palmer, Massachusetts: Published by the Town of Palmer, 1889], 15)
- Accession #:
-
13385
- Identifier:
-
AAW-063
M-63
