Liberty
Tree
The
Liberty Tree was as old as the Maryland colony. It was
already a mature tree when the people of Annapolis held
their own tea party and burned the ship Peggy Stewart
.
It
was under the Liberty Tree's branches that the Sons of
Liberty met to hear Samuel Chase and other patriots. Annapolis
residents also met under the tree and plotted the revolution
from the British. "Under this tree, information was
shared, resolutions made, and the seeds of revolution
sewn," said Governor Parris N. Glendening.
In
1848, it is said, the tree was accidentally set on fire.
On another occasion in the 1840s, school boys apparently
could not resist the temptation to explode two pounds
of gunpowder within its hollow. The tree seemed to be
destroyed, but the prank had an opposite effect; the next
year the tree put out lush new growth. It is thought that
perhaps the explosion destroyed worms that were gnawing
away at it.
In
1907, the Liberty Tree, in what was then thought to be
the largest single accomplishment of tree surgery in the
world, was restored. Decay, begun many years before, had
continued to the point that the trunk was a shell 13 inches
thick. The cavity extended 56 feet up the tree. The cavity
was completely cleaned out, given an antiseptic wash,
and the tree was filled with concrete reinforced with
steel and iron. The job required 55 tons of concrete.
The
tree's age has been subject of discussion. It was once
thought to be 600 years old, but it may be closer to 400
years old. A Maryland Department of Forests and Parks
counted 366 rings in 1971, indicating the tree's age in
years.
The
tree's diameter was 102 inches, measured four and a half
feet from the ground. The tree was about 96 feet tall
and had a total branchspread of 60 feet. In April 1975,
winds opened up a six-foot-long crack in the upper trunk
and widened it as much as four inches. To prevent damage
by another storm, tree surgeons removed a number of branches
to lighten the top and filled the crack with a pliable
mastic, secured on either side by six bolts.
Tulip
poplars customarily grow to be between 250 and 300 years
of age if unattended by man and if no disaster such as
insect damage or a weather catastrophe strikes. The Liberty
Tree received special care from a local horticultural
expert in the hope that it would remain a symbol of the
national spirit for many years to come.
In
a ceremony in June 1999, scientists from the University
of Maryland took genetic material from the tree in an
effort to clone it. Using advanced techniques, clones
will be provided to the governors of the 12 other original
colonies.
In
September 1999, Hurricane Floyd dealt a death blow to
the Liberty Tree, leaving it with a five-inch-wide, 15-foot-long
fracture in one of its central branches. College officials
consulted with tree experts from around the world, searching
for ways to save the tree all the time keeping in mind
the possibility that it might be necessary to cut it down.
Without
supporting cables that were installed in the 1970s, the
Liberty Tree probably would have toppled during the hurricane.
The college fenced off a large area around the tree while
the situation was studied. If the safety of students and
visitors could not be ensured, there would be no choice
but to remove the tree.
Unfortunately,
it was decided that the tree would present a danger to
passersby and was removed in a sad ceremony in October
1999. The last of the Liberty Trees, this tulip poplar
( Liriodendron tulipifera ) had survived a bolt of lightning
and an explosion of gunpowder within its trunk, as well
as the damage of wind and weather during four centuries.
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© Copyright October 27, 1999, Office of the Secretary
of State
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