The Charter Oak on the Connecticut quarter

The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree growing, from around the 12^th or 13^th century until 1856, on what the English colonists named Wyllys Hill, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Download high resolution version (787x786, 139 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (787x786, 139 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Binomial name Quercus alba L. The White oak (Quercus alba) is one of the most magnificent of oaks. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

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. 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. Blocks map of his 1614 voyage, with the first appearance of the term New Netherland Adriaen Block (fl. ... Events April 5 - In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe. ... Events and Trends Thirty Years War in full swing in Europe September 8, 1636 - A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes Harvard College as the first college founded in the Americas. ...

The Charter Oak Incident

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. Events March 19 - The men under explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle murder him while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River. ...

This much regarding the charter is history:

• King Charles II, in 1662, granted the Connecticut Colony an unusual degree of autonomy.
• His successor, James II, consolidated several colonies into the Dominion of New England, in part to take firmer control of them.
• 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.
• 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. Charles II (29 May 1630–6 February 1685) was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 30 January 1649 (de jure) or 29 May 1660 (de facto) until his death. ... The Connecticut Colony was an English colony that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. ... James II of England and VII of Scotland ( 14 October 1633–16 September 1701 ) became King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 6 February 1685. ... The Dominion of New England was the name of a short-lived administrative union The use of the word dominion in the title is unrelated to its use in the later Dominion of Canada. ... Sir Edmund Andros (December 6, 1637 - February 24, 1714), was an early colonial governor in North America, and head of the short-lived Dominion of New England. ... German parchmenter, 1568 Parchment is a material for the pages of a book or codex, made from fine calf skin, sheep skin or goat skin. ...

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.

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 Historical Society is said to possess a "fragment" of it.) North Korean propaganda showing a soldier destroying the United States Capitol building. ... Morale is a term for the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal. ... Look up Petition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A petition is a request to an authority, most commonly a government official or public entity. ...

Later history

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. 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 state Senate). 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.) away, outside the State Capitol and in Bushnell Park. August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The word relic comes from the Latin reliquiae (remains) and there are many pre-Christian instances of some bone or other part of the corpse, or some intimately associated object, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial. ... A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ... Acorns of Quercus kerrii The acorn is the fruit of the oak tree. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The Connecticut State House The Connecticut State House is located in the capital of Hartford, Connecticut and houses the State Senate and House of Representatives. ... The Pond at Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut. ...

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). This article is in need of attention. ...

Depictions of the tree

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.S. postage stamp issued in 1935,
• The obverse of a commemorative half-dollar issued in 1935, and
• The reverse of the Connecticut state quarter issued in 1999.

Charter Oak State College, a college for adult learners in New Britain, Connecticut, is named for the celebrated tree. The Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest public art museum in the United States and largest in the state of Connecticut. ... In logic (and usually without being paired with reverse), obverse has a meaning close to contrapositive. ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... In logic (and usually without being paired with reverse), obverse has a meaning close to contrapositive. ... Obverse of redesigned quarter The 50 State Quarters program is the release of a series of commemorative coins by the United States Mint. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Charter Oak State College is a college in New Britain, Connecticut. ... City nickname: Beehive City Location Location within the state of Connecticut Government State Connecticut Mayor Timothy T. Stewart Physical characteristics Area      Land      Water 34. ...

References

• Excerpt from Our Country, vol. I, late 19^th century
• Connecticut Colony Charter of 1662