A famous oak-tree that stood upon the northern slope of the
Wyllys Hill, in
Hartford, a beautiful elevation on the south side of Charter Oak Street, a few rods east from Main Street. The trunk was 25 feet in circumference near the roots.
A large cavity, about 2 feet from the ground, was the place of concealment of the original charter of
Connecticut from the summer of 1687 until the spring of 1689, when it was brought forth, and under it
Connecticut resumed its charter government.
In 1800 a daughter of
Secretary Wyllys, writing to
Dr. Holmes, the annalist, said of this tree: “The first inhabitant of that name [Wyllys] found it standing in the height of its glory.
Age seems to have curtailed its branches, yet it is not exceeded in the height of its coloring or the richness of its foliage.
The cavity which was the asylum of our charter was near the roots, and large enough to admit a child.
Within the space of eight years that cavity has closed, as if it had fulfilled the divine purpose for which it had been reared.”
This tree was blown down by a heavy gale on Aug. 21, 1856.
The Wyllys Hill
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The charter Oak. |
has been graded to a terrace, called Charter Oak Place, fronting on old Charter Oak Street, running east from Main Street, and now called Charter Oak Avenue. On the terrace, a few feet from the entrance to Charter Oak Place, a white-marble slab marks the exact spot where the famous tree stood.
