Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 254, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 October 1919 — Story of Great Charter Oak Tree Whose Hollow Protected the Document. [ARTICLE]

Story of Great Charter Oak Tree Whose Hollow Protected the Document.

of franchise, governmental privileges,

and estates to companies for the pur* pose of -esrat)ttshTng“coTonTes,“fo The colonies in general or to individual proprietors, were embodied in charters. The Charter Oak was a large tree that~~stoo<Lin-Hartfprd. Conn., until blown down by a wind storm on Aug. 21.1856. Humorous -statements have been made regarding the age of this great tree, and there is a wide range of the estimates, which run from 200 to nearly 1,000. The tradition relating to the Charter Oak Is that when Sir Edmund Andros was appointed governor general of New England, he came to Hartford in 1687 to receive the colonial charter. This the colonists were loath to surrender, but. appearing to submit, carried it to the council 'chamber, when, during the deliate which followed, the lights were suddenly extinguished by a preconcerted arrangement, ami in the ensuing confusion the document was carried from the room to its subsequent hiding place in the hollow of the grea* tree. Here it remained for about tw’o years, when the deposition of the tyrannous and hated Andros made further concealment unnecessary.