Endicott Pear Tree
Encyclopedia
European Pear
The European Pear, Pyrus communis, is a species of pear native to central and eastern Europe and southwest Asia. The European Pear is one of the most important fruits of temperate regions, being the species from which most orchard pear cultivars grown in Europe, North America and Australia have...
(Pyrus communis) tree
located in Danvers
Danvers, Massachusetts
Danvers is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts, Danvers is most widely known for its association with the 1692 Salem witch trials, and for its famous asylum, the Danvers State Hospital.-17th century:The land...
, Essex County
Essex County, Massachusetts
-National protected areas:* Parker River National Wildlife Refuge* Salem Maritime National Historic Site* Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site* Thacher Island National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. It is believed to be the oldest living cultivated fruit tree
Fruit tree
A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by people — all trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, the term 'fruit tree' is limited to those that provide fruit for...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Early history
William Bentley
William Bentley was an American Unitarian minister, scholar, columnist, and diarist....
reports dates of 1630, 1631, and 1639 in his diary) by John Endecott
John Endecott
John Endecott was an English colonial magistrate, soldier and the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During all of his years in the colony but one, he held some form of civil, judicial, or military high office...
—a governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
, one of the Colony's earliest settlers,
and ancestor of Endicott Peabody
Endicott Peabody
Endicott "Chub" Peabody was the 62nd Governor of Massachusetts from January 3, 1963 to January 7, 1965.-Early life:...
—and was likely brought from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on the Arbella
Arbella
The Arbella or Arabella was the flagship of the Winthrop Fleet on which, between April 8 and June 12, 1630, Governor John Winthrop, other members of the Company and Puritan emigrants transported themselves and the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company from England to Salem, thereby giving legal...
in June 1630. (Various reports indicate an alternate import year of 1628.)
Tradition holds to the notion that the tree was planted by Endecott himself, according to Harriet Tapley in Chronicles of Danvers and to Judge Alden Perley White. According to Charles S. Tapley, a President of the Bay State Historical League, White recounted that Endecott personally planted the pear tree in the presence of his children and farmworkers and reportedly declared: "I hope the tree will love the soil of the old world and no doubt when we have gone the tree will still be alive."
The 1925 USDA
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
Agriculture Yearbook, citing the memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
of Samuel Endicott—a descendant of Endecott (the spelling of the family name
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
changed in the 18th century)—suggests that the tree may have been transplanted
Transplanting
For botanical organ transplant, see GraftingIn agriculture and gardening, transplanting or replanting is the technique of moving a plant from one location to another. Most often this takes the form of starting a plant from seed in optimal conditions, such as in a greenhouse or protected nursery...
from Endecott's garden in Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
. An article in the Salem Observer, written in 1852 by Samuel P. Fowler, lends further credence to this idea, noting that it was in Salem proper that Endecott "probably planted his famous pear tree". Flower also reports that Endecott was likely among the first to cultivate fruit in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
19th century
The diaryDiary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
of Rev.
The Reverend
The Reverend is a style most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a...
William Bentley
William Bentley
William Bentley was an American Unitarian minister, scholar, columnist, and diarist....
, who visited the Endecott estate (at the time known as Collins Farm and owned by Capt. John Endicott) on several occasions, makes numerous mentions of the Endicott Pear Tree starting in 1800. Bentley's diary confirms that the tree regularly produced fruit. In September 1809, Bentley passed along some pears harvested from the tree to former President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
; he received a letter from Adams concerning the pears the following month. On April 11, 1810, Bentley visited Collins Farm to obtain twigs from the pear tree to send to Adams. Thurl D. Brown, in a lecture before the Danvers Historical Society, suggested that "[t]he twigs must have taken hold", citing a letter from Adams dated September 24, 1815 that noted: "The hurricane of yesterday
Great September Gale of 1815
The Great September Gale of 1815 is one of five "major hurricanes" to strike New England since 1635...
has covered the ground about me with pears."
The Endicott Pear Tree was damaged by the Storm of October 1804
Storm of October 1804
The Storm of October 1804, popularly known as the first reported "Snowicane", was a late-season major hurricane in the 1804 Atlantic hurricane season; it brought vast amounts of snow to New England as an extratropical storm in mid-October, and was the latter of the two tropical cyclones recorded...
, a late-season major hurricane in the 1804 Atlantic hurricane season, but recovered to "yield many bushels" of fruit. The tree was damaged by hurricanes at least twice more in the 19th century: in 1815 and 1843. By 1875, the Endicott Pear Tree stood at approximately 80 ft (24.4 m).
Sometime in the mid-to-late-19th century, a wooden fence was erected to protect the tree.
20th century
In the early 20th century, Ulysses Prentiss HedrickUlysses Prentiss Hedrick
Ulysses Prentiss Hedrick was an American botanistand horticulturistwho specialized in spermatophytes.His main interest was cultivated fruit trees and he published a number of volumes dealing with such fruits as cherries, grapes, plums, and peaches. Ulysses Prentiss Hedrick, A History of...
, a botanist and author of The Pears of New York—a 1921 monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
belonging to a series of publications on fruits, "all of which have become classic references on the fruit cultivars of the period"—confirmed that the Endicott Pear Tree had not been grafted
Grafting
Grafting is a horticultural technique whereby tissues from one plant are inserted into those of another so that the two sets of vascular tissues may join together. This vascular joining is called inosculation...
, as was suggested in a 1837 article about the tree in Mr. Hovey's Magazine.
A 1919 account of the Endicott Pear Tree by James Raymond Simmons, author of The Historic Trees of Massachusetts, describes the tree as follows:
The Endicott Pear Tree was damaged by a hurricane once more in 1934
1934 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1934 Atlantic hurricane season ran through the summer and the first half of fall in 1934. The 1934 season was fairly quiet. However, it was a continuation of deadly seasons that had been going on since 1928....
. In the 1940s, The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry attempted to acquire possession of the tree from its then-owner, a Mr. Simard, who had acquired the property from George Endicott in 1941. This move was prompted by the discovery that Simard had "stripped the soil near the tree", leaving it exposed.
In 1946, at a town meeting
Town meeting
A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in portions of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government....
, the town of Danvers passed a resolution to "accept a plot of land on which the so-called Endicott Pear Tree is located, subject to an agreement drawn by the owner and in form agreeable to the Town Counsel"; however, the town did not purchase the tree due to the inability of the Town Counsel, a James H. Sullivan, and Simard to agree on the terms of the acquisition. On January 1, 1947, Sullivan was replaced as Town Counsel, and no further action was taken regarding acquisition of the Endicott Pear Tree.
Eventually, Simard deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
ed the property on which the tree is located to North Shore Industries; it was subsequently transferred to CBS-Hytron, which erected a wooden fence around the pear tree, Matchlett Laboratories, and finally Osram Sylvania
Osram Sylvania
Osram Sylvania Inc. is the North American operation of lighting manufacturer Osram GmbH, which is owned by Siemens AG. It was established in January 1993, with the acquisition of GTE’s Sylvania lighting division by Osram GmbH....
.
On July 27, 1964, vandals cut off the tree's branch
Branch
A branch or tree branch is a woody structural member connected to but not part of the central trunk of a tree...
es and all but 6 ft (1.8 m) of its trunk
Trunk (botany)
In botany, trunk refers to the main wooden axis of a tree that supports the branches and is supported by and directly attached to the roots. The trunk is covered by the bark, which is an important diagnostic feature in tree identification, and which often differs markedly from the bottom of the...
using hacksaw
Hacksaw
A hacksaw is a fine-tooth saw with a blade under tension in a frame, used for cutting materials such as metal or plastics. Hand-held hacksaws consist of a metal arch with a handle, usually a pistol grip, with pins for attaching a narrow disposable blade. A screw or other mechanism is used to put...
s.
As of August 2002, it was surrounded by a chain-link fence and located near the headquarters of Osram Sylvania
Osram Sylvania
Osram Sylvania Inc. is the North American operation of lighting manufacturer Osram GmbH, which is owned by Siemens AG. It was established in January 1993, with the acquisition of GTE’s Sylvania lighting division by Osram GmbH....
in Danvers.
In 1997, scions
Grafting
Grafting is a horticultural technique whereby tissues from one plant are inserted into those of another so that the two sets of vascular tissues may join together. This vascular joining is called inosculation...
were collected from the Endicott Pear Tree for the pear germplasm
Germplasm
A germplasm is a collection of genetic resources for an organism. For plants, the germplasm may be stored as a seed collection or, for trees, in a nursery.-See also:*Germ plasm, the germ cell determining zone...
collection of the National Clonal Germplasm Repository
National Clonal Germplasm Repository
The National Clonal Germplasm Repository is a branch of theAgricultural Research Service research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture . The Repository is a gene bank that preserves genetic resources by various means, including cryopreservation. There are nine clonal repositories...
in Corvallis
Corvallis, Oregon
Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462....
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, and a fruit-bearing clone of the tree was grown.
Cultural impact
According to a 2007 article in the Danvers Herald, the Endicott Pear Tree "holds a special place in the hearts of many Danversites". In 2004, the Danvers Preservation Commission sought to have the tree featured on a stamp of the United States Postal ServiceUnited States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
.
Lucy Larcom
Lucy Larcom
Lucy Larcom was an American poet.-Biography:Larcom was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1824, the ninth of ten children and died in Boston in 1893. She left Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1835 to work cotton mills in Lowell from the ages of 11 to 21. As a mill girl she hoped to earn some extra...
composed a poem, titled "The Governor's Tree", about the Endicott Pear Tree in 1890 for Arbor Day
Arbor Day
Arbor Day is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. It originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska, United States during 1872 by J. Sterling Morton. The first Arbor Day was held on April 10, 1872, and an estimated 1 million trees were planted that day.Many...
.