Tree That Owns Itself - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Tree That Owns Itself is a white oak tree, widely assumed to have legal ownership of itself and of all land within eight feet (2.4 m) of its base. The tree, also called the Jackson Oak, is located at the corner of South Finley and Dearing Streets in Athens, Georgia

Athens, Georgia

Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

, USA. The original tree fell in 1942, but a new tree was grown from one of its acorn

Acorn

The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...

s, and planted in the same location. The current tree is sometimes referred to as the Son of The Tree That Owns Itself. Both trees have appeared in numerous national publications, and the site is a local landmark.

Legend

The earliest-known telling of the tree’s story comes from a front page article entitled "Deeded to Itself" in the Athens Weekly Banner of August 12, 1890. The article explains that the tree had been located on the property of Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

William Henry Jackson (no relation to the photographer

William Henry Jackson

William Henry Jackson was an American painter, Civil War, geological survey photographer and an explorer famous for his images of the American West...

). William Jackson was the son of one James Jackson

James Jackson (politician)

James "Left Eye" Jackson was an early Georgia politician of the Democratic-Republican Party. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1789 until 1791. He was also a U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1793 to 1795, and from 1801 until his death...

(a soldier in the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

as well as a Congressman

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, U.S. Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, and Governor of Georgia), and the father of another James Jackson

James Jackson (congressman)

James Jackson was a United States Representative from Georgia, a judge advocate in the American Civil War, and a chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Jackson was also a trustee of the University of Georgia...

(a Congressman and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia). He was the brother of Jabez Young Jackson

Jabez Young Jackson

Jabez Young Jackson was a U.S. representative from Georgia.-Biography:Jackson was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of James Jackson , and later uncle of James Jackson . He was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of...

, also a Congressman. (William Jackson was reportedly a professor at the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

and is sometimes given the title of Doctor; the nature of his military service and the source of the title "Colonel" are unknown.) Jackson supposedly cherished childhood memories of the tree, and, desiring to protect it, 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 to it the ownership of itself and its surrounding land. By various accounts, this transaction took place between 1820 and 1832. According to the newspaper article, the deed read:
It is unclear whether the story of the Tree That Owns Itself began with the Weekly Banner article, or if it had been an element of local folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

prior to that time. The article's author writes that, in 1890, there were few people still living who knew the story.

The story of the Tree That Owns Itself is very widely known, and is almost always presented as fact. However, only one person—the anonymous author of "Deeded to Itself"—has ever claimed to have seen Jackson’s deed

Deed

to the tree. Most writers acknowledge that the deed is lost or no longer exists, if in fact it ever did. Such a deed, even if it did exist, would have no legal standing. Under common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

, the person receiving the property in question must have the legal capacity to receive it, and the property must be delivered to—and accepted by—the recipient.

William H. Jackson did, in fact, own the property on the opposite side of Dearing Street from the tree. That plot included the present-day 226 Dearing Street, but in the early 19th century it was simply designated Lot #14. The tree, however, is located on a portion of what had been Lot #15. Jackson and his wife Mildred, along with a J. A. Cobb, sold their property to a Dr. Malthus Ward in 1832, the same year cited on a plaque as being the date of the tree's deed. The Clarke County

Clarke County, Georgia

Clarke County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the population was 101,489. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 114,063...

real estate indices contain no indication of when or from whom Jackson originally purchased the property, although much of the land in that area is reported to have belonged to a Major James Meriwether. Even though Jackson may have lived near the tree as an adult, his childhood was actually spent in Jefferson County

Jefferson County, Georgia

Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on February 20, 1796. As of 2000, the population was 17,266. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 16,454...

, not in Athens, making it less likely that he had experienced idyllic childhood summers playing beneath the tree's branches.

Recent deeds suggest that the tree's square footage remains part of the property at 125 Dearing Street. These documents describe a parcel bounded on the east by Finley Street and on the north by Dearing Street, an area that would seem to encompass the tree. However, the actual plat

Plat

A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....

map for that property clearly does not include the tree’s oddly shaped corner: its eastern line lies roughly ten feet (three meters) to the west of the tree’s location—as far as the tax assessor is concerned, the tree’s area is not a part of that property.

This does not confirm that the tree owns itself, but suggests, rather, that it is considered to be within the right-of-way along Finley Street. Athens-Clarke County

Consolidated city-county

In United States local government, a consolidated city–county is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation, and a county, which is an administrative division of a state...

confirms that the tree is in the right-of-way and is thus “accepted for care” by municipal authorities; according to city-county officials, local government and the owners of the adjacent property jointly serve as “stewards” for the care of the tree, while Athens' Junior Ladies' Garden Club serves as its “primary advocate.” Regarding Jackson’s deed, one writer noted at the beginning of the 20th century, “However defective this title may be in law, the public recognized it.” In that spirit, it is the stated position of the Athens-Clarke County unified government that the tree, in spite of the law, does indeed own itself.

History

The original Tree That Owns Itself is estimated to have started life at some time between the mid-16th and late 18th centuries. The tree was considered by some to be both the biggest tree in Athens and the most famous tree in the United States. The tree predated the transformation of the area into a residential neighborhood beginning in the mid-19th century. The residence adjacent to the tree, known as Dominie

Dominie

Dominie is a Scots language and Scottish English term for a Scottish schoolmaster or a minister, usually of the Church of Scotland but sometimes of other presbyterian churches in Scotland...

House, was built at the corner of Milledge Avenue and Waddell Street in 1883, and was moved to its present location about twenty years later.

By 1906, erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

had become apparent at the base of the tree. George Foster Peabody

George Foster Peabody

George Foster Peabody was a banker and philanthropist.-Early life:...

paid to have new soil, a commemorative tablet, and a chain barricade supported by eight granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

posts installed around the tree. Despite these efforts, the tree reportedly suffered heavy damage during an ice storm in 1907. Although attempts were made at preservation, rot had already set in, and the tree was permanently weakened.

The original oak fell on the evening of October 9, 1942, following a long period of decline. Its poor condition had been known for years, and within days of its collapse, a move was under way to replace the fallen tree with a "son" grown from one of its acorns. One account suggests that the tree had actually died several years before it had collapsed, the victim of root rot. The tree was over 100 feet (30 m) tall, and was estimated to be between 150 and 400 years old when it fell. It has been reported elsewhere that the tree fell on December 1, 1942, succumbing not to old age and disease but rather to a violent windstorm that ravaged much of north Georgia that evening, causing widespread damage and killing several people. While it is possible that some portion of the tree had remained standing for several weeks, meeting a dramatic end at the hands of a killer storm, only the earlier date is supported by newspaper accounts.

Son of The Tree That Owns Itself

After the original tree’s demise, its small plot sat vacant for four years. Dan Magill, the young son of Athens’ Junior Ladies Garden Club member Elizabeth Magill, suggested that his mother’s club find a replacement for the tree. Several Athenians had cultivated seedlings from acorns of the original tree. That growing in the yard of Capt. Jack Watson, at five feet (1.5 m) in height, was deemed the best candidate for transplantation. The operation was directed by Roy Bowden of the College of Agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

at the University of Georgia, assisted by students in the Department of Horticulture

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

.

The new tree was officially dedicated in a formal ceremony on December 4, 1946. Athens Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

Robert L. McWhorter presided and Dr. E.L. Hill, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, offered a short prayer. Also in attendance were Capt. and Mrs. Watson and representatives of the Garden Club. Club President Patsy Dudley announced that her group would henceforth take responsibility for maintenance of the tree’s plot, which had fallen into disrepair during the vacancy. The new tree, trimmed back to a mere three feet (one meter) for transplantation, thrived in its new location. This tree is considered, popularly if not legally, to be the full heir of the original tree. As such, it is sometimes referred to as the Son of The Tree That Owns Itself, although it is generally known by the same title as its progenitor. The tree is currently over 50 feet (15 m) tall.

On December 4, 1996, the Garden Club staged a celebration to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the planting of the new tree. Dan Magill, who, as a boy, had inspired the replanting effort, served as master of ceremonies.

The tree sits near the crest of a hill, at the southwest corner of the intersection of Dearing and Finley Streets, in a quiet residential neighborhood near downtown Athens and UGA

University of Georgia

’s North Campus. The portion of Finley Street leading up the hill to the tree is Athens’ only remaining cobblestone

Cobblestone

Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...

street. The tree’s lot is separated from the larger portion of the adjacent property by a private driveway; its enclosure also juts several feet into Finley Street. Thus the tree may in fact appear to occupy a small but separate tract of land. The appearance of separation is accentuated by the retaining wall and ornamental chain barrier that surround the tree. Although located alongside private homes in a residential neighborhood, the Tree That Owns Itself is "open" to the public, and regularly attracts visitors.

Although the story of the Tree That Owns Itself is more legend than history, the tree has become (along with the University Arch and the Double-Barreled Cannon

Double-barreled cannon

The double-barreled cannon is an American Civil War-era experimental weapon and is now a modern landmark located in Athens, Georgia. While originally built for warfare, the cannon never saw battle.-Concept:...

) one of the most recognized and well-loved symbols of Athens. It is routinely featured in travel guides and other visitor information, and has even garnered international recognition through such publications as Ripley's Believe It Or Not, where it has been featured on several occasions.

Tablets

The site of the tree contains two stone tablets. The first is heavily weathered and has suffered the loss of one corner, while the second appears to be considerably newer. Both tablets paraphrase

Paraphrase

Paraphrase is restatement of a text or passages, using other words. The term "paraphrase" derives via the Latin "paraphrasis" from the Greek , meaning "additional manner of expression". The act of paraphrasing is also called "paraphrasis."...

the same portion of William H. Jackson's supposed deed to the tree, with slight alterations made to transform the legalistic language into a first-person

First-person narrative

First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...

declaration of affection:

FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION

OF THE GREAT LOVE I BEAR

THIS TREE AND THE GREAT DESIRE

I HAVE FOR ITS PROTECTION

FOR ALL TIME, I CONVEY ENTIRE

POSSESSION OF ITSELF AND

ALL LAND WITHIN EIGHT FEET

OF THE TREE ON ALL SIDES

WILLIAM H. JACKSON

A small brass plaque, about the size of a playing card, is attached the lower left corner of the face of the more weathered of the two tablets. It reads:

Descendent of the

Tree

That Owns Itself

Planted by the

Junior

Ladies Garden Club

1946

In addition to the stone tablets a larger brass plaque is affixed to the concrete retaining wall that surrounds the tree. The plaque reads:

THE TREE THAT OWNS ITSELF

Quercus alba

Deeded to itself by Col. William H. Jackson

circa 1832

This scion of the original tree was planted by

the Junior Ladies Garden Club in 1946

National Register of Historic Places 1975

Athens Historical Landmark 1988

The entire Dearing Street Historic District (of which the tree is a "resident") was added to the National Register in 1975. The District incorporates an area very roughly bounded by Broad, Finley, Waddell, and Church Streets, and was recognized for its architectural

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

significance. The tree was locally designated a historic landmark on February 2, 1988.

External links

Athens Clarke County Virtual Tour Page for the Tree That Owns Itself.
Roadside America's entry for the Tree That Owns Itself.
"A Tree In Athens That Owns Itself" by Richard E. Irby, Jr.
Athens Historical Society
The National Arbor Day Foundation
The Tree City USA Program, of which Athens is a member city.
The Athens-Clarke County Community Tree Council, which promotes plantings of TTOI seedlings at area schools.
"I Am So Great" by Cecily Iddings, a poem referencing the Tree That Owns Itself
"This Tree Owns Itself," Athens Daily Banner, June 16, 1901. From the Athens Historic Newspapers Archive in the Digital Library of Georgia.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.