Charter Oak
The Charter Oak was an enormous white oak tree growing on Wyllys Hyll in Hartford, Connecticut, from around the 12th or 13th century until it fell during a storm in 1856. Connecticut colonists hid Connecticut's Royal Charter of 1662 within the tree's hollow to thwart its confiscation by the English governor-general. The oak symbolized American independence and was commemorated on the Connecticut State Quarter. It was also depicted on a commemorative half dollar[1] and a postage stamp[2] in 1935, Connecticut's tercentennial.
In the 1630s, a delegation of local Indians approached Samuel Wyllys, the settler who owned and cleared much of the land around Hartford, to encourage preservation of the tree, describing it as having been planted ceremonially for the sake of peace when their tribe first settled in the area:
It has been the guide of our ancestors for centuries as to the time of planting our corn; when the leaves are the size of a mouse's ears, then is the time to put the seed into the ground.[3]
The name "Charter Oak" stems from the event in late 1687, when Connecticut colonists used it as a hiding place for the Charter of 1662.
King Charles II granted the Connecticut Colony an unusual degree of autonomy in 1662.[4] His successor James II consolidated several colonies into the Dominion of New England in 1686, in part to take firmer control of them.[5] He later appointed Sir Edmund Andros as governor-general over it, who stated that his appointment had invalidated the charters of the various constituent colonies. He went to each colony to collect their charters, presumably seeing symbolic value in physically reclaiming the documents. Andros arrived in Hartford late in October 1687, where his mission was at least as unwelcome as it had been in the other colonies.
The incident took place on October 31, 1687,[6] in the upper room at Zachariah Sanford's tavern.[7] Andros demanded the document, and the colonists produced it, but the candle lights were suddenly doused during the ensuing discussion.[8] The colonists spirited the document out a window, and Captain Joseph Wadsworth carried it to the oak tree.[9]
