A descendant of the last surviving "Liberty Tree" now has roots in Warren, Pennsylvania.
The original Liberty Tree was a large elm tree in Boston that became a meeting place before the American Revolution. The Sons of Liberty met near the tree for protests and demonstrations against Britain’s taxation and rule.
After British soldiers burned that tree in 1775, colonists designated 13 new Liberty Trees.
Now that legacy is continuing.
“This is from the last surviving tulip poplar tree, which was in Annapolis, Maryland," PJ Roup, the senior grand warden of the Pennsylvania Freemasons, explained recently.
Roup said Hurricane Floyd destroyed that last surviving liberty tree in Maryland in 1999, but the Freemasons are using seeds from the tree to grow across Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Freemasons are partnering with America250PA, a bipartisan state committee, to plant liberty trees in all 67 counties ahead of America's 250th anniversary.
The liberty tree in Warren is next to the statue of the county’s namesake, Joseph Warren. He died at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolution.
“And interestingly enough, there's only four statues of Joseph Warren in the United States," Roup said. "Three of them are in Boston because of his ties to Boston and Bunker Hill and Lexington and Concord. And (the statue in Warren) is the only one that's outside of Lexington, and outside of Boston.”
Roup will speak at a public dedication for the new tree at General Joseph Warren Park at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“It's just a celebration of that county. It's a celebration of our heritage as Americans," Roup said. "It's a nice time to spend and open a dialogue with people about the American Revolution and what it means to be American.”
There will also be dedication ceremonies for new liberty trees Saturday at the Knox and Kane Rail Trail and the Forest County Courthouse.
CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this story stated colonists planted 13 new Liberty Trees after British soldiers burned the original one in Boston. The 13 other Liberty Trees were already fully mature trees, but colonists designated them as Liberty Trees to keep the legacy alive.
