The Widow Oliver's Great Oak; A Monarch of the Wood.

I’ve been known to park the car on the side of the road to run off across an open field and wrap my arms around a tree! Does this make me a tree-hugger? I guess so, but not in the way you might think. You see, an old growth tree is a story to me.  And I’m looking for the Tree diameter. So I can guess at it’s age….

The Widow Oliver’s Oak. 
"Town of New Scotland: Captain Joseph Hilton Park"

Tree diameter is usually measured at 4.5 feet (ft) above ground level. Measurement at this height is referred to as diameter at breast height or DBH. DBH can be measured with a specially calibrated tape measure called a diameter tape (d-tape) available from most arborist or forestry supply dealers. Or you can just use a string. You wrap the string around the tree, mark it and then measure the string with a tape measurer. This gives you a rough age. You can never be really sure without cutting the tree down and counting it’s rings. But if you would prefer not to end the trees life this is a good alternative! 

The Widow Oliver’s Great Oak is situated on the current boundary lines between the Town of New Scotland’s “Captain Joseph Hilton Park” and The Hudson Mohawk Land Conservancy’s the "Bender Melon Preserve." It has a circumference of 198 inches. This calculates to a rough age of 315.1 years of age using 8 Billion Trees online age calculator. That means this tree started its life in or about 1706 +/- ten years.

Before the American Revolution! Before there was a United States of America! 

Ben Franklin.

In the year 1706 Johann Pachelbel died, Benjamin Franklin was born, and David Davidse Schuyler was the 12th Mayor of Albany when this tree began to grow. 

"Four Indian Kings of the New World."
Painted by Jan Verest, 1710.

The local Mohican tribes were very much present during this time period. This was during the reign of Queen Anne when the four Mohawk and Mohican Sachem’s visited London and had their portraits painted.

The original location of the Widow Oliver's homestead
as rendered on the 1854 Jay Gould map.

On the 1854 Jay Gould Map this tree stood in the back yard of the Widow Oliver, along the boundary line between her property, G.W. Bender and the Susquehanna Rail Road.

,

The location of the former Widow Oliver's homestead
is currently the David's Trail parking lot on Maple Road.

This tree predates The Town of New Scotland, the Susquehanna Rail Road and The Village of Voorheesville!

The Widow Oliver’s Great Oak has a wonderful story. Stop by someday and have a listen!