The Grayson Springs Chapter (of the) National Society (of) Daughters of the American Revolution hosted a Liberty Tree Dedication at the historic Alice Theater on Saturday.
The first Liberty Tree was planted in 1646 in Boston, Massachusetts, and became a popular meeting place for the citizens of Boston in the 1760s. A secret society of men who promoted the rights of colonists, the Sons of Liberty, met under the tree to protest British taxation and British rule.
The initial protests were related to the Stamp Act of 1765, as colonists, who were without representation in Britain, were required to pay taxes on nearly every piece of paper they produced from mortgages to newspapers to deeds to pamphlets to playing cards.
Additionally, anyone found to be in violation of the Stamp Act was denied a trial by jury.
As a result, demonstrations were held under the Liberty Tree in Boston, a practice that spread across the colonies to protest British taxation.
“In 1765, a group of nine patriots called themselves the Loyal Nine. They were the predecessors of the Sons of Liberty,” Matilda Nelson, Registrar of the Daughters of the American Revolution, said in a speech during the Liberty Tree dedication. “The Loyal Nine planned the first acts of public resistance to the English Crown and held them beneath Liberty Tree.”
Thomas Paine, an American revolutionary an author who advocated independence from Britain through his pamphlet, Common Sense, wrote a poem memorializing the Liberty Tree in 1775.
“He emphasized,” Nelson said, “how the meetings under the tree unified people in a common higher cause.”
Colonists were inspired by the revolutionaries and began planting their own Liberty Trees, causing the tree to become American’s first symbol of freedom, hope and resistance.
“The seedling we are dedicating today came from the state of Maryland,” Nelson said at the ceremony. “The seedling is the genetic offspring of the last surviving Liberty Tree of the 13 Original Colonies.”
Nelson explained: “Colonists gathered under the tulip poplar Liberty Tree in Annapolis, Maryland, to plan their rebellion. Samuel Chase and William Paca (both Founding Fathers), who met under the tree, were Maryland Sons of Liberty and became signers of the Declaration of Independence.”
In 1999, the original 400-year-old tree, the last surviving Liberty Tree of the 13 Original Colonies, was destroyed by Hurricane Floyd.
Grayson Springs Chapter acquires Liberty Tree
In 2022, Grayson Springs Chapter Vice-Regent, Abbie Bales, chairperson of the America250! Committee, encouraged chapter members to start thinking about how they could support the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution initiative to publicly recognize and celebrate our nation’s Semiquincentennial (America’s 250th birthday).
Over time, the chapter decided to plant a Liberty Tree in honor of the original Liberty Trees.
Bales researched Liberty Trees, made phone calls and visited a local nursery expert who advised her on desirable species of trees to plant in this geographical area.
In March 2024, a forester with the Maryland Liberty Tree Project contacted Nelson and told her the tulip poplar Liberty Tree seedlings were available.
“As we approach the 250th Anniversary of the birth of our nation … it is the hope of the Grayson Springs Chapter that bringing these historic Liberty Tree seedlings to Leitchfield will serve the public, honor the Society’s mission, and encourage future learning and patriotic commemorations as years go by under the outspread branches of these trees,” Nelson said.
The Leitchfield Liberty Tree is planted at Veteran’s Memorial Park on Veteran’s Way, above the baseball fields at Beville Park.
(Headline photo: Kentucky Society Sons of the American Revolution members Scott Giltner and Roger Vincent performing a musical tribute)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
