The Planting
Miss Susie Emerson was the High School principal at Centre School, located where the Chelmsford Public Garden is today. She purchased a purple beech tree sapling from Edwin Warren on Boston Road with contributions collected from about 59 students. The tree planting took place on Friday, May 1, 1891.
Miss Emerson’s high school students went outside to plant the tree and then posed for photographs. Susie’s brother, professional photographer Arthur Emerson, recorded the event with his large format view camera. It’s interesting that of the 31 high school students, four of the boys later married four of the girls. We cropped the colorized Historical Society glass negative 2009.9.13003 below to highlight the sapling.
Primary school teacher Miss Frances Clark suggested it was a nice day and would be fun if everybody went outside. Teachers released the Grammar, Intermediate, and Primary classes to join the High School group. Arthur took a photograph with all 118 students holding an unsmiling pose as traditional for long glass plate exposures.
Historical Society glass negative 2009.9.13001
Prominent Feature
Historical Society postcard 1975.4.21 shows the purple Beech tree in its prime around 1960.
This tree was a prominent feature on Center Common for over a century, as seen here on July 3, 2003.
Sadly, dead branches created a hazard, and the town took the tree down on November 29, 2012.
Epilogue
John Arthur, shown here, hand‑crafted pieces of the tree and used them in other projects around town.
Clones of the tree live on at the Old Chelmsford Garrison House and Sunny Meadow farm.
Reference:
Website, Chelmsford Historical Commission, Timelines, Chelmsford Common, Purple Beech Tree