At close to 300 years old, the tree was older than the United States itself and considered a sacred landmark. Nearly two years ago a storm destroyed it, but a new initiative will ensure that its importance lives on.
Published Apr. 20, 2022 6:00 AM EDT | Updated Apr. 20, 2022 8:14 AM EDT
A historic white oak tree that is more than three centuries old has been given a renewed purpose following its death during a storm in 2020.
The historically important tree, located on the campus of Virginia Tech and known widely as the Merry Oak, was a place where members of the enslaved community at Smithfield Plantation would gather for meetings, religious ceremonies, and celebrations like weddings and funerals. That land has since been purchased and is owned by Virginia Tech.
The tree likely stood long before European colonists settled in the area and became an important symbol for the enslaved workers and their descendants, including Keri Moseley-Hobbs, whose four-times-grandfather Thomas Fraction was once enslaved at Smithfield.
"The first time I came to Smithfield, I paused and stared up at the tree from the top of the hill before I even knew what it was,” Moseley-Hobbs told VTx, a school-run publication. “As we find other's descendants and bring them there, there’s always an emotional reaction and connection to the tree.”
A look at the historic Merry Oak tree before it was dismantled to be turned into two separate memorials.
Strong easterly winds from a storm felled the tree in May 2020.
"We lost a few trees that day," Virginia Tech arborist Jamie King told AccuWeather National Reporter Emmy Victor. King said the university has about 10,000 trees on campus grounds and that the Merry Oak was one of the most important of those trees given its significance to generations of people throughout hundreds of years.
After the Merry Oak was destroyed by the storm, all parties involved began discussing what to do with the landmark. Eventually, everyone agreed on having the remnants of the tree taken to a local sawmill so that its wood can be repurposed into two memorials.
One memorial will be located at Virginia Tech's Duck Pond, a popular gathering spot on their campus, with construction set to be finished by the end of the year. The other landmark will be designed by descendants of enslaved families.
"Since the storm hit and the tree went down, there has been a lot of discussion among university stakeholders and the Fraction family to ensure we treated this wood with the dignity it deserves,” Wendy Halsey, assistant vice president for facilities operations at Virginia Tech, told VTx.
King told AccuWeather that he hopes stories like that of the historic white oak encourage people to learn more about nature and history.
"To me the tree has already been connected to so many generations of people -- it's really touching," King said.
Reporting by Emmy Victor.
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