CLAIRE DWIER AND THE CROSSWICKS OAK TREE

SOME TIME AGO I POSTED A NEWS PHOTO OF THE VERY FAMOUS AND GORGEOUS "CROSSWICKS OAK" THAT WAS A LANDMARK IN THE BUCOLIC TOWN OF CROSSWICKS. THANKFULLY, ANOTHER LOCAL HISTORIAN, MS. CLAIRE DWIER (OF THE GROVEVILLE DWIERS) WROTE THIS FASCINATING AND VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE WHICH RELATES TO THAT TREE. THANKS VERY MUCH FOR YOUR VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION, CLAIRE!

CLAIRE WRITES:

Update on the Crosswicks Oak Tree

I have wonderful memories of the Crosswicks oak tree. My aunt and uncle, Peg and Aubrey Lawyer, lived on Front Street, right across from the Friends Meeting property. As a child I spent many happy hours swinging under that beautiful old oak on a swing that hung from one of its great limbs. In the fall, we also played in the huge piles of leaves that dropped from it each year. I grew up knowing its history and that it was a very special tree, indeed. Unfortunately, it met its demise – one of the bigger limbs was struck by lightning – probably in the 1960's (perhaps some Crosswicks residents would remember exactly when). Maybe the tree just never recovered from the lightning strike, or became diseased, but in 1975 it had to be removed. I'm not certain when, but another oak tree was planted in place of the former one and is surrounded by a lovely and peaceful garden.. The 'new' oak is quite large now so I'm sure it's been there for some time. Also, the photo on your site appears to show a wooden post and rail fence around the property. I have a black and white snapshot of my sisters, myself, and two cousins standing on Front Street - the oak and a concrete block wall are behind us. The photo was taken on Easter Sunday, 1962. The block wall was there as far back as I can remember and extended from the entry driveway on Front Street, around the corner and down Church Street to the back end of the property. There was another driveway on Church St. - each drive had two large columns made of the same concrete block. I have no information on when the wall was constructed, and believe it gradually began to crumble and was removed. Today, all that remains of it are two large columns at the Church St. entrance, a short one on Front Street, and a part of the foundation rounding the corner at Front and Church. As you may recall, my dad, Ray Dwier, was a Hamilton Township Committeeman who also served two terms as Hamilton's Mayor. When the limb was struck down, my mother was able to obtain a small piece of the wood, and she surprised dad with a beautiful gavel she had made from that little piece of oak. He loved that tree and, of course, very proudly used his "Crosswicks oak" gavel to conduct Hamilton Township Committee meetings during his mayoral terms. After he retired, the gavel was mounted on a plaque and hung in my parents' den until they both passed away. It remains in our family today. One last note: I believe two cannon balls are still in the exterior walls of the Quaker Meeting House and are visible when standing on the property. Add to that the one taken by Francis Ellis, and all three mentioned in the caption of the photo are accounted for. It'd be interesting to know what happened to the one in Mr. Ellis's possession. January, 2008
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