from
History of Providence County, Rhode Island
Edited by Richard M. Bayles.
In two volumes, illustrated. Vol. I.
New York: W. W. Preston & Co., 1891.
pp. 171 - 191. (part 4)
"In July, 1768, the 'Sons of Liberty' were called upon to attend the
dedication of the 'tree of liberty'. Almost every town then had either its
liberty tree or its liberty pole. The liberty tree of Providence was a
little north of the north side of Olney street, in front of a public house
kept there by Captain Joseph Olney. The house was a large, old-fashioned,
low studded house with a wing giving it an L shape. In the large front
yard stood one of the largest elm trees ever seen hereabout, and up into
this elm, about 20 feet from the ground, a perch and seat large enough to
accommodate ten or twelve persons was adjusted upon four branches which put
out from that part of the trunk. The seat was reached by a flight of
wooden steps. The tree was appropriately dedicated on July 25th, 1768, an
oration on the occasion being delivered by Silas Downer. After the oration
the following dedicatory words were pronounced by the speaker, the people
on the elevated perch meanwhile laying hands upon the tree.
'We do, in the name and behalf of all the true sons of liberty in America,
Great Britain, Ireland, Corsica, or wheresoever they may be dispersed
throughout the world, dedicate and solemnly devote this tree to be a tree
of liberty. May all our councils and deliberations, under its venerable
branches, be guided by wisdom and directed for the support and maintenance
of that liberty which our renowned forefathers sought out and found under
trees and in the wilderness. May it long flourish, and may the sons of
liberty often repair hither, to confirm and strengthen each other; when
they look toward this sacred elm, may they be penetrated with a sense of
their duty to themselves and their posterity; and may they, like the house
of David, grow stronger and stronger, while their enemies, like the house
of Saul, shall grow weaker and weaker. Amen.' "
continued in part 5.