THE LIBERTY TREE

THE LIBERTY TREE

A branch of history

Tucked away in a back corner of Chris Tyner’s showroom at Neshannock Woods & Co. is a bare, gnarled stick about 3 feet long. It doesn’t look like much now. But once, it branched out fresh and green, standing tall against the gable of the Steadman log house after it was built at its original site in Oniontown, Mercer County, Pa.

When the log house was being disassembled after Tyner bought it four years ago to move to his property in Leesburg, a worker found the sapling remnant tucked into the roof rafters. He gave it to Tyner.

The worker later discovered, when discussing a similar find in the area, that the sapling in the rafters would have been John Steadman’s liberty tree.

A tradition: Early settlers in Mercer County would attach a tree sapling to the gable of a home under construction. After the home was finished, the sapling was tucked inside the roof.

The meaning: It was a show of patriotism. The settlers were very patriotic, and the liberty tree was their way of showing appreciation for their freedom.

Source: Chris Tyner, owner of the Steadman House