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TOPIC: The Bible Tree
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/fab7936d3626cac8?hl=en
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== 1 of 4 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 2 2008 3:48 pm
From: "Edward Frank"

ENTS,

I spent the morning and afternoon with archaeologists, historians, and interested members of the local community visiting a series of "Scripture Rocks" In the area around Brookville, PA. One account of the rocks reads as follows, "In the early 1900's, 500 rock carvings were cut by Douglas Stahlman, a Brookville man who believed he had a vision instructing him to carry out that mission. Stahlman was born in Kirkman, Jefferson County in 1861, graduated from the Erie Commercial School, and died in Pittsburgh in 1942. Stahlman removed himself from society and lived among the rocks above Mill Creek. At one point he conducted church services at a rock he had named appropriately "Alter Rock". 

Death Rock

Each rock carries some biblical inscription and was named by Stahlman. In a journal he cataloged each stone and its approximate location. When he completed his project, the carvings stretched roughly in an arc around Brookville from the old Northfork Park north of the town to Tunnel Hill south of Brookville. - Nicole Park" Ken Burkett, a local archaeologist and others are organizing a project to document the character and locations of these rocks located at many known, and likely many unknown sites in the area.



What may be of more interest to a tree group like ENTS is that he also carved verses into trees in the area. I am given to understand he preferred American beech trees because of their smooth bark. Of the many tree she carved, one is know to remain. I had the opportunity to measure and photograph this tree, known as the Bible Tree today. The tree is in severely hollow, and I do not believe it will last much longer.

Measurements: Girth 10.3 feet, height 81 feet.

I am guessing the tree may be 150 years old at least, given that the carvings were done almost 100 years ago, circa 1912, and the tree must have been large at the time it was carved. More detailed documentation of the tree is one of the higher priorities of the proposed project as carvings in tree tend to be more ephemeral than those in stone. The other Bible trees have been lost already.

Ed Frank


"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both. "
Robert Frost (1874-1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

== 2 of 4 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 2 2008 4:05 pm
From: "Joseph Zorzin"


Ed., how's the crown look? Though it may be severely hollow, it can possibly still survive much longer than we're likely to survive- if it has a healthy crown. The hollowness, in and of itself, is not necessarily an indication of longevity.

Joe

== 3 of 4 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 2 2008 4:13 pm
From: "Edward Frank"

Joe,

Actually the crown looked ok, but it apparently did not make many nuts this year, unlike most of the beech trees in the area. I am not worried about it dying, so much as falling over.

It does not appear to be structurally sound and it is adjacent to a city pumping station open area.

Ed

== 4 of 4 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 2 2008 4:38 pm
From: James Parton

Ed,

Though I don't agree with carving into trees I could not think of
anything better than Bible verses.

The size of this tree reminds me of a large beech ( European, I
think ) located in Calvary Episcopal's cemetery here in Fletcher NC.
It is over 12 feet in girth and around 80 feet tall. The cemetery is
just over 150 years old and the beech may date back to the earliest
graves in the cemetery. The " Bible Tree " may well be 150 years old.

James P.