If trees could talk, imagine the stories a two-hundred and fifty-six-year-old white oak tree in Union County could tell. It was blazed or marked by William Maclay, first a lawyer, and then a surveyor who was employed by the Penn Family. 

A plaque, dedicated by the Shikelimo Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1935, explains that the oak ” is today the only surviving witness tree among those that marked the survey of February 28 1769 which set apart the tract on which Lewisburg is situated and which was made for the proprietaries by William Maclay This tract of 320 acres was called Prescott It was patented in 1772 to Richard Peters who sold it November 17 1773 to Ludwig Derr, the first settler on the tract, and in 1785, the founder of Derrstown.”

In a story on the Susquehanna Footprints website dated April 14, 2024, I shared information about the life of German immigrant Ludwig Derr, believed to be the first settler in the Buffalo Valley.

The witness tree and DAR Plaque stand at the corner of 7^th and Saint George Streets in Lewisburg. Nearby is the historic Lewisburg Cemetery.

If you have the opportunity, stop by and appreciate the tree that has witnessed books full of history. Even if the tree can’t talk, you can share its story with someone.