The Wye Oak
Everyone in the area knew this ole tree well. In our
memory it has always been there, always really big, always special and always
called The Wye Oak.
How many of our ancestors walked by this ole tree,
which is on the old Indian path now known as Rt. 662, how many travelers passed
by it before Rt. 50 was established?
Most likely if your roots are on the Eastern Shore, your ancestors have
viewed this same tree, stopped for a rest, chatted with the villagers, or
neighbors who had also brought their wheat to the Wye Mill or gathered its
acorns.
What has been forgotten over time is what they used
to call the tree.
The Bachelors Oak
When the oak was only about 100 to 150 years old,
area landowners even made deals under this tree. One specific time, Robert Noble, Richard
Woolman, Henry Hawkins, Nathaniel Cleeve, William Jones, Henry Costin and others
sat and drank a case of spirits together.
The spirits were payment from Henry Hawkins to
Nathaniel Cleeve for a piece of land called Nathaniel’s Point lying in Wye
River, a deal they hashed out under the Bachelor’s Oak. I guess Nathaniel gathered his spirits under
his arm, shook hands with Henry, but before he could get a way, others had gathered. After a lot of conversation and laughter,
they must have needed a drink and Nathaniel decided to share.
No pub in the vicinity, the Bachelor’s Oak was the
social gathering place for those without wives awaiting them.
Hmmm..... wonder if that conveyance was recorded in the Court?
2020 update
The Bachelor Oak is not the Wye Oak
More details to follow.
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