Front:
SCYTHE
TREE
FARM
POST CARDS
HISTORIES
Back:
ARTHUR H. RICHARDS, WATKINS GLEN. N. T.
HISTORIC SCYTHE TREE
BETWEEN WATERLOO AND GENEVA, N. Y.
IN THE FINGER LAKES
A strange curiosity is the historic scythe
tree. In October 1861, Wyman J. Johnson
hung his scythe in this tree telling his mother
he would leave it there until he returned from
the Civil War. He never came home and he
lies in an unmarked grave on a Southern
battlefield. In 1918 during World War I, the
Schaffer Brothers enlisted. They placed their
scythes beside one another. Throughout the
war three flags waved. At the close of the
great conflict the Schaffer brothers returned
and today but one flag floats in honor of
Johnson.
The Scythe Tree has a height of over 100
feet. The trunk measures over 15 feet in
circumference. Only six inches of Johnson's
scythe protrudes.
The tree and its history is listed in the Hall
of Fame at Washington, D. C. It is a living
memorial.
The Women of Tyler J. Snyder Relief Corps,
No. 76 Waterloo, N. Y., now keep the Stars
and Stripes continually floating over the
scythe.
CURTEICHCOLOR REPRODUCTION FROM KODACHROME ORIGINAL
OC-K306
HERE
