The Tree
An American elm, planted in 1646 — sixteen years after Boston’s founding. It stood at the corner of Essex and Orange Street, now the intersection of Washington and Essex streets, near Boston Common, on the only road in and out of the city. Every person traveling to or from Boston passed this tree.
The ground around it was known as Liberty Hall. When the tree was finally cut down in August 1775, it produced fourteen cords of firewood — approximately 1,800 cubic feet of wood. That single number tells you how massive this elm had become: 129 years of growth on Boston’s main thoroughfare, a living monument before anyone thought to call it one.
The Symbol
For a decade before the Revolution, the Liberty Tree was where Boston’s resistance took shape — where words became action and grievances became defiance.
1765
August 14 — First protest against the Stamp Act. An effigy of Andrew Oliver, the designated Stamp Act distributor, was hung from the branches. The Loyal Nine organized the demonstration — the first public act of defiance against the British Crown in America.
1766
February 14 — Stamp Act repealed. Celebration with lanterns hung in the branches. A copper sign was affixed to the trunk: “This tree was planted in the year 1646, and pruned by order of the Sons of Liberty, Feb. 14th, 1766.”
1768
The Liberty Riot. A customs boat was dragged from the harbor to the tree and publicly condemned beneath its branches.
1770
March — Boston Massacre. The funeral procession for the victims passed the Liberty Tree in solemn tribute.
1770s
Tar and featherings of Royal officials were conducted under the tree throughout the early 1770s.
1775
August — The tree was cut downby Loyalists and British soldiers. One soldier was killed in the process. The great elm produced fourteen cords of firewood — approximately 1,800 cubic feet of wood.
1776
March — Liberty Pole erected. After the British evacuation of Boston, Patriots erected a Liberty Pole at the stump where the tree had stood.
1825
The Marquis de Lafayette, during his celebrated American tour, visited the site and declared: “The world should never forget the spot where once stood Liberty Tree, so famous in your annals.”
Our Family at the Tree — The Coffin Connection
Nathaniel Coffin Sr.— descended from Tristram Coffin of Nantucket (1605) — was the King’s Cashier of Customs in Boston. He lived on Essex and Rainsford Lane, literally next door to the Liberty Tree. His son Nathaniel Coffin Jr. led the party that cut the tree down in August 1775. The family fled to Halifax with the British in 1776 and were proscribed and banished by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1778.
General John Coffin, another son of Nathaniel Sr., landed British troops at Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. When the fighting started, he grabbed a boat tiller and charged into the battle.
Meanwhile, on the Patriot side of the same family tree:
Lt. William Green was wounded at Bunker Hill defending against those very troops. Capt. Francis Green served seven years in the Continental Army, from Saratoga to Yorktown.
“We document both sides because honest research requires it. The archive leads with what we found, not what we claim.” — Principle #21
In Popular Culture — Johnny Tremain
The Liberty Tree was immortalized in Disney’s 1957 film Johnny Tremain, based on Esther Forbes’ 1944 Newbery Medal–winning novel. In a pivotal scene, Johnny and the Sons of Liberty march through Boston after the Tea Party, hanging lanterns on the Liberty Tree while singing “The Liberty Tree” by George Bruns.
Walt Disney was so inspired by the story that he planned to build “Liberty Street”at Disneyland — a colonial-era annex to Main Street USA. The project never materialized during his lifetime, but after his death it evolved into Liberty Square at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, which opened in 1971. A live oak tree transplanted from the Disney property serves as that park’s Liberty Tree, adorned with thirteen lanterns— one for each original colony.
Walt’s own daughter Sharon Disney had an uncredited role in the film.
The Site Today
The spot where the Liberty Tree stood, at Washington and Essex streets in Boston, is marked by a bronze plaque. An 1850s carved wooden relief of the tree still adorns a building across the street.
In 2018, Boston opened Liberty Tree Plaza at 2 Boylston Street with a new elm tree, stone monument, and inscription. The site was notably left off the Freedom Trail.
The Old State House museum in Boston houses a remnant of the flag that flew above the tree and one of the original lanterns from the 1766 Stamp Act repeal celebration.
Family Lines Referenced
Coffin-Loyalist connection well-documented in multiple published sources. Nathaniel Coffin Jr.’s role in cutting down the Liberty Tree and the family’s proscription in 1778 are established historical facts.
Green officer connections under research. Lt. William Green’s wounding at Bunker Hill and Capt. Francis Green’s seven-year Continental service are confirmed; descent line under active investigation.