Apparently the Fremont Tree has many times brought to life the lines of William
Cullen Bryant’s Forest Hymn
“The groves were God’s first temple…”
One occasion was documented on July 26, 1897 during a Christian Endeavor Society outing. The Society, formed in 1881 in Maine, was the first national church youth organization.
Upon arrival at Big Trees Grove, the Endeavorers met a party of Eastern excursionists who were en-route to San Francisco. The Easterners were in the midst of doing one of the “things to do” at the grove, which of course was trying to fit as many of their ranks as possible within the hollow of the Fremont Tree. They managed a total of thirty-two.
“The groves were God’s first temple…”
One occasion was documented on July 26, 1897 during a Christian Endeavor Society outing. The Society, formed in 1881 in Maine, was the first national church youth organization.
Upon arrival at Big Trees Grove, the Endeavorers met a party of Eastern excursionists who were en-route to San Francisco. The Easterners were in the midst of doing one of the “things to do” at the grove, which of course was trying to fit as many of their ranks as possible within the hollow of the Fremont Tree. They managed a total of thirty-two.
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| Courtesy of Ross Eric Gibson |
A lady Endeavorer remarked that five years prior, during another Society picnic, thirty of them gathered in the tree and were led in “a most
impressive prayer – a service no one present could ever forget.”
“The visitor, much interested, said – ‘Why can’t we do something of the sort? We have a clergyman in our party.’”
“So said, so done. The energetic lady gathered together the Endeavorers present and filled the tree again. They sang a verse of ‘Nearer My God to Thee;’ the clergyman offered a prayer, and, after they had ‘come out of the meeting’ – twenty-seven of them – they joined their voices in ‘the Sweet Bye and Bye.’ The visitors were much impressed by this service in one of God’s first temples.”
Thus a short but memorable service was held within the Fremont Tree, “a temple not made with hands, whose lofty spire might dwarf that of many a historic cathedral ...”
“The visitor, much interested, said – ‘Why can’t we do something of the sort? We have a clergyman in our party.’”
“So said, so done. The energetic lady gathered together the Endeavorers present and filled the tree again. They sang a verse of ‘Nearer My God to Thee;’ the clergyman offered a prayer, and, after they had ‘come out of the meeting’ – twenty-seven of them – they joined their voices in ‘the Sweet Bye and Bye.’ The visitors were much impressed by this service in one of God’s first temples.”
Thus a short but memorable service was held within the Fremont Tree, “a temple not made with hands, whose lofty spire might dwarf that of many a historic cathedral ...”
Afterwards the group made a human chain around the base of the Fremont Tree,
“... their novel meeting house and found it took fifteen of them to encircle
the gnarled and time-worn base of the tree. A little inquiry elicited the fact
that the excursionists gathered there represented the States of Maine, New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maryland, Illinois and
California, while the province of Toronto was also represented.”
“Prayer and Praise – Endeavorers Hold Service In a Strange and Living
Temple,” Santa Cruz Daily Surf, July 27, 1897.
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