FELLOWSHIP AMONG THE BIG TREES

San Francisco Call, July 18, 1901

"An interesting ceremony was held in the Santa Cruz Big Tree district of California at the close of the San Francisco Convention, at which time one of the big trees was dedicated to the Epworth League."

"A party of thirty-five had gathered there, representing Canada and the states of California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin."

"During the trip through the park the party came to one of the trees which the guide said had remained unnamed, and at the suggestion of the delegates it was decided to christen it the 'Epworth League Tree.' After a song service and prayer by Rev. Mr. Tubbs of Ohio, the tree was formally christened and the name was placed upon the tree by E.H. Howard of Newport News, Va., and A.E. Gilpin of Fairfield, Ill., and a photograph was taken of the group surrounding the tree."

"The 'Epworth League Tree' is one of the large trees of that district. It consists of ten trees united at the base, about 80 feet in circumference and 250 feet in height. It is probably 1,500 years old."

The Epworth League was a Methodist young adult association founded in 1889 and was the predecessor of the Methodist Youth Fellowship. In the summer of 1901 the league held a huge convention in San Francisco. One of their convention side trips was to Big Trees Grove where a tree was dedicated to their organization. Unfortunately, the photograph mentioned of the Epworth League members at the tree dedication has not come to light yet. Though it is not known which tree was dedicated to the league, its description is reminiscent of the Y.M.C.A. Tree. It is sounding suspiciously like this one tree was routinely reserved for dedicating to all religious groups which visited the grove.

Source: Epworth Herald, August 24, Volume XII, Number 13, 1901.