Tree of the Week showcases some of the biggest and most beautiful trees in the GTA, as compiled by Megan Ogilvie. Here, George Reesor, 85, tells us about the towering white oak tree that was planted by his great grandfather and still stands today, just a few paces from Steeles Ave. E., on his family’s farm in Scarborough.

Our family’s big white oak was planted in 1867 by my great grandfather, Christian Reesor, to commemorate not Confederation, but the birth of my grandfather. For more than 150 years it has stood as a silent sentinel, observing the many changes to the surrounding area.

Early in the last century, the oak watched a little boy (my father) get excited when he saw a cloud of dust puff up in the distance, signalling the rare approach of an automobile. Eighty years later, the tree was still watching as that same “little boy” sat in his own car in the farm driveway, waiting patiently for a break in the morning traffic.

The date on the crown deed for the property, which is still in our possession, states that the 139-acre parcel of land was purchased in 1811 by my great-great-great grandfather, Peter Reesor, who, with his extended family, immigrated from Pennsylvania to York in 1804. The arduous six-week journey required five heavy Conestoga wagons drawn by sturdy four-horse teams. After arriving in York, Peter expanded his acreage, acquiring four more farms along Steeles Ave. His son, John E. Reesor, settled on one of those farms and one of his sons, Christian, in turn farmed the property, which is now home to the white oak tree.

Christian was a meticulous record keeper and our family still has one of his record books, in which two notes seem to have been hastily scribbled inside its back cover. The first note reads: “Christian Reesor March 11, 1856 married today.” The second note is equally succinct and states: “Christian Reesor June 26, 1856 moved today to Lot #2 Conc. 5, Scarboro.”

Records show that by 1856 a small wood-frame house had been built on the property, which included a summer kitchen at the rear. In 1878, this original house was replaced by the spacious home that still stands today.

Christian’s records show that the total cost to build the 1878 house amounted to less than $1,100. We know this from his handwritten list of materials, which includes items such as “fifteen pounds of nails at 3 cents per pound, 45 cents.” At some point, the original summer kitchen was moved across the driveway, where it’s now used as a workshop.

In the early years of the farm, Christian would have grown wheat, harvesting it as a cash crop. We know there was an orchard to provide the household with fruit, and that the family kept a variety of pigs, cows and chickens for meat, milk, butter and eggs. Any excess was sold.

When my grandfather, Thomas, was married in 1891, a small addition was added to the west side of the house, which allowed three generations to reside in one home. To be sure, there were disadvantages to this arrangement, but it did allow small children to listen to stories of the past and to observe the wisdom and skills of their grandparents.

My own memories of the farm reach back to the early 1930s, when my father, Amos, farmed the land and our family was in the midst of the challenges of the Great Depression.

Those years were characterized by unrelenting hard work and thrift, the seasonal demands of seed time and harvest and the wearing of patched and faded hand-me-down clothing. This was an age when a five-cent ice-cream cone was considered a luxury.

I also remember playing for hours in the bush with our dog, Sport, and playing happily beneath the branches of this white oak tree, which was big even when I was a child.

Today the farm, which is occupied by our youngest son, Dale, is one of the few remaining working farm operations within the boundaries of the city of Toronto.

On that farm, Dale grows approximately 100 acres of sweet corn, which is freshly picked each morning and sold at several locations in Scarborough from a fleet of pickup trucks under the banner of Sweet Ridge Farms. Since our farm lies within the boundaries of the Rouge National Urban Park, we believe our farm operation may continue indefinitely.

In 2017, I made a large sign to commemorate the birth of the white oak and attached it to its big trunk, now 3.2 metres (10 feet, 5 inches) in circumference. The sign, which I made with strips of 150-year-old barnboard fastened together with small nails, was part of a Canada 150 project also commemorating the birth of Canada.

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I often think of this old oak and marvel at all the things that it has seen in its long life. Generations of children, including my grandchildren, have played beneath its branches, and I hope this tree will stand at Steeles Ave. E. for many more years to come so that future generations of children may also enjoy playing under its branches.

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