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Weekly 150: Natchez Trace

The Legend of the Big Pecan Tree

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Even though our family makes regular use of Natchez Trace State Park, I forget portions of the 48,000 acres of land lie within Carroll County. Part of the park’s claim to fame was surviving as the home of the “World’s Largest Pecan Tree,” now merely an oversized rotting stump, the once-grand attraction lives on through legends and a few tourists’ vacation photographs.

The legend of The Pecan Tree was recorded on a plaque placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution near the base of the tree. “Accepted tradition says that this tree had grown from a pecan given to Sukey Morris by one of Jackson’s men as they traveled homeward after the Battle of New Orleans.”

To prove the legend true or false is not exactly feasible. What we do know, following the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, Brigadier General Coffee’s Tennessee Militia passed through the Natchez Trace in the general vicinity of the tree. There is no record of Sukey Morris on the Tennessee Militia Muster Roll; there are nine entries of the surname Morris on the roster, Edward Morris, Harmon Morris, Jacob Morris, James Morris, John Morris, Myren Morris, Nimrod Morris and Oliver Morris. Sukey may have been a nickname, but that is lost in the annals of time.

According to a group of amateur arborists, “the Big Pecan Tree was obviously planted. Pecans are not native to this area and certainly would not be found naturally on a dry ridge. The fact that the tree is only 30 feet from the Old Natchez Trace would support the idea that it was planted by someone; if not by Andrew Jackson’s soldiers then by a later settler.”

In the book “Westward to the Roundtop,” Mr. Morris used the pecan tree as a landmark in 1830. Families coming to Carroll County from North Carolina passed the tree on their way to Lexington from the Roundtop Community.

In 1958, it was measured as 104 feet in height, 125 feet in crown spread, and 17 feet, 8 inches in circumference of the trunk. Measured again in 1973 and still showing growth, the tree measured 106 feet in height, 136 feet in spread, and 18 feet 2 inches in circumference. Tales tell the story of its shade covering an acre of land.

The American Forestry Association recorded the tree’s 1973 measurements in its Register of Big Trees and named it “The World’s Largest Pecan Tree.” It held the title for a short time, but within a year, larger pecan trees were found in Louisiana and Virginia.

Time and mother nature got the best of the Big Pecan Tree. Lightning strikes and other issues began the tree’s deterioration. Following a severe storm in 2000, the tree’s lifespan was coming to a close. Before the storm, the tree was already being supported with a series of cables and its center mass was filled with concrete by tree surgeons.

The original bronze plaque erected in the 1930s was stolen in the early 1960s. The theft was blamed on soldiers from Fort Campbell who were on maneuvers at the park. The parks department put up an identical plaque in 1964 costing $96. Despite extra precautions to protect the plaque, it was stolen toward the end of 1965 or the start of 1966.

In September 1975, a story by naturalist Carl Wirwa appeared in the TenneScene newspaper about the park and the Pecan Tree. Barbara Long of Union City contacted the newspaper to report she had the missing plaque. She told the reporters that she had found the plaque several years before when she was cleaning up her yard after a tornado.

On November 10, 1975, Natchez Trace State Park Superintendent Billy Renfroe and West Tennessee Regional Naturalist Marilyn Williamson drove to Union City to meet Long and recover the plaque. The plaque, which is believed to be the second plaque, was placed in the park office. Officials released a statement stating they planned to erect the plaque if the legend can be verified, so don’t hold your breath on that one.

In 2008, the tree was cut down as it was determined to be dead and a hazard to visitors.