"The _Anthony Thacher_ Pear. This tree stands near the meadows about a fourth of a mile north of the Universalist church in Yarmouth, where Anthony Thacher's house formerly stood. It is a large, rotten-hearted old tree. It has lost nearly all its old branches, but has thrown out many new ones. The late Judge George Thacher, who, if now living, would be 120 years old, inquired into its history, and made the matter certain that it was planted by Anthony Thacher about 1640. It is believed to be a grafted tree, as it contracts two or three inches at about a foot and a half from the ground. It is taken good care of and will probably last many years. It is now owned by the heirs of James C. Hallet. There are other trees of the same kind in the vicinity, but their age cannot be proved. "The fruit is of medium size, ovate pyriform, green, changing to yellow at maturity, of tolerable quality, ripening early in September. For the specimens exhibited, as well as the facts above noted, I am indebted to the kindness of Amos Otis, Esq., of Yarmouth Port, who had made the local history of Cape Cod his study for the last fifty years, and who died much lamented on the 19th of October last. "Anthony Thacher came from England in 1635, and after residing in Marshfield, removed to Yarmouth in 1639, being one of the three original grantees of land in that town. The late Dr. James Thacher, of Plymouth, author of the 'American Orchardist' (published in 1821), was a descendant of Anthony in the sixth generation. Anthony Thacher accompanied his cousin, Rev. John Avery, in that disastrous voyage of which Whittier has perpetuated the memory in his ballad, 'The Swan Song of Parson Avery.' Anthony Thacher got ashore on Thacher's Island, the headland of Cape Ann, and gave name to the island. (See Whittier's 'Home Ballads' and Young's 'Chronicles of the First Planters of Massachusetts,' p. 485.) "I endeavored, but without success, to obtain fruit from the pear tree planted at least as early as 1650, by Governor Prence, or Prince, at Eastham, on Cape Cod, and now owned by Capt. Ezekiel Doane. It is known as the _Fall_ pear. It is about the size of a hen's egg, tapering towards both ends, green, nearly covered with thin russet, of inferior quality, but not as coarse as the _Endicott_. In 1836 it was a flourishing, lofty tree, producing an average of fifteen bushels of fruit. It consisted of two stems, branching from the ground, the larger of which was blown down in the great storm of April, 1851. The portion now remaining is thirty-five feet high. It is a natural tree and has not failed of bearing for twenty years. It stands in low ground.