Rutgers Football History - 98 Years Ago This Saturday

[Source]

In late October of 1918, the Daily Home News reported 11 Rutgers men to date had given their lives in “The Great War” including Sergeant Alfred Joyce Kilmer, Rutgers Class of 1908. Kilmer attended Rutgers from 1904-1906 and was an associate editor of the Targum and a member of Delta Upsilon. He died July 30, 1918 in France from a sniper’s bullet. Mr. and Mrs. F.B. Kilmer lived on College Avenue at the time and his mom would give poetry readings of his works in the years following his death. “The tree that inspired Joyce Kilmer’s poem ‘Trees’ rests in a Rutgers University warehouse in New Brunswick. The tree was cut down after it became diseased,” according to the March 31, 1996 New York Times. The oak was near Ryders Lane and Clinton Avenue near Route 1 when it was taken down in September of 1963 according to the April 29, 1964 New York Times.

Starting in 1942, Camp Kilmer (today's Livingston Campus) formed a football team known as the Eagles. Their first game was a 20-0 shutout of the Highland Park Trojans in Johnson Park, along the Raritan River in Highland Park. They also defeated the Jersey City Destroyers 10-0, lost 34-7 at Scranton University and tied the Plainfield Saracens 6-6 to end their season. They played until 1949 and also scrimmaged the Rutgers varsity football team. In 1943, they were allowed to move their games into Rutgers Stadium.

“I think that I shall never see, A poem lovely as a tree….”

 

[RU-ROCS]

Source- always love the history posts. Keep them coming!

 

[Source]

Thank you RU-ROCS... yours and others' similar comments are always appreciated. Glad there are fans who find interest in such things.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

The oak was near Ryders Lane and Clinton Avenue near Route 1 when it was taken down in September of 1963 according to the April 29, 1964 New York Times

I wish there were some acorns/children of that tree around.. that might make for a good story/fundraiser.. buy a sapling from the tree that inspired "trees".

 

[BigRnj]

When I was an undergrad tHe stump of the Kilmer Oak was on the lawn of a Douglass building across from the apartments near the Sears parking lot. I thought there should have been a plaque to mark the spot...

 

[Source]

Revolutionary War General Hugh Mercer died at the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777. The tree he laid against while dying from stab wounds eventually became known as the Mercer Oak. The tree was estimated to be over 300 years old when strong winds destroyed her in 2000. A sapling was grown from one of her acorns and is planted inside the remaining stump.

 

[beaced]

Revolutionary War General Hugh Mercer died at the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777. The tree he laid against while dying from stab wounds eventually became known as the Mercer Oak. The tree was estimated to be over 300 years old when strong winds destroyed her in 2000. A sapling was grown from one of her acorns and is planted inside the remaining stump.

The British were big on bayonet attacks.Therefore stab wounds.

 

[DT Hawxhurst]

Thank you, Source, as always. Great stuff

 

[JERZEE73]

On the day The Tree was cut down, my sister read the 'Trees' poem at the ceremony that took place. We has a rather big piece of the tree sitting in the family basement for years in our bomb shelter. Yes, the home was built in the mid 1950s & has a 'true' bomb shelter due to the Cold War.

 

[NorthernKnight]

On the day The Tree was cut down, my sister read the 'Trees' poem at the ceremony that took place. We has a rather big piece of the tree sitting in the family basement for years in our bomb shelter. Yes, the home was built in the mid 1950s & has a 'true' bomb shelter due to the Cold War.

I have a piece of the tree also. A prized possession.