By Sarah Richardson
For nearly 250 years, a massive white oak towered over Lewisburg, a living landmark that sprouted before the Revolutionary War and stood watch through the centuries. When muskets cracked during the Battle of Lewisburg in 1862, it was already old enough to potentially provide some shelter for soldiers from the heat of the battle.
Standing tall over E. Washington Street in the front lawn of a house built in 1904 that is now owned by the McBride family, the tree developed two large cracks in the trunk and started to lean dangerously over the main road and power lines in recent years.
When arborists confirmed last year that the tree had reached the end of its life, it was carefully felled. But thanks to the thoughtfulness of the McBride family and the work of Wilbur Wolf, owner of Wolf Creek Live Edge, the oak is now finding new life in a different form.
In mid-August, Wolf made the trip from Pennsylvania to Greenbrier County, bringing his expertise in salvaging historic and oversized logs to the Tuckwiller Land and Cattle property where the logs were stored. That property has been owned since the 1780s by the family of his wife, Amy Tuckwiller-Wolf.
Using massive Alaskan Chainsaw mills with bars as long as seven feet, Wolf milled the logs into boards, rounds, and slabs. Many of them large enough to require heavy equipment to move.
“This tree was aged at 249 years by a forestry crew,” Wolf said. “There’s really nothing like the character, figure, and grain of wood that old. You don’t see this kind of figure in young trees.”
That figure is especially visible in what woodworkers call “crotch grain,” the rippling, feathered pattern created where branches split from the main trunk. Wolf said one log produced 66 milled pieces, most of them alive with striking grain.
The process came with challenges. Wolf hit metal repeatedly while sawing into the oak, finding bits of old copper alloy, possibly from long-forgotten telephone or telegraph wires once anchored to its trunk. However, no bullets from the Battle of Lewisburg have been revealed (yet), just a lump of concrete inside one part of the tree.
“I find metal a good bit of the time,” Wolf explained, “and I’ve cut through bullets seven or eight times so far, but this is only the third time I’ve found concrete.” His saw chains, which are two times the mass of consumer-grade equipment, can cut through bullets with ease, but concrete, not so much.
What has been milled so far consists of some round pieces, ovals, and various sizes of rectangles with live edges.
While Wolf refers to the oak as a “Witness Tree,” it was not formally registered as such. The official designation is used by the National Park Service and other agencies for trees that were present during historically documented events, such as Civil War battles at Gettysburg and Antietam. Though unofficial, the Lewisburg oak still lived through the founding of the town, the earliest years of the nation, and the Battle of Lewisburg that unfolded all around it, making it a witness in its own right.
For now, the slabs that have been cut are drying and resting in storage. Many are too heavy for a single person to lift, and all will need years to completely dry before they can be crafted into tables, mantels, and other finished pieces.
Wolf hopes much of the oak will stay in Greenbrier County. “I’d be most pleased if almost all of it stayed here in Lewisburg,” he said.
Though the Witness Tree no longer shades the valley, its story isn’t over. Through careful milling and patient craftsmanship, it will continue to be part of daily life, gathering people, bearing weight, and quietly reminding Lewisburg of its long memory.
Wilbur will return to Lewisburg to finish milling the two behemoth main trunk piece of the tree, and perhaps uncover some evidence of the Battle of Lewisburg in the process. The public is welcome to come out to watch, and learn some things about the milling process along the way. “We are hoping to return in late 2025, but if not, hopefully early 2026,” he said. Follow Wolf Creek Live Edge on Facebook for a future date announcement. Anyone wishing to have their own piece of the tree may also message Wilbur there for availability, pricing, and other information.
