The tree was sometimes known as the Burrell elm or "Rosa's Tree," in honor of pioneer and social reformer Rosetta F. Burrell, whose home it once stood outside.

The tree was sometimes known as the Burrell elm or "Rosa's Tree," in honor of pioneer and social reformer Rosetta F. Burrell, whose home it once stood outside.

Topsfield Tree Committee members said the tree is a disease-resistant form of elm and should not fall prey to Dutch elm disease, which had killed the normal stately elms throughout town by the 1970s.