From what I can see I'd say Fagus grandifolia var caroliniana- American Beech.

tj

There is undoubtedly a leaf on the ground near the tree. A closeup would provide confirmation.

Is that a deep furrowed scar on the trunk in the first pic or is that 3 trees growing together ?

hackberry

Most likely Celtis laevigata - sugar berry. The trunk has the appearance of some old fire damage.

There are three trunks growing together. I thought sugar berry leaves would be smaller? I’d estimate these look about the length of a finger. I’ll try to get a pic of one from the ground tomorrow.

Agree that leaves are not those of hackberry.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get a close up of any leaves on the ground since I couldn’t find any good ones in a sea of thigh-high Japanese Stiltgrass. This stuff is wrecking the woods. Anyway, got another pic that could help.

Attached.

That one has me stumped. Went through my old dendrology books and still don't have a clue. The tree is growing in a moist hardwood bottom . Might there be another specimen nearby ? How big is the left stem - diameter straight across ? Not saying it isn't, but in the thousands of beeches Ive seen from Ohio to Ga, Ive never seen a beech with scaly bark. Can you take a pic of the backside of the same tree?

I second the comment that the bark doesn’t look like the smooth, light gray of beech/Fagus or even the blistered look of the diseased beech bark I see here.

Last shot does look like leaves and twigs of an elm.

I find it odd that 3 separate seedlings would grow straight up together like that. How about an old growth Ostrya virginiana , that was hit by lightning !

Photos of Celtis occidentalis bark and leaves in the new Dirr/Warren tree picture book do look like your mystery tree.

Well I may be resigned to Sugarberry/Hackberry here. I do have other Sugarberry trees but the bark on those is furrowed and knobby. This one just throws me off. I found a Sugarberry bark picture that seems atypical but does sort of match mine.

IIRC, sugarberry has a range of bark textures, from smooth beech-like, to flaky, to rough. Fruit or a closeup of a leaf or leafed stem would help.