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Johnny Appleseed

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Historical figures

   Image from Howe's Historical Collection
   Image from Howe's Historical Collection

   Johnny Appleseed, born John Chapman ( September 26, 1774– March 18,
   1845), was an American pioneer nurseryman, and missionary for the
   Church of the New Jerusalem, founded by Emanuel Swedenborg.

   He introduced the Apple to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois
   by planting small nurseries. He became an American legend while still
   alive, portrayed in works of art and literature, largely because of his
   kind and generous ways, and his leadership in conservation.

Chapman's family

   John Chapman was the second child of Nathaniel Chapman and his wife,
   the former Elizabeth Simonds (m. February 8, 1770) of Leominster,
   Massachusetts. Nathaniel was a farmer of little means, although
   tradition holds that he lost two good farms during the American
   Revolution. His father started John Chapman upon a career as an
   orchardist by apprenticing him to a Mr. Crawford, who had apple
   orchards.

   A third child, Nathaniel Jr., was born on June 26, 1776, while
   Nathaniel was an officer leading a company of carpenters attached to
   General George Washington in New York City. Elizabeth, however, was
   suffering from tuberculosis, and both mother and child died in July,
   leaving John and his older sister, also named Elizabeth, to be raised
   by relatives. After being honorably discharged in 1780, Nathaniel
   remarried, with ten half-siblings for John and Elizabeth the result.

Heading for the frontier

   In 1792, an 18-year-old Chapman went west, taking 11-year-old
   half-brother Nathaniel, with him. Their destination was the headwaters
   of the Susquehanna. There are stories of him practicing his nurseryman
   craft in the Wilkes-Barre area, and of picking seeds from the pomace at
   Potomac cider mills in the late 1790s.

   Land records show that John Chapman was in today's Licking County,
   Ohio, in 1800. Congress had passed resolutions in 1798 to give land
   there, ranging from 160 acres to 2240 acres, to Revolutionary War
   veterans, but it took until 1802 before the soldiers actually received
   letters of patent to their grants. By the time they arrived, his
   nurseries, located on the Isaac Stadden farm, had trees big enough to
   transplant.

   Nathaniel Chapman arrived, family in tow, in 1805, although John's
   sister Elizabeth had married and remained in the east. At that point,
   the younger Nathaniel Chapman rejoined the elder, and Johnny Appleseed
   spent the rest of his life alone.

   By 1806, when he arrived in Jefferson County, Ohio, canoeing down the
   Ohio River with a load of seeds, he was known as Johnny Appleseed. He
   had used a pack horse to bring seeds to Licking Creek in 1800, so it
   seems likely that the nickname appeared at the same time as his
   religious conversion. Johnny Appleseed's beliefs made him care deeply
   about animals.

   His concern extended even to insects. Henry Howe, who visited all 88
   counties in Ohio in the early 1800s, collected these stories in the
   1830s, when Johnny Appleseed was still alive:


   Johnny Appleseed

   One cool autumnal night, while lying by his camp-fire in the woods, he
   observed that the mosquitoes flew in the blaze and were burnt. Johnny,
    who wore on his head a tin utensil which answered both as a cap and a
    mush pot, filled it with water and quenched the fire, and afterwards
   remarked, “God forbid that I should build a fire for my comfort, that
         should be the means of destroying any of His creatures.”

   Another time he made his camp-fire at the end of a hollow log in which
    he intended to pass the night, but finding it occupied by a bear and
    cubs, he removed his fire to the other end, and slept on the snow in
                 the open air, rather than disturb the bear.


   Johnny Appleseed

   When Johnny Appleseed was asked why he did not marry, his answer was
   always that two female spirits would be his wives in the after-life if
   he stayed single on earth. However, Henry Howe reported that Appleseed
   had been a frequent visitor to Perrysville, Ohio, where Appleseed is
   remembered as being a constant snuff customer, with beautiful teeth. He
   was to propose to Miss Nancy Tannehill there - only to find that he was
   a day late, and she had accepted a prior proposal:


   Johnny Appleseed

   On one occasion Miss PRICE’s mother asked Johnny if he would not be a
   happier man, if he were settled in a home of his own, and had a family
   to love him. He opened his eyes very wide–they were remarkably keen,
  penetrating grey eyes, almost black–and replied that all women were not
   what they professed to be; that some of them were deceivers; and a man
   might not marry the amiable woman that he thought he was getting, after
                                    all.

     Now we had always heard that Johnny had loved once upon a time, and
    that his lady love had proven false to him. Then he said one time he
   saw a poor, friendless little girl, who had no one to care for her, and
   sent her to school, and meant to bring her up to suit himself, and when
   she was old enough he intended to marry her. He clothed her and watched
   over her; but when she was fifteen years old, he called to see her once
    unexpectedly, and found her sitting beside a young man, with her hand
                   in his, listening to his silly twaddle.

   I peeped over at Johnny while he was telling this, and, young as I was,
    I saw his eyes grow dark as violets, and the pupils enlarge, and his
   voice rise up in denunciation, while his nostrils dilated and his thin
    lips worked with emotion. How angry he grew! He thought the girl was
       basely ungrateful. After that time she was no protegé of his.


   Johnny Appleseed

   Johnny Appleseed, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, 1871
   Johnny Appleseed, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, 1871

Chapman's apples

   It is impossible to produce named-variety apples by planting seeds;
   every tree produces a new variety, often misshapen and sour. To produce
   apples such as are sold in supermarkets, scions from a named variety
   must be grafted onto the scrub apple. Chapman didn't do that; he
   considered grafting to be "absolute wickedness". Still, there wasn't
   much available in the way of sweets on the frontier, especially during
   the winter. Whole apples can be stored in a root cellar for months, and
   snitz (dried apple sections) keep for a year before losing quality.

   What's more, apples could be juiced for apple butter or to produce hard
   cider (which could be further processed to make applejack). Although
   Cecil Adams's staff claims Chapman drank, Swedenborgian theology
   required vegetarianism and abstention from alcohol, and it is known
   that on the night before he died, it was milk he drank with his bread.

   On the frontier, water supplies were often of questionable quality, and
   alcoholic beverages could be the healthful alternative. This was
   especially true in or near the Black Swamp, where ague and malaria
   claimed many lives. The Worth farm, where Johnny Appleseed died, and
   his Milan Township nursery were both in Allen County, Indiana, on the
   west edge of the Black Swamp. Chapman had introduced "mayweed" (now
   called dog fennel) into Ohio, giving housewives fresh herbs along with
   stories for the whole family. He believed dog fennel had antimalarial
   properties. Farmers called it johnny weed; many states now classify dog
   fennel as a noxious weed.

Johnny's business plan

   The popular image of Johnny Appleseed had him spreading apple seeds
   randomly, everywhere he went. In fact, he planted nurseries rather than
   orchards, built fences around them to protect them from livestock, left
   the nurseries in the care of a neighbour who sold trees on shares, and
   returned every year or two to tend the nursery.

   Appleseed's managers were asked to sell trees on credit, if at all
   possible, but he would accept corn meal, cash or used clothing in
   barter. The notes didn't specify an exact maturity date - that date
   might not be convenient - and if it didn't get paid on time, or even
   get paid at all, Johnny Appleseed didn't press for payment. Setting
   down roots in the community - both literally and figuratively -
   settlers knew that paying their debts was imperative. Appleseed was
   hardly alone in this pattern of doing business. What was unique was the
   fact that he remained an itinerant his entire life.
   "Here's your primitive Christian!" Illustration from Harper's, 1871
   "Here's your primitive Christian!" Illustration from Harper's, 1871

   He obtained the apple seed for free; cider mills wanted more apple
   trees planted, as it would eventually bring them more business. Johnny
   Appleseed dressed in the worst of the used clothing he received, giving
   away the better clothing he received in barter. He wore no shoes, even
   in the snowy winter. There was always someone in need he could help
   out, for he didn't have a house to maintain. When he heard a horse was
   to be put down, he'd buy the horse, buy a few grassy acres nearby, and
   turn the horse out to recover. If it did, he'd give the horse to
   someone needy, exacting a promise to treat the horse humanely.

   Towards the end of his career, he was present when an itinerant
   missionary was exhorting to an open-air congregation in Mansfield,
   Ohio. The sermon was long and quite severe on the topic of
   extravagance, as the pioneers were now starting to buy such indulgences
   as calico, and store-bought tea. "Where now is there a man who, like
   the primitive Christians, is traveling to heaven bare-footed and clad
   in coarse raiment?" the preacher repeatedly asked, until Johnny
   Appleseed, his endurance worn out, walked up to the preacher, put his
   bare foot on the stump which had served as a lectern, and said, "Here's
   your primitive Christian!" The flummoxed sermonizer dismissed the
   congregation.

   He was generous with the Swedenborgian church as well. He swapped
   160 acres of land near Wooster, Ohio in 1821 in exchange for
   Swedenborgian tracts that he could distribute. He would tear a few
   pages from one of Swedenborg's books and leave them with his hosts.

   He made several trips back east, both to visit his sister, and to
   replenish his supply of Swedenborgian literature. He typically would
   visit his orchards every year or two, and collect his earnings.

Health

   It has been suggested that Johnny may have had Marfan syndrome, a rare
   genetic disorder. One of the primary characteristics of Marfan Syndrome
   is extra-long and slim limbs. All sources seem to agree that Johnny
   Appleseed was slim, but while other accounts suggest that he was tall,
   Harper's describes him as "small and wiry".

   Those who propose the Marfan theory suggest that his compromised health
   may have made him feel the cold less intensely. His long life, however,
   suggests he did not have Marfan's, and while Marfan's is closely
   associated with death from cardiovascular complications. Johnny
   Appleseed died in his sleep, from winter plague - presumably pneumonia.

Grave site

   There is some vagueness concerning the date of his death and his
   burial. Harper's New Monthly Magazine of November, 1871 (which is taken
   by many as the primary source of information about John Chapman) says
   he died in the summer of 1847. The Fort Wayne Sentinel, however,
   printed his obituary on March 22, 1845, saying that he died on March
   18:


   Johnny Appleseed

     On the same day in this neighbourhood, at an advanced age, Mr. John
                 Chapman (better known as Johnny Appleseed).

    The deceased was well known through this region by his eccentricity,
    and the strange garb he usually wore. He followed the occupation of a
   nurseryman, and has been a regular visitor here upwards of 10 years. He
    was a native of Pennsylvania we understand but his home—if home he
   had—for some years past was in the neighbourhood of Cleveland, Ohio,
     where he has relatives living. He is supposed to have considerable
   property, yet denied himself almost the common necessities of life—not
    so much perhaps for avarice as from his peculiar notions on religious
    subjects. He was a follower of Swedenborg and devoutly believed that
   the more he endured in this world the less he would have to suffer and
    the greater would be his happiness hereafter—he submitted to every
   privation with cheerfulness and content, believing that in so doing he
                    was securing snug quarters hereafter.

    In the most inclement weather he might be seen barefooted and almost
      naked except when he chanced to pick up articles of old clothing.
    Notwithstanding the privations and exposure he endured he lived to an
    extreme old age, not less than 80 years at the time of his death —
   though no person would have judged from his appearance that he was 60.
    "He always carried with him some work on the doctrines of Swedenborg
    with which he was perfectly familiar, and would readily converse and
         argue on his tenets, using much shrewdness and penetration.

     His death was quite sudden. He was seen on our streets a day or two
                                previous.”


   Johnny Appleseed

   The actual site of his grave is disputed as well. Developers of Fort
   Wayne, Indiana's Canterbury Green apartment complex and golf course
   claim his grave is there, marked by a rock. That is where the Worth
   cabin in which he died sat.

   However, Steven Fortriede, director of the Allen County Public Library
   (ACPL) and author of the 1978 "Johnny Appleseed", believes another
   putative gravesite, one designated as a national historic landmark and
   located in Johnny Appleseed Park in Fort Wayne, is the correct site.
   According to a 1858 interview with Richard Worth Jr., Chapman was
   buried "respectably" in the Archer cemetery, and Fortriede believes use
   of the term "respectably" indicates Chapman was buried in the hallowed
   ground of Archer cemetery instead of near the cabin where he died.

   John H. Archer, grandson of David Archer, wrote in a letter dated
   October 4, 1900:


   Johnny Appleseed

   The historical account of his death and burial by the Worths and their
   neighbors, the Pettits, Goinges, Porters, Notestems, Parkers, Beckets,
   Whitesides, Pechons, Hatfields, Parrants, Ballards, Randsells, and the
      Archers in David Archer's private burial grounds is substantially
   correct.The grave, more especially the common head-boards used in those
    days, have long since decayed and become entirely obliterated, and at
      this time I do not think that any person could with any degree of
    certainty come within fifty feet of pointing out the location of his
       grave. Suffice it to say that he has been gathered in with his
    neighbors and friends, as I have enumerated, for the majority of them
                  lie in David Archer's graveyard with him


   Johnny Appleseed

   The Johnny Appleseed Commission to the Common Council of the City of
   Fort Wayne reported, "as a part of the celebration of Indiana's 100th
   birthday in 1916 an iron fence was placed in the Archer graveyard by
   the Horticulture Society of Indiana setting off the grave of Johnny
   Appleseed. At that time, there were men living who had attended the
   funeral of Johnny Appleseed. Direct and accurate evidence was available
   then. There was little or no reason for them to make a mistake about
   the location of this grave. They located the grave in the Archer
   burying ground."

Legacy

   Despite his best efforts to give his wealth to the needy, Johnny
   Appleseed left an estate of over 1200 acres of valuable nurseries to
   his sister, worth millions even then, and far more now. He could have
   left more if he had been diligent in his bookkeeping. He bought the
   southwest quarter (160 acres) of section 26, Mohican Township, Ashland
   County, Ohio, but never got around to recording the deed, and lost the
   property.

   The financial panic of 1837 took a toll on his estate. Trees only
   brought two or three cents each, as opposed to the "fip-penny bit" that
   he usually got. Some of his land was sold for taxes following his
   death, and litigation ate much of the rest.

   A memorial, in Fort Wayne's Swinney Park, purports to honour him, but
   not to mark his grave. At the time of his death, he owned four plots in
   Allen County, Indiana including a nursery in Milan Township, Allen
   County, Indiana with 15,000 trees.

   Since 1975, a Johnny Appleseed Festival has been held in mid-September
   in Johnny Appleseed Park. Musicians, demonstrators, and vendors dress
   in early 19th-century dress, and offer food and beverages which would
   have been available then. An outdoor drama is also an annual event in
   Mansfield, Ohio.

   March 11th or September 26th are sometimes celebrated as Johnny
   Appleseed Day. The September date is Appleseed's ackowledged birthdate,
   but the March date is sometimes preferred because it is during planting
   season, even though it is disputed as the day of his death.

Marketing the story

   Thousands of books and many films have been based on the life of Johnny
   Appleseed.

   One of the more successful films was Melody Time, a colorful and
   well-animated 1948 film from Walt Disney Studios featuring Dennis Day.
   A charming 19-minute segment tells the story of an apple farmer who
   sees others going west, wistfully wishing he wasn't tied down by his
   orchard, until an angel appears, singing an apple song, setting Johnny
   on a mission. When he treats a skunk kindly, all animals everywhere
   thereafter trust him. The cartoon features lively and catchy tunes, and
   a childlike simplicity of message, offering a bright, well-groomed park
   environment instead of a dark and rugged malarial swamp, friendly,
   pet-like creatures instead of dangerous animals and a complete lack of
   hunger, loneliness, disease, and extremes of temperature.

   Supposedly, the only surviving tree planted by Johnny Appleseed is on
   the farm of Richard and Phyllis Algeo of Nova, Ohio Some marketers
   claim it is a Rambo,, although the Rambo was introduced to America in
   the 1640s by Peter Gunnarsson Rambo,, more than a century before John
   Chapman was the apple of his mother's eye. Some even make the claim
   that the Rambo was "Johnny Appleseed's favorite variety", ignoring the
   fact that he had religious objections to grafting, and preferred wild
   apples to all named varieties. It appears most nurseries are calling
   the tree the "Johnny Appleseed" variety, rather than a Rambo. Unlike
   the mid-summer Rambo, the Johnny Appleseed variety ripens in September,
   and is a baking/applesauce variety similar to an Albemarle Pippen.
   Nurseries offer the Johnny Appleseed tree as an immature apple tree for
   planting, with scions from the Algeo stock grafted on them. Orchardists
   do not appear to be marketing the fruit of this tree.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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