November 30, 2003

Johnny Come Early

Johnny Appleseed looms large in American folklore – partly because he was benignly eccentric but mainly because he single-handedly spread the culture of apple orchards throughout the Midwest frontier opened up by the Revolutionary War.

He was born Jonathan Chapman at Boston in 1775, the son of a Revolutionary War soldier and nurseryman. It is well authenticated that in 1801 at age 26 he was plying his trade in Licking County, Ohio.

Having been disappointed in love, he was susceptible to the potentialities of the new Midwest frontier.

His plan was to penetrate the new, rich lands west of the Ohio River, clear a plot of loamy soil near a stream, plant apple seeds and enclose the plot with brush to indicate private ownership.

Occasionally he would return to his scattered nurseries to clear away weeds and to water his seedlings. When farm families arrived, his trees would be ready for sale and transplanting.

There were two, convenient entrances to the Northwest Territory.

One was by following the Ohio River. The other was the Indian’s “Great Trail” west from the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers (Pittsburgh) to De Troit (Detroit).

Two other important Indian paths – Cuyahoga War Trail and Killbuck Trail – intersected the Great Trail at Wooster, Ohio, in Wayne County.

Frontiersmen used these pathways simultaneously with Native Americans. Chapman followed them for his business enterprises.

In researching my booklet “Old Paths In The New Purchase” (Wayne County Historical Society, 1983) I was able to find an original Johnny Appleseed orchard site. A few old – fourth or fifth generation – apple trees still grew wild there.

The earliest contemporary account of Chapman is that of Miss Rosella Price who, as a little girl, knew him well. Later, her college friend made a sketch of him that was published in an early history of Richland County:

Personal Recollections

About the year 1801, John Chapman came with his half- brother to Ohio. A year or two later his father’s family removed to Marietta, Ohio,” according to Miss Price.

“Soon after, Johnny located near Pittsburg and began his nursery business.

“A pioneer of Jefferson County (Ohio) said the first time he saw Johnny he was going down the Ohio River in l806 with two canoes lashed together. These were laden with apple seeds he had obtained at the cider presses of western Pennsylvania.

“Sometimes he carried a bag or two of seeds on an old horse. More frequently he bore them on his back, going from place to place on the wild frontier – clearing a little patch, surrounding it with a rude enclosure and planting seeds therein.

“He had little nurseries all through Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

“I can remember how Johnny looked in his queer clothing combination. He was such a good, kind, generous man that he thought it was wrong to expend money on clothes to be worn just for the fine appearance.

“His pantaloons were old, and scant and short – with some sort of a substitute for suspenders. He never wore a coat except in the winter.

“His feet were knobby and horny and frequently bare. Sometimes he wore old shoes someone had given him in return from some apple trees, but he usually gave the shoes to someone who had none.

“The bosom of his shirt was always pulled out loosely so as to make a kind of pocket or pouch in which he carried his books.”

“He ascribed great medicinal virtue to the fennel, which he found, probably, in Pennsylvania. His overwhelming desire to do good, and bless others, induced him to carry a quantity of the seed in his pockets. These scattered along his path – especially near dwellings.

“ Poor old man! He inflicted upon the farming population a positive evil when he sought to do good.”

A Tin Pan Hat

Another friend of Johnny who wrote a personal memoir of him was Hon. John H. James, of Urbana, Ohio:

“I first saw him in 1826 when he came to my office seeking advice about a nursery he had planted in Champaign County. The land since had been acquired by someone whom Johnny feared might not recognize his right to the trees.

“I told him to go and talk with the new owner and by stating his case he might not have any difficulty. I asked him about his nursery, and whether the trees were grafted.

“He answered, ‘No’ rather decidedly. He said the proper and natural mode was to raise fruit trees from the seed.

“When the trees were ready for sale, he left them in charge of someone to sell for him at a low price (usually a nickel). If people were too poor to purchase threes, they got them without pay. He was at little expense for he was ever welcome at the settlers’ houses.

“A tin pan or vessel of some kind was first used by him for a hat in which he cooked his mush. This he abandoned, and manufactured his head covers of pasteboard, the rim on one side wider than the other to shield his features from the glare of the sun.”

Indian Friends

“Not withstanding his grotesque dress, Johnny was always treated with the greatest respect by the rudest frontiersman. The Indians not only treated him kindly, but with a sort of superstitious feeling.

“They regarded him as a ‘great medicine man’ because of his fantastic dress, strange manner, eccentric conduct and the wonderful calmness with which he endured pain.

“He would thrust needles and pins into his flesh without flinch or quiver.

“In his wanderings among the Indians during the War if 1812 – when they were murdering settlers -- he frequently obtained information in regard to their intentions. Thus he was able to warn settlers, thereby enabling them to fly to places of protection.”

Chapman revered all living creatures. He was said to quench his cooking fire if mosquitoes were around to be possibly burned alive. While helping settlers build a wagon track, he was stung repeatedly by wasps but would not swat them for fear of killing them.

On several occasions he bought old, badly treated horses to nurse them back to health. Then he would give them to new owners promising to use them kindly.

Religious Beliefs

“Throughout his whole life,” wrote Judge James, “Chapman set forth his peculiar religious ideas. In addition to the Holy Bible, he believed in the doctrines and heresies of Emanuel Swedenborg whose fundamental idea was communication with the spirit world.

(Note: Emanuel Swedenborg, 1688-1772, was a scientist- philosopher who decried what he perceived to be the worldliness of organized churches at that time. He stressed personal kindness to one another and love of God -- as expressed by Jesus Christ.)

“Upon being welcomed in a frontier home,” wrote Judge James, “Johnny would lie down on the rude puncheon floor; and, after inquiring if his auditors would like to hear ‘some news right fresh from heaven,’ would produce his few ragged books.

“Among these would be a New Testament and some Swedenborg tracts. Johnny would read and expound until the scene would become one of intense excitement and confusion.

“In his eagerness to circulate the opinion and doctrines of Swedenborg, he tore his books into pieces -- leaving a fragment at one cabin, one at another, and so on, as if he was distributing a serial.”

Primitive Christian

“Possessed of the conviction that his life was patterned after the primitive Christian, Chapman was a serenely happy man with a keen deposit of humor.

“An itinerant preacher one day was whipping the air on the public square of Mansfield. In a tedious discourse he dealt some ‘Apostolic knocks’ at the sin of extravagance by divers indulgences in the carnal excesses of calico and ‘store tea.’

‘With a supercilious pharisaical air, the preacher asked, “Where now is there a man who – like the primitive Christians – is traveling to heaven bare-footed and clad in coarse raiment?’

“The interrogation being frequently repeated, Johnny, who was resting on his back on a log, took the question in its literal sense. He raised his bare feet in the air – and pointing to his coffee-sack outfit of dress -- vociferated, ‘Here’s your primitive Christian!’”

On To Indiana

As Ohio filled with settlers, with flourishing apple orchards, Johnny Appleseed in 1838 moved on to Indiana. For nine more years he planted apple trees and gave them away for old clothing or a plate of simple food.

At the close of a warm day in 1847, after walking 20 miles, he was welcomed at the home of a settler in Allen County.

He declined to eat with the family, but accepted some bread and milk which he ate on the doorstep while gazing on the setting sun.

Later in the evening he delivered his “news fresh from heaven” by reading the Beatitudes in the New Testament. As usual, he slept on the floor.

In the early morning, he was found unconscious. A doctor was summoned who pronounced Johnny was nearing the end. Very soon the intrepid apple-grower --and kindly disposed friend of all -- died peacefully.

Author: Lindsey Williams

Cutlines

1 – 2 col. man at tree

Illustration from Historical Collection of Richland County

Jonathan Chapman –Johnny Appleseed – is portrayed in this contemporary life sketch as he appeared early in his career. As he grew older he let his beard grow.

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2 – 2 col. – man shoveling in woods

Illustration from Harper’s Monthly Magazine 1871

Johnny Appleseed planted his seeds along Indian paths that would be traveled by settlers in the burgeoning westward movement following the Revolutionary War. When they arrived, his seedlings would be ready for transplanting.

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3 – 3 col – fireside family

Johnny was welcomed at frontier cabins because of his kind nature and generosity in donating his apple trees. He refused to sleep in beds, preferring the hard floor. After supper he would expound from the Bible and spiritual tracts by Swedenborg.

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4 – 2 col – cabin – optional

Johnny was friendly toward Indians who considered him a “big medicine man.” During the War of 1812, he learned of an Indian uprising and ran throughout the area to warn settlers.