The Point: Johnny Appleseed
Johnny Appleseed,
real name, John Chapman
BORN: 26 September 1774.(16)
DIED: 18 March 1845.(17)
BURIED: Archer Graveyard, Fort Wayne, Indiana. (18)
- We of
Western Pennsylvania have all our lives heard of Johnny
Appleseed. Here and there we have bumped into bits of folklore and rare
anecdotes of his crude but homely hospitality; of his gifts of apple
seeds to westward trekking pioneers; of the orchards he cleared and
planted; and of his voluntary missions of good will to the Indians. (19)
- Johnny Appleseed won renown by a few simple and helpful acts:
1. He was a peacemaker between the Indians and white settlers.
2. He was a missionary for the Church of the New Jerusalem, founded by
Emanuel Swedenborg.
3. Perhaps the most important of all, was his distribution of apple trees
to the early settlers.
He would secure permission to use a small patch of ground where he would
plant appleseeds. Later, he would return, give some of the trees to the
owner of the ground and then distribute the rest to other settlers. (20)
- From the Potomac, he could have worked his way westward to Fort
Cumberland. From Fort Cumberland, he could have followed Nemacolin's
Path, better known as Braddock's Road, to the Monongahela, and followed
the Monongahela to Pittsburgh, a route that many New Englanders took
because there were fewer Indians to be encountered along the southern
route. (21)
- No evidence that John Chapman actually lived in Pittsburgh,
however, has ever come to light. In fact, much fact points definitely to
the contrary, although he could have visited the town, inasmuch as he was
working in the Allegheny valley in the period from 1797 to 1804 and
possibly later. (22)
- He must often have passed through Pittsburgh, but it wasn't like
Johnny Appleseed to stay long in any town. (23)
- From diaries and letters of Johnny's contemporaries, which told of
his safe arrival after arduous journeys, we are able to gain some idea of
his personal appearance. He is described as small and wiry, quick in
conversation and restless in motion. His cheeks were hollow and his body
spare because he walked so much and ate so little.
His face and neck were bronzed and lined by wind and sun. But it
appears his eyes were the most memorable feature, for so many people
remarked of his piercingly brilliant, dark eyes that could "read the
thoughts in a man's soul; and if those thoughts were bad, could ferret
them out with a word of faith and hope." (24)
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