Show M ivin 0 A 0 P to 41 h A V 0 x vl n ef W mol 01 V ra nu 5 MAR it g ava rj grave fort wayne wasyle P ea co rf 0 A A F johnnia john naj apple leeis by ef ELMO r 10 SCOTT WATSON F johnny Appl eseed that strange almost legendary figure who once roamed the forests of the old northwest came back now and retraced his steps it is easy to imagine the amazement that would fill the mind of the simple fellow when he saw how many memorials had been erected in his honor in a park in mansfield ohio he would see a tall marble shaft on which Is inscribed ID memory of john chapman best known as johnny Appl eseed pioneer nurseryman of Rich lOu county from 1810 to 1830 in the city of ashland in the same state he would find a monument made of boulders to N hech Is affixed a bronze tablet which says in memory of ashland county pioneers including johnny Appl eseed john chapman an ohio hero patron saint of american orchards and soldier of peace lie ile went about doing good erected by the school children of ashland county ohio july 28 23 1315 1015 on the anniversary of the founding of uniontown Union town now ashland in the same county near mifflin he would find ills ids name the date of his birth and death and the place of his burial engraved on the copus massacre monument honoring james copus and the three soldiers who were killed there by the indians during the war of in fort wayne ind lie would see a huge granite boulder bearing a bronze tablet which displays the figure of a man and the following inscription johnny Appl eseed was born in massachusetts in 1776 died near fort wayne in 1843 1343 buried in david archers cemetery pioneer apple grower of indiana and ohio the indiana horticultural society and all those who are endeavoring to carry on the work lie he nobly commenced join in dedicating this monument to lo the memory of his deeds but it Is probable that of all the memorials honoring johnny Appl eseed the one which will ill soon adorn his native city of springfield mass would delight him most for it Is no marker of cold stone and bronze instead it la Is to be a living memorial one which will bloom with beauty each recurring spring it Is a fouracre four acre tract of land which may have once belonged to his father and over tt filch ile he undoubtedly roamed as a boy and there the springfield garden carden club sponsors of the project will plant apple trees and other fruit bearers and maintain this unique uni que memorial as a public park the tract of land Is roughly leaf shaped with the mill river as its stem and its irregular contours hold promise of making a place of unusual beauty flowering crabapples crab apples will have a place to display their spectacular profusion of bloom there will be a wide variety of the sturdy old new england varieties of apples which johnny spread broadcast throughout the east and the old northwest low hillsides hill sides will be fragrant with laurel and the park will also contain white oak hawthorn red bud dogwood wild plum butternut sassafras honeysuckle trumpet vine the tos fox grape from which the modern concord grape is descended wild strawberries blackberries and blueberries in id I 1 fact all kinds of trees and shrubs connected with the johnny Appl eseed tradition rustic bridges are to link the banks of the mill river in its brief course through the park and the illusion of distance and height in the small tract will be created by the planting of 0 tall trees on the upper levels of the slopes although the trees such as aa johnny loved and the park itself will be the memorial to him there Is also to be in it a large field boulder ti ulder bearing a bronze tablet with a brief sketch oi of fits association with that city although so much legend has become attached to johnny Apple seeds name that it Is difficult to know where fact leaves off and fiction begins it seems clearly established that he be was born la in or near leominster mass on september 20 1774 ile he was one of 0 three children born to nathaniel chapman and elizabeth simons or simonds chapman who were married on february 8 1770 nathaniel chapman served in a company of minute men at the outbreak of the Il revolution evolution but after the death ot of his wife on july 18 1776 he be appears to have taken his two motherless children elizabeth six and johnny two five another son nathaniel born that year had died in infancy and moved to springfield local tradition says that nathaniel chapman supported his family by turning out the wooden bonis and dishes used by the people of that day and that young jolin john was his constant companion going with him as he peddled his wood nood elvare in the towns around springfield there Is also a tradition that johnnys love for apple trees dated from his youthful fondness doess for or ali the one oae which filch stood outside the door of his fathers los calon and under which he played as a boy a 40 1 va bil 4 N V av T G MAM N w X ajo annu apple Appl rr eseed monument fort wair le in 1703 nathaniel chapman nas as drowned while fishing fashing in the connecticut river near south biad alad ley falls and soon afterwards johnnys wanderings began soon after ills his fathers death deat h johnny Is said to have hare packed his meager p personal er belongings walked down to the to town WEI clerks office where he left instructions that ills his fathers cabin be given to the most needy family in springfield and started for the west according to one story johnny was accompanied west by a halt half brother brot lier ills father is said to have married a second time and by this second wife ife had ton ten children five boys and five girls eirls one of the boys was named jonathan and some writers evidently confuse him with johnny apples applescow seed cod whom they call jonathan chapman cut but NN whether hether he was accompanied by his halt half brother or armade made the trip alone lie seems to have readied reached pittsburgh in 1794 established himself on a farm there and planted an orchard from that period in ills his life dated lis his name of johnny Appl eseed to emigrants floating down the ohio on their way to new homes in the west johnny apple seed became a familiar figure ue ile would invariably present each family with a package of apple seeds and urge them to plant them as soon as they had found their new homes in the west As there were not enough seeds on his place to supply all the pioneers johnny went nent from farm to farm to buy more ills his farmer friends regarded him as somewhat queer but the emigrants were glad enough to receive ills his offerings in 1799 johnny appeared as a wanderer in tile the valley of the potomac in the summer of 1800 he was again in western pennsylvania in the fall of 1900 a woman living on the banks of the ohio river near what Is now the city of Steu steubenville benville saw a crazy looking craft floating down the river it was made of two canoes lashed together and heavily laden with bags on top of them sat a wild looking man clad in ragged clothes and wearing a broad brimmed hat it was johnny Appl eseed and the ba bas bags s contained little seeds which lie he had gathered from the elder presses of pennsylvania ile he was starting out as the advance g guard of the wave of pioneer settlement which was pouring into the fertile ohio valleys johnnys idea was to plant ills his apple seeds so that the trees would be growing when the settlers arrived the chronology of johnnys life from this point on is somewhat uncertain it is known that he established a nursery at marietta ohio rind and that he used tills this place as the base for ills his operations lie ile wandered from place to place in that state planting his seeds and caring for the trees already growing his travels carried him into indiana and even to illinois where on a load leading into st louis there stood until a few ew years ago an orchard which NIll cli lie he Is said to have planted frequently he revisited the elder cider mills of pennsylvania and ohio to get more seeds which he would wash free of 0 pulp sort and sew into deerskin bags these bags lie he presented to emigrants as alicy ali ey continued to penetrate the farther regions of the rich mississippi valley and some of these tiny bags are still the treasured possessions ot of descendants of the pioneers who profited by johnnys bounty occasionally word drifted back to marietta that the trees which he had planted idere were not doing well or that the settlers busy with putting in their food crop were nere neglecting to plant the apple seeds which filch johnny had given them so lie he would set out again on his career of 0 horticulture I evangelist johnny started four nurseries in ohio they were situated near the present cities of mansfield ashland salem and delaware tie ile Is said to have established more than a hundred sub nurseries in various parts ot of the ohio valley rl A receipt for apple trees as written L bej bij chapman and there Is no way of telling how many thousands ol of fruit trees lie started during the course of his 40 years of wandering As ohio began to settle up he spent more aud and more of his time farther west in indiana and illinois and it la Is more than likely that lie he crossed the mississippi into missouri and that some of the orchards in that state owe their origin to this queer genius with nothing more than an ax as a hatchet and a hoe boe he would seek out a protected spot among the trees near a stream and there di dig up the soil until it was thoroughly pulverized then he would plant thousands of apple peach and pear seeds and build a brush fence around tile the infant nursery to leep keep away leer deer and other grazing animals when the settlers arrived they had only to dig up the apple seedlings and replant them when they had established their homes to start an orchard johnny planted other things besides apple trees in the wilderness small fruits such as gropes grapes and berries he scattered through the forests Ilari ting trees was not the only activity in the odyssey of johnny Appl eseed lie was always a welcome visitor in the log cabins of the settlers tor for lie he always carried a bible and some books from which lie would read and preach to them as they sat before their blazing fireplaces in the beening ee ning chapman Is said to have been a disciple of john Sv edenborg and certainly lie he practiced his teachings of humility and kindliness ne lie riener neer killed anything tor for food lie ile carried a kit hit ot of cooking utensils including a mush pan which he sometimes wore as a hat usually lie wore a broad brimmed black hat but this was about the only article of clothing in which he bowed to convention lie ile was clad in a ragged shirt N which filch loosened about his waist served also as a traveling bag in which lie he carried various articles lie ile usually wore two or three pairs of trousers one over the other so that the holes show and ills his cloak was a common gunny sa sack ck with holes cut for the head and sleeves most of the time he went barefoot in winter as well as in summer no wonder the white men called him queer but the indians said ue ile has been touched by the great spirit and lie he was as welcome in their lodges as la in the cabins of the whites this fact made johnny Appl eseed an especially important figure in the early history of the ohio valley ile he frequently gave the settlers warning of indian raids and in this manner doubtless saved hundreds of lives during the war of when the british and indians were overrunning ohio johnny repeatedly warned the americans of approaching danger just as there Is a variation in the dates assigned for his birth so do the historians disagree as to the date of his bis death the fort wayne memorial gives it as 1843 as does tile the tablet on the iron fence which surrounds his grave in the archer burying ground near fort wayne one biographer says the dato date was march 11 1845 and another puts it at march 11 1847 a difference or of two years but at least they agree on march ill whatever the date it Is definitely established that the place of his death was in the home of a friend william worth in fort wayne lie he was buried in what was known as tile the archer burying ground near that city for many years his grave as neglected and it seemed that johnny Appl eseed was about to be forgotten by a generation who knew little of ills his labors lu in their behalf then in 1012 the indiana horticultural society and the ohio horticultural society decided that it was time to tak take 0 action and save johnny Apple seeds name and fame auml from being utterly lost the bur ing round ground where he slept was known but the exact location of his grate grae was uncertain pioneer residents of the locality were sought out and by piecing together their stories it was possible to determine the plot of ground which held the dust of johnny Appl eseed so an iron fence was built around it and on it was placed a tablet bearing his name and the date ot of his death 1843 when the news of his death reached washington it Is said that gen sam houston uston then a senator from texas paid this tribute to him this old man was one of the most useful citizens of tile the world in his humble way lie ile has made a greater contribution to our than we realism realise re alise ne lie has left a place that can never be filled farewell dear car old eccentric I 1 heart beart your labor has been a labor of loe and I 1 generations yet unborn will rise up and call you blessed oby by western Mews newspaper paper U union ion |