Is Johnny Appleseed a Big Deal?

Johnny Appleseed in the Beginning

Why do a post on Johnny Appleseed? Well, as I have traveled about Ohio and the surrounding states, the guy has statues and memorials everywhere. Johnny Appleseed was never a President, inventor, or war hero. Rather, as far as I know, he was just a good man and a Godly man that seemed to plant a lot of apple seeds. So, I get back to the main question of the post…is Johnny Appleseed a big deal?

First, Johnny Appleseed’s real name was John Chapman. John Chapman was born in September of 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts. Growing up during the Revolutionary War and having way too many siblings, Chapman and his brother were eager to leave home. He and his brother set out on their own when John was 18. The brothers choose to head west, spending most of their lives in the Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana area.

Making a long story short, Johnny preached the gospel, planted apples seeds, and did whatever people did around the year 1800. Rather than retell his life, allow me to just offer a few interesting facts things that I learned during my research.

Johnny Fun Facts

• Johnny lived his life in threadbare clothes and often bare feet. This simple and humble fashion choice came from his particular Christian faith, Church of Swedenborg. Further, his beliefs directed him to live a chaste life. Thus, he never married and had no children.
• Do not think that Johnny was just a wandering hobo, randomly planting apple seeds. Rather, his plantings had a purpose. He created orchards and profited from them. If you developed the parcel, you could claim the land. So, if Johnny planted a 50 tree orchard, he could claim ownership of the land. Therefore, he acquired a fair amount of land and wealth by claiming and selling land/orchards.

While those facts are fun, these next facts are the important ones…

• Johnny Appleseed’s apples tasted like crap. Actually, most people called them spitters. People did not eat spitters. Johnny’s apples were too important for eating. These were the best apples for hard cider. Prior to prohibition, hard cider was much more of the drink of choice. Johnny made it all possible.
• Most of Johnny’s orchards were destroyed by the government during Prohibition. Over the decades, most of the remaining trees planted by Johnny died of old age. However, one tree in Nova, OH, lived over 170 years. I saw what’s left of the tree. Perhaps it was alive 10 years ago. Now, its just a dead stump.

More than any one human at the time, Johnny made it possible for the pioneers and farmers to make their own hooch. Remember, its the 1800s. There is no TV, no air conditioning, and nothing fun. That is, nothing fun except hard cider hooch. And, Johnny made that all possible. He preached the gospel to take care of their souls in the eternal life. And, he provided the apples to care for their bodies in the mortal world. This man deserves all of the many statues and memorial littered about this area in the USA.

Johnny Appleseed Memorialized

If I see a Johnny Appleseed statue/memorial, I take a picture. I am not close to having them all. But, to show you the wide range of his popularity, here are a couple selection from my collection.

Wrapping up Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed roamed thousands of miles and had land/orchards in several states. However, in my pseudo-expert opinion, one city above all others deserved mentioned for their love of Johnny Appleseed. That city is Fort Wayne, Indiana. Beyond the usual collection of statues and memorials, Fort Wayne hosts a huge Johnny Appleseed Festival in his birth month of September. Need more? How about a minor league baseball team in honor of Johnny…

Curiously enough, the common depiction of Johnny in the classic tin hat is questionable at best. Anyway, as if Fort Wayne needed anything else to claim Johnny Appleseed superiority…they also have his grave.

Johnny Appleseed would approve of his final resting place. The area around the grave is appropriately surrounded by apple trees. Further, the apples fall onto the grave and litter the ground around the headstone. Finally, the head stone itself is just a simple rock. But, the words inscribed on the rock capture about everything you need to know about John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman.

That is my post on Johnny Appleseed. I hope you have learned a few things that you missed from your third grade module on the subject. Not only was Johnny a good man, and a Godly man, but he also kept the pioneers supplied in the critical hooch raw materials. So, I ask you again…is Johnny Appleseed a big deal? Absolutely!!!

I hope you have enjoyed reading “Is Johnny Appleseed a Big Deal?” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

If you like that post, check out this historic life story..https://travelingwithpt.com/where-annie-lived-of-course/

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