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| Etching of Johnny Appleseed |
As October is National Apple Month, today we will explore the life of Johnny Appleseed, a man who has long thought to be just a legend. We all remember the song that is also used as a child’s grace:
Johnny Appleseed Grace
“Oh, the Lord’s been
good to me.
And so I thank thee Lord
For giving me the things I need.
The sun, the rain and the appleseed
Oh, the Lord’s been good to me.”
John Chapman, whom we
know as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Leominster, Massachusetts on the 26th
of September 1774, the son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth ____ Chapman. His father,
Nathaniel Chapman, fought in the American Revolution as a Minuteman at the
Battle of Concord, and he later served in the Continental Army under George
Washington.
In July of 1776, while
her husband was at war, Elizabeth Chapman died in childbirth. Shortly
thereafter, Nathaniel Chapman returned home and remarried Lucy Cooley.
They moved to East Longmeadow and had a
total of ten children together.
Apple Blossom
John Chapman migrated
to western Pennsylvania in his early twenties and settled first in the frontier
village of Warren, near Pittsburgh. It is believed that his father, Nathaniel
Chapman who was himself a farmer, encouraged his son to become an orchardist and most likely set him up as an
apprentice in this profession. It is
known that by 1812, John Chapman was working independently as an orchardist and
nurseryman. He traveled widely, particularly in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio,
pursuing his profession.
There was a firm economic basis for Chapman's behavior even
though the legend of Johnny Appleseed suggests that his plantings were
random. He purchased land, established
nurseries and returned, after several years, to sell off the orchard and the
surrounding land.It is best to describe Chapman’s work as that of an itinerate missionary, a
preacher of the Swedenborgian Christian faith, and as an apple tree
nurseryman. He never married but
travelled extensively throughout what is
now Ohio and Indiana and among the fringes of other states where he planted and
cared for his apple trees. He taught farmers the culture of apples and assisted
them in the planting and care of their orchards while he preached, “good news right fresh from Heaven.” He
became known for his courage and dedication to his fellow man, as well as for
the thousands of apple trees he planted.
John Chapman 's Gravestone
The trees that Chapman planted did not yield edible fruit but
did have multiple purposes. The small, tart apples his orchards produced were
primarily used to make hard cider and applejack brandy. Orchards also served the critical legal
purpose of establishing land claims along the frontier. As a consequence,
Chapman owned around one thousand two hundred acres of land valued at millions
of dollars in 1845 currency at the time of his death from pneumonia in 1845. He is buried near Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Most of us living in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley remember apples
from our own family’s trees being served at almost every meal. Our folk
believed that the old saying, “An apple a
day will keep the doctor away,” was true.
Families grew many varieties, each with a special flavor or for a
specific purpose. Apples were served
fried, stewed, boiled, made into applesauce, applebutter, apple cider and of
course, apple brandy.
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| Tree Ripened Red Apples |
Do you remember the local fruit orchards? How about "Tip Top Fruit Farm?"
ReplyDeleteDid you grow up on a farm that grew various types of fruits? Are you familiar with "Blackheart Cherries" or those wonderful smelling juicy white peaches? What about those tiny wild strawberries that was picked by the handfuls or those luscious big blackberries that were so good in cobblers?
What about apples? Do you remember such local varieties as "Maiden's Blush" or Milam's?
I grew up in Elkton but my grandmother lived in shenandoah on Warren Avenue. We visited often and I usually spent a week or more with her in the summer along with my siblings. Grandma would get a large metal dishpan, I recall it was full of dents and dings from years of use, and we would walk up the road together. Near the end of the road there was a steep hill and at the bottom were several acres covered in those tiny strawberries. We picked until that old dishpan was full. Grandma would sit in the swing on the backporch and cap all those berries while we played and took turns coming her hair. She always wore her hair pulled back in a bun but on those days she would take the pins out and let us comb it. Later on we would have those berries with fresh whipped cream. Occasionally we would make ice cream. I have picked and eaten many strawberries over the years but none as good as those tiny ones from my childhood. This would have been in the late 50s and early 60s. Houses now stand where the wild berries grew.
ReplyDeleteI also recall grandmas neighbor making lye soap. She had a wash house behind the main house and laundry was done there. Mrs Grooms used to drape her white clothes over the shrubs to bleach them.