Johnny Appleseed

John Chapman was born to Elizabeth and Nathaniel Chapman on September 26, 1774.  He was the second of three children born to his parents in Leominster, Massachusetts.  John's father was a farmer of little means, and when John was young, he was apprenticed to Mr. Crawford, who had some apple orchards.   A third child was born in 1776, named Nathaniel Jr., but Elizabeth was ill, probably due to tuberculosis, and the mother and the child both died.  John and his older sister Elizabeth were left to be raised by relatives. 

After their father was discharged in 1780, he married Lucy Cooley, and the couple had ten more kids.  In 1792, John Chapman moved west and took his sister Emily and is eleven year old half brother, Nathaniel, with him.  They were heading to the Susquehanna.  Records show that John Chapman was in Licking County, Ohio in the year 1800.  Congress had passed some resolutions to give away land there in 1798 to Revolutionary War veterans.  In 1805, Nathaniel Chapman came with his second family and his sister in 1805.  The younger Nathaniel joined with his father, and their sister Elizabeth had gotten married to Nathaniel Rudd around 1803.  The rest of John's life was spent as an itinerant planter and sometimes as a preacher.  When he arrived in Jackson County of Ohio in 1806, and was wading down the Ohio River, he was known with the name of Johnny Appleseed.

Stories of Johnny Appleseed stated that he spread apple seeds randomly.  He actually planted nurseries, not orchards, and he built fences around his nurseries to protect them from any livestock.  Johnny would then leave the nurseries to be cared for by a neighbor who would sell the trees on shares.  Johnny would reportedly return every year or two to take care of the nursery.  The majority of his nurseries were in the Mohican portion of north-central Ohio.  This included the Ohio towns of Loudonville, Perrysville, Mansfield, and Lucas.  The managers of Johnny's apple nurseries were asked to sell the trees in the nurseries on credit; however, Johnny would also accept corn meal, clothing, or cash in barter.  Johnny did not press for payment if the notes did not get paid. 

The apple seeds that Johnny obtained were free, as the cider mills wanted there to be more apple trees planted to improve their business.  Johnny Appleseed was known for dressing in the worst of used clothing, as he gave away the best of clothing when bartering.  Even in the snow of winter, Johnny Appleseed would not wear shoes.  He was always looking out for others, he would save horses from death and release them into pasture.  In general, Johnny lived a very harsh life.  He did not wear torn rags or pots on his head as he has been described, but he did go barefoot and did not wear clothing that was fashionable or expensive. 

Johnny Appleseed spent the majority of his life traveling from one house to another, telling stories and spreading the gospel of the Swedenborgian.  He sometimes slept on the floor at night and would get a free supper.  He cared about animals, even insects.  Johnny Appleseed never married, and his response that question was that if he stayed single on earth, two female spirits would become his wives in his after-life.  It is also rumored that Johnny Appleseed had a lady love who had been false to him.  It was also said that Johnny helped a poor, friendless little girl and cared for her, and he planned to marry her when she was old enough.  However, when he called on her unexpectedly when she was fifteen, she was sitting next to a young man and holding his hand. 

Some have suggested that John Chapman may have had Marfan Syndrome, which is a genetic disorder that is rare.  One of the characteristics of the syndrome is slim and extra-long limbs.  The fact that he lived a long time, however, suggests that he likely did not have Marfan Syndrome.  He died in his sleep, presumably from pneumonia.  There is some controversy regarding when he died and his burial.  While some have reported that he died on March 18 of 1845, others have said that he died in the summer of 1847.  His gravesite has also been disputed.  It has been claimed that he was buried in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where there is a golf course and an apartment complex, but others have said that he was buried in Johnny Appleseed Park in Fort Wayne. 

At the time of his death, Johnny Appleseed left an estate of more than 1,200 acres of nurseries, and he left these to his sister.  He additionally had four plots located in Allen County, Indiana, which was a nursery that included 15,000 trees.  If Johnny had taken better care of his records, he would have had more property at the time of his death. The financial panic that occurred in 1837 affected his estate, as trees only brought about two or three cents a piece. Many books and films have been produced based on Johnny Appleseed's life.