John Chapman, born September 28, 1774, died March 18, 1845, was known as Johnny Appleseed
throughout the Northwest Territory where he planted apple seeds. Today known as the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Popularized in word and song, made a legend through stories laced
with fact and fiction, he was also well known and widely admired by children who grew up during and after the WWII.
John was a "boys boy" because his house was literally on his back, for he never had a home in the traditional sense of the word, but he was no mere dreamy wanderer, often traveling bare foot ahead of the westward migrants and planted his nurseries before the refugees arrived. The record on Johnny Appleseed reveals him to be a careful, organized and strategic businessman who, over a period of several decades, bought and sold many dozen tracts of land in advance of the frontier expansion, and who developed countless thousands of productive apple trees throughout the upper Midwest.
Johnny made friends with many of the Indian tribes and was known to have learned many Indian languages well enough to converse. Memories from settlers who know Johnny well indicate the impression that many Indians held Johnny in high regard, and that his unusual zeal for serving others led some to believe he was touched by the Great Spirit.
What made Johnny legendary is that he stayed itinerant his entire life, his ability to exist harmoniously with Indian cultures as well as his own; his colorful personal habits; living on foods provided by nature, never killing animals; and according to his acquaintances with skin so thick on his feet that it would kill a rattlesnake to try to bite Johnny's feet.
John Chapman lived in complete harmony with nature. In field and meadow and forest, he walked, concerned with the spacious thought of God. The singularity of his thinking and his living was inextricably entwined with his religious views of Swedenborgian spiritual growth which was also embraced by Helen Keller and influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson and William James.
Lessons Learned and Applied From Johnny Appleseed
Planted first tree in the fourth grade at Westlawn school in Mobile, Alabama
Participated in Arbor Day every year from 1950 through to date.
Active participant and adult leader in the Boy Scouts of America with particular emphasis on the outdoor code and high adventure camping.
Established the Youth Conservation Committee of the Soil and Water Conservation Service in Mobile County, Alabama in the aftermath of hurricane Frederick, planting thousands of trees and collecting seeds for propagation in Alabama state nurseries.
Copyright: 1986-2010