A kind lister gave me permission to post the following
from an old card she recently found--
Diana Chapman Owen
Front page has picture of man hoeing the ground
with a bag next to him and title says:
Johnny Appleseed
"He planted seeds- that others might enjoy"
INSIDE 1st page
Stamped at the top of page in red ink:
Bintz Fruit Farm
4535 N. River Road
Freeland R#3. Mich.
John (Appleseed) Chapman
1774-1845
He walks barefoot and in peace; companion to all living things;
seeking harmony with God,earth and man.
John Chapman's fifty year odyssey throughout
the midwestern United States earned the respect
and affection of all who knew him. They called
him "Johnny Appleseed"and made the substance
of his life into a legend.
John Chapman was born in Leominster,Massachusetts
on September 26,1774. His father
,Nathaniel, was one of the Minutemen who
marched to concord on April 19,1775.
His mother,Elizabeth (symonds) died in June ,1776
while her husband was in service. John and
his sister lived on his Grandfather's farm until
his father was discharged,remarried and settled
in Longmeadow,Massachusetts.
INSIDE 2nd page
One might wonder why anyone would spend a
lifetime planting appleseeds in the wilderness.
Those who did not understand called him
eccentric.
John knew that apples were necessary to frontier
settlers. Families needed fresh fruit and apples
were one of the most practical. Not only for pies,
sauce and fritters but apples made the butter
and jelly for bread.They made the juice,cider
and spirits for drinking; the vineger for pickling
and when dried, stored or preserved, they became
an important staple in the winter diet.
John knew that carrying trees into the wilderness
was not practical.
In his early twenties, John decided to visit his
uncle in Olean,New York, when his summer
work at the Crawford Orchards in Springfield,
Massachusetts was finished. Bidding goodby to
his family in nearby Longmeadow, he set out on
foot,with the sun at his back.
It was at the cider mills in northern Pennsylvania
that the idea of carrying appleseeds first occurred
to him. Large piles of mash and seeds
were discarded and John filled a sack with seeds
as a present for his uncle.
When he arrived at Olean, he was disappointed
to find his uncle's farm deserted; the family
having moved to Ohio. Remaining at the farm,
Johnplanted an orchard and during his labor,
formulated the plan he followed the rest of his
life.
Back page
Returning to the cider mills, he gathered what
seeds he could carry and headed for Ohio
territory. He stopped as he traveled to clear the
land, pile the brush around to keep out the
animals and plant the seeds. Sometimes he
planted a few hundred; sometimes more. Then
in season, he made the rounds to tend the
seedlings that survived.
After the war of 1812, pioneer settlers moving
into Ohio and the new state of Indiana were
amazed to find healthy seedlings, ready to plant /
Trading provided John with his simple needs.
It was said "Johnny Appleseed's diet was as
meager as his clothing". John believed it was a
sin to kill any creature for food. For him, the soil
produced all that was necessary for sustenance.
John Chapman's deep sense of religion responded
to the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg
and he became a self appointed missionary of
his faith. It was his custom, when welcomed
into a settler's log house, to lie on the floor with
his bible and ask his hosts if they would like
to hear "some news right fresh from heaven".
Johnny Appleseed's wandering route is today
marked by many monuments in memory of a
man who lived as the bible asked: to do justly,
to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.
He died in Fort Wayne,Indiana, March 18th,1845
c1974 NEW YORK & NEW ENGLAND APPLE INSTITUTE
BOX1776,WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS 01085