![]() ![]() Johnny Appleseed showed a great reverence for all life, including the lowly insects. Above all else, however, he was appreciated for his great ability to tell stories about his church, of his many adventures on the frontier, his narrow escapes in the wilderness, his interactions with American Indians, and his association with the wildlife of the Midwest, from bears to wasps. Artist depiction of John Chapman tending one of his apple tree plots, image courtesy of Find-A-Grave.Įxceptionally strong for his tall slim frame, one pioneer observed that Johnny Appleseed was able to get more work done clearing the forests in one day than most men could finish in two. Although his eccentric appearance occasionally caused anxiety or even alarm in some people, by and large, he was well liked for his sincere and kind ways. Other biographers claim that because his mush-pot hat did not protect his eyes from the bright sun well enough that he fashioned one made of pasteboard with a large peak in front. Some descriptions have him wearing his cooking pot for a hat, at times with other parts of hats – the crown or the brim – on top of his tin cap. He traveled on foot – sometimes with just one shoe or two different kinds of boots.” #Johnny winter grave freeJohnny was serious, his speech clean, free from slang or profanity. His refined features told of his intelligence, even though seen through the gray stubble that covered his face since he cut his hair and beard with scissors. “simply clad, in truth clad like a beggar. ![]() One eyewitness described Johnny Appleseed’s appearance when he came to Fort Wayne as: This explains why many of the orchards he planted were destroyed during Prohibition. Ironically, the apples produced were not like the sweet apples we eat today, and therefore the fruit was more likely to be used for hard cider. He told them of the spiritual happiness he enjoyed through the teachings of the Church of New Jerusalem. He repeated the Bible verse Song of Solomon 2:5, which stated “refresh me with apples.” Johnny Appleseed declared “with apples shall men be comforted in the wilderness of the West.” A holy man he was, for his principal aim was to bring, “some news right fresh from heaven” as he read from the Beatitudes to the settlers he visited in cabins in the forest. Already many stories were told of this gentle man’s propagation of fruit trees in odd plots of land all over the Pennsylvania and Ohio wilderness, his love of wildlife, and the awe in which American Indians regarded him as a powerful medicine man. Johnny Appleseed had been on the frontier for several decades before coming to Fort Wayne, possibly as early as 1822. Like them, Chapman’s career in the wilderness as a preacher and Good Samaritan quickly got caught up in the American imagination. The legends and tales about him that grew even in his own lifetime rivaled those of his contemporaries, Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed, serves as an example of a part of the religious fervor on the western frontier in the years before the Civil War. ![]()
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