Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) was born on this day, September 26, 1774.

Statues: The People They Salute

Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) was born on this day, September 26, 1774. (Not a statue...but how about “Stamps: The People They Salute” 😉)

John Chapman did not travel by covered wagon like most pioneers that were heading west into unsettled territory of a new nation. He walked many miles through America’s wilderness barefoot ─ not only in summer but often in winter. It was said that he could melt ice with his bare feet!

John Chapman’s feet were commonly compared to “elephant’s hide”. It was even said that once a poisonous snake tried to bite John Chapman on the foot, but its sharp teeth could not break the tough skin.

John Chapman cut holes for his head and arms in a coffee sack, and wore that as his shirt. Some said he wore his cooking pot on his head as a hat, but there is no evidence of that.

John Chapman was different. He did not plan to settle in an area and build a house when he arrived on the frontier. His plan was to plant apple seeds.

He was sure that families moving west into the wilderness would want juicy sweet apples. So he planned to have young apple seedlings ready and waiting to greet these pioneer families. He knew how important apples were to the early Americans.

Apples could be stored through the winter when fresh fruits and vegetables could not be grown. Apples were cooked down into apple butter. Apples were sliced and dried to be used in sauces, and apples were crushed into sweet cider which was also fermented into vinegar or an alcoholic “hard cider”. Even wormy apples weren’t wasted; they were fed to the cows.

John Chapman was very good at predicting where pioneers would settle and he planted his apple tree orchards nearby so the new settlers could purchase his seedlings. John Chapman soon became known as Johnny Appleseed.

Johnny Appleseed had great respect for all living creatures and did not believe in hunting. He ate nuts and berries, and apples of course! He most likely carried and ate journey bread. What is Journey Bread? It’s a food American Indians brought with them on long journeys. It was made from boiled green corn, still on the ears, which was then dried in the sun a few days and then browned in hot ashes. Afterwards it was pounded into a fine meal to which maple sugar was added.

Johnny Appleseed befriended Indians and was often invited to stay in their villages. He also was a friend to the settlers who often invited him to stay in their homes. Johnny never stayed long because he was more comfortable sleeping outdoors.

Johnny Appleseed was goodhearted and often gave away apple seedlings if people were too poor to pay for them. Johnny believed that every person should help others in need, and that is how he lived his life. Johnny helped whenever he could. He helped settlers clear their land, build their homes, tend their crops, and even read to them if they could not read.

When an area became a town, it was time for Johnny to move on. He traveled from Pennsylvania through to the Ohio Territory (Ohio wasn’t even a state yet) and later into Indiana.

During the war of 1812, when British soldiers and Delaware Indian warriors planned to attack settlers in Ohio, Johnny Appleseed made a legendary journey, thirty miles through the wilderness that he knew so well to warn the pioneer families of an Indian attack. Legend has it that Johnny traveled by foot spreading the warning, but it is much more likely that he traveled on horseback. But by either method it was a dangerous trek. Johnny also fetched help from American troops whose presence prevented the Indian attack, which saved both Indian and settlers lives.

Johnny continued to spread apple trees and kind deeds for the remainder of his life. He died on March 18, 1845 at the age of 70 in Indiana of pneumonia which he contracted while tending an apple orchard during a cold rainy spell. Soon his beloved apple trees would bloom, and he would continue to be associated with the apples that he loved. Today, Johnny Appleseed festivals are held across America in honor of the kind, simple man who spread apples and goodwill across the frontier of America.

A bit about Johnny Appleseed’s Childhood…

Not much is known about John Chapman’s childhood. Historical records show that he was born September 26, 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts to Elizabeth Simons Chapman and Nathaniel Chapman.

Nathaniel Chapman was a farmer and carpenter, who joined the Minutemen in the colonists fight for freedom from Great Britain. John Chapman had an older sister Elizabeth and was to have had a younger brother Nathaniel, but Nathaniel and John’s mother died when John Chapman was only two-years-old. John and his sister lived with their grandparents until their father returned from military service.

John’s father then married Lucy Cooley and they had ten more children. All those children must have made for a crowded house, no wonder John took to being outdoors!

Diana Erbio is a freelance writer and author of “Coming to America: A Girl Struggles to Find her Way in a New World”. Read more in her series Statues: The People They Salute, Table of Contents and visit the Facebook Page. Subscribe to her Substack Newsletter