The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-02-07
.OLDJOHNNF 4PPLESEED. .
PROBABLY THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY OF
ALL MISSIONARIES.

correspondent OF the EceH1Hg F0st
writes from Ashland, Ohio:
The immense apple crop Of this part of
the State of Ohio during the last season
serves to recall the life of its pioneer nurse
ryman, whose memory is yet green in the
minds Of many of the oldest settlers. As
hero of endurance that was voluntarily as
sumed, and of the toll the benefits OF which .
could only be reaped by posterity, the .
name of Jonathan Chapman, better known .
/ as Johnny Appleseed, deserves perpetui- +
ty beyond that OF a generation of lesser T.
lights placed in the glare and romance of
the tomahawk aud scalping knife period. -
Few men so unpretending have been so
extensively useful in their day and genera
ton. The evil that he did, if any, died
with him the good lives after him, bear
ing annual fruit over an area of 100, 600
square miles, extending from the Ohio
river to the great northern lakes. Many of
the best orchards of this and adjoining
counties are from trees which had their
first growth in his forest nurseries. The
writer looks from his window upon long
rows of apple trees transplanted from
Johnny's nursery, near the old Indian
Green Town.
Jonathan Chapman was born in Boston
about the year 1915. How he drifted from
that point to the wilds of western Penn
sylvania, where he was first known to have
indulged his peculiar monomaua for the
planting of apple trees in the wilderness, is
not known. The rapid settlement of that
part Of the country, however, soon drove
, him further westward. In 1901 he enter
ed the territory of Ohio with horse load
of apple seeds gathered from the cider
presses of Western Pennsylvania, coming
, first to Licking county, and planting his
seeds in many fertile spots on and about
, the banks of Licking Creek. For the next
! five years ho disappeared, passing the pc
riod, doubtless, in the establishment of
other nurseries in a different quarter. IN
, 1906 he WAS seen by pioneer settler of
l Jefferson county, drifting slowly down the
, Ohio river in two canoes, lashed together.
] and loaded down with apple seeds. These
I he was transporting westward, for the pur-
\ pose of creating orchards upon the fuTthest
verge of whito settlement. Entering the
. Muskingum river at Marietta, he passed by
various Tributaries to the head of naviga-
tion in this county. Still region of for
est-crowned hills and great valleys, and
s possessing a romantic beauty which rail
Z roads and bustling towns and cities have
7 not served to obliterate, the wild sur
n roundings and primal silence Of the verits
BILE wilderness must have been tenfold
;, more picturesque to the eyes of Appleseed
Q Johnny in those early days.
A In this instance, as in others afterward,
i. Johnny selected the most fertile spots il
4 the rich loamy grounds on the banks of The
creeks for this purpose planting often az
high as sixteen bushels of seed to .he acre
and enclosing the grounds with a slight
fence or guard of brush. lie then left th.
). place until the trees had in a measure
grown. The old settlers describe tht
= margins OF the streams upon which these
:. early nurseries were planted as thickll
covered over with a low matted growth o
timber, while near the waters edge a ranl
:, mass of long grass, interlaced with morn
ing glory and wild pea vines, among whicl
!. dropping willows and clustering elder
: stood like sentinels on the outpost of civil
izatiOn.
The canoe voyage of 1906 appears t
- have been the only occasion upon whicl
- Johnny adopted that method of transpor
tation, all his other journeys having bee
- made on foot over the old trail leading
h. from Fort Duquesne to Detroit by way c
y, Fort Sandusky, known as 'the seoent
:, route through the wilderness of Ohio.'-
!, Having planted one stock of seeds, b
- would return to Pennsylvania for another
N gathering them from the cider presses a
/, different places. These seeds be conveye
20 to their destination in rude leathern bag:
NJ in place of linen ones, the dense growth {
!, underbrush and briers encountered upo
m the way making the use of some more dul
Or able fabric necessary. Sometimes the bag
a., found transportation on the back of a
aged OF broken down horse which the
owner had mercifully rescued from hardC
y usage, but more frequently on his ow
es sturdy shoulders. A long and toilsom
,t Journey it was but Johnny unhesitatingl
or shouldered his bags of apple seeds, anC
n. / penetrating into the remote wilderness
- planted them in some secluded spot, con
, bining picturesqueness and fertility of sol
nd settlers, whose homes had in the meantin
m sprung up in that neighborhood of his is
ed lated clearing. In this way the wilderne
m was made to blossom and bloom like a ros
:, and the foundation was laid for thai in
na mense growth of fruit trees whose vie
ev forms so important a part of the annu
ed products Of this part of the State.
W. When the trees were ready for sale, job
dc ny either sold chem himself, at a very 10
dv price, or left them in charge of some one
ne sell for him. And in this matter of sal
ne he was as methodical as any merchant.
cv the customer was too poor to purcha
p, trees, which frequently happened, he &
at them without pay if III better circur
of stances, but destitute Of ready cash, job
ar ny made some convenient trade, taking 0
re- clothing or a supply of cornmeal in e
I'll change but if the owner was well-to-,
johnny demanded money, which he W
seldom without. His general custom, no
nd ever, was to take note, payable at son
rot indefinite period. Having received it,
as troubled himself no further about the pa
na- ment, considering the transaction at
ely end, as, indeed, it geEeTally was. Carir
os- little for money and with very limit
f a personal wants, he frequently came in
ed. possession, by the sale of trees, of me
rev money than he cared to keep. This