Morning journal and courier., 1886-07-26
JOHNNY APPLESEED.
The Quaint Pioneer Who Planted
 OrehnrAa i'm Ohio

9Ae 0ua1nG F1Oneer Who Planted Orchards in Ohio.
 Columbus Letter to the Cleveand Plain Dealer One of the most striking and in fact in. teresting pioneer characters of 1900 was Jonathan Chapman, a man who, owing tc
 his odd occupation, was generally known as Johnny Appleseed." He made his first appearance in western Pennsylvania, com ing from Boston, Mass. He possessed a strong passion for raising and cultivating apple trees from the seed, claiming that that was the only proper way to plant an orchard. In the spring of 1901 Chapman made his way to Ohio, at which time he appeared the borders of Licking creek Gin what is now known as Licking county, with a horseload of appleseeds, which he planted in various places on and about the banks of that stream. There is no authen- tic account of his movements during the five succeeding years, although he was un- doubtedly following the same strange vo- cation.
 Early in the spring of 1906 pioneer set tier of Jefferson county noticed a peculiar craft with a curious cargo and 8 remarka- ble occupant moving down the Ohio river with the current. It was ''Johnny Apple seed" (by which name Chapman was known from 1906 until the time of his death, which occurred in 1847, in every log cabin from the Ohio river to the great lakes on the north and as far west as the present eastern boundary of Indiana) with two ca- noes lashed together, transporting load of seeds to the then western frontiers for the purpose of planting them on the remotest verge of white settlements. In following his favorite pursuit he always kept on the outskirts of the settlements: cleaning spots in the loamy lands on the banks of streams where he would plant his seeds, place 8 slight inclosure around the ground and then 1ooyy t1a r,In 4l,a l,o1 sufficiently large to be transplanted Set tiers began to flock in and open clearings To those who wanted an orchard on their place Johnny" would furnish young trees He had no idea of making any money out of his occupation, generally giving the trees away selling them for a trife, such as an old coat any article of which he could make some use. In this way he proceeded for years until the country was in measure settled and supplied with apple trees.
 Chapman's personal appearance was as striking his character. He was a small man, quick and restless in his motions; his eyes were black and sparkled with peculiar brightness, while his hair and beard were long and dark. He never shaved and lived the roughest life, often sleeping in the woods in preference to accepting the hospitality of a settler. His clothing was old and ragged, being generally given him in exchange for apple trees. He invariably went barefooted 1TSHueuI1y lESNeIGO 1lllCS GuIOuku IuG snow in that way. Only once was he ever known to wear foot covering of any kind. settler, who happened to own 8 pair of shoes that were too small for his own use, forced them upon ''Johnny," who reluc tantly put them on. The next day ''John- n.y. overlook a poor barefooted family moving westward, and as they appeared to be in greater need of footwear than he was he gave them the shoes.
 He was @ follower of Swedenborg, took no thought of the morrow and led a nor al, blameless life. It was his custom to circulate Swedenborgian works wherever he went, and if short of them would tear a book into two or three parts, giving each part to different persons. In that way he supplied neighborhood with religious lite reture, although those to whom he gave the latter part of the book to read first must have found it difficult to comprehend the au- thor. He was very careful not to iu iure any animal and thought hunting morally wrong. Among the settlers he was always welcome and he treated with great kindness even by the Indians, who regarded him ''great medicine man.
 Chapman was peculiar and eccentric in the extreme, as the few anecdotes which l give below will illustrate: On one cool autumnal night: while lying by his campfire in the woods, he observed that the mosquitoes flew in the blaze and were burned. 'Johnny," :" W LO "OAC O4A AIS HSdlt tiI1 ut6ISll hu1CH dli- swered both cap and mush pot, filled 1t with water and Qneuched the fire and then remarked, "God forbid that 1 should build fire for my comfort that should be the means of destroying any of his creatures" An other time he made his campfire at the end of hollow log, in which he intended to pass the nigh but finding it occupied by bear and her cubs he removed his fire to the oth CT end and slept on the snow in the open air rather than disturb the bear. He one morning iE prairie and was bitten by rat tlesnake Some time after friend inquired about the matter. Johnny" drew q long sigh and replied: EPoor fellow. he only just touched me when I in an ungodly passion put the heel of my scythe on him and went home. Some time after went there for my scythe and there lay the poor fellow dead" An itinerant preacher was holding forth on the public square in the present city of Mansfield, and during the course of his marks exclaimed: ''Where is the barefoot ed Christian travelling to heaven?" "John- timber, 'aking the question in it's literal sense, raised his bare feet in the air and vo ciferated, "Here he isin
 In 183S-thirty seven years after his ap- pearance at Licking creek-sfJohnny" ob- served that civilization and wealth were fast transforming the wilderness of Ohio into densely populated State. Churches were making their appearance and the stage dri- ver's horn broke the silence of the forests, and as he had always just kept in advance of the wave of settlement, he felt that his work was done in this region in which he had la bored so long. He visited all the houses of the settlers, took solemn farewell of every family and turned his steps further west, again to pursue his eccentric vocation. In the summer of 1647, at the close of warm day, after travelling twenty miles, he entered the house of a settler in Allen county, Ind, ing other accommodation he lay down on the floor for the night. In the morning he was dead, and thus ended the mission of man who was both benefactor and hero. Chap :r Ia, Ina farna of