The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-02-28
ODD JOHNNY ApPLESEED
A MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF
A PENNlLESS PHlLANTHROPlST.
Tho Father of Orchards In the State
of Ohio - The work of an Eccen-
tric Man who Was widely Known
and We'll Thouvht Of

Johnny Applcseed' has monu-
ment. Future generations shall know
of the noble mission of John Chapman
the Apostle of Apples. Mansfield, Ohio
has rescued his memory from oblivion
and cmbalmed 1t In statue. The story
of his gentle bencbcent life Is the
record Of one Of the quaintest. sweet
est characters produced in the pioneer
West. Next to his religion Johnny
Appleseed" held apples to he the choic-
est blessing vouchsafed to man. He
believed in the salvation of health by
apples. He preached the gospel OF
apples, and he practiced II. He made
the young lands of Ohio and Indiana
bloom with the fragrant white bios
SONS of countless apple trees. He
added untold wealth and happiness
to generations born and unborn. Sage
and simple, crank and genius, seer and
vagrant. Johnny Appleseed" was n
penniless phllanthropist, humble
bencfactor Of millions.
The cidermills OF Pennsylvania were
his Mecca. and appleseeds his quest.
From every pilgrimage to the East he
brought back precious sacks Of seeds.
With his own hands he cleared forest
spaces for his nurseries. and when the
trees We're two or three years old he
distributed them broadly. sometimes
in exchange for bit of clothing, but
more often as II gift. Gentle and low
able friend of white and redsliin, the
apple missionary was as one crying in
the Wilderness. He went whittier he
would, welcomed by all, and he dotted
the woods and prai1ies of his Kingdom
with apple orchards.
1t was Il picturesque but n practical
crusade that this poor backwOodsman
preached. and there are hearts attuncd
to its divine sweetness. 1t remained
for Martin y. Bushnell. of Mansfield.
to erect a permanent memorial to the
Apostle of Apples, and ii was recently
unveiled in the Sherman -Heineman
Park, which is the joint gift of the late
John Sherman and fellow townsman,
Mr.. Bushnells father was warm
friend of Johnny Appleseed." The
base of the monument, which is Of
Memory of John Chapman, best known
as Johnny Appleseed, pioneer apple
nurserymnn of Richland County, from
1910 to 1890
Graded in Massachusetts in 1875,
Johnny Appleseed" came West with
n brother in the dawn of the century.
Little was known of his early life, but
there were traditions among the pion-
GERS of Ohio of romance in which a
woman scorned the young mans love.
He began his apple mission in Penn
sylyania in 1902 or 1903. but soon
transferred his field TO Ohio. He made
frequent visits to one keystone State
fc' apple seeds, and on his return
sought favorable spots for his pioneer
nurseries. He sought fertile soil aud
sheltered places. and often made clear
ings TO give his tender shoots protec-
tion from wind and blizzard. AS one
section OF the State became supplied
with trees he moved to another. The
early settlers We're too busy in wrest-
ing n livelihood from nature and in
fighting Indidns TO engage in the slow
process of raising apple trees from
seed, and Chapman, full of faith in the
virtue of the fruit, took upon himself
the duty of supplying the need. Usual
ly man of FEW words. he became elo-
quent when speaking of apples, and his
fine flow of language gave the impress
sion that he had been well educated.
Living upon the bounty OF field and
forest eating fruits and nuts like the
beasts and birds, never harming an
animal for fur or food, Johnny Apple
seed led life of supreme simplicity.
Sometimes he replenlshed his scanty
wardrobe by bartering young trees for
old clothes or cast-off boots. More Of
ten he gave freely of his trees, and
thus started many n pioneer orchard.
He carried on this work in Ohio for
twenty years or more, and then he fol-
lowed the star of empire westward TO
continue his mission in the newer field
OF Indiana, where he died in 1876.
"Appleseed johnny" lived as simple
q life as the animals he loved. He
had no home, seldom any money, and
barely any clothing. He lived in the
woods as often as not, and hollow
tree was his favorite bed. His long
and arduous trips to Pennsylvania
were made in part on foot and in part
In birch bark canoes. He saw that life
was too great n struggle for the pion-
GERS to spare the time for this work,
and he devoted his life to their service.
They had little to give, and he asked
for little. he was always clothed in
rags, and In summer they We're hardly
more than shreds. He often went bare
footed, sometimes tramping weary
miles through the snow without cover
ings for his feet. In the summer he
was content with sandals of wood or
bark, fastened to his feet with thongs
Of deer skin. lie literally took no
thought for the morrow. IL near set
tlement he could always count on bit
OF food. For his tramps in the woods
he carried n saucepan on his head and
cooked such vegetable foods as he
could find. Living much in the forests,
he became an adept in woodcraft and
wandered at will. He never carried
a weapon and was seldom molested,
even the wild animals appearing to
understand that he was their friend.
The Indians respected him. and per
haps the sight OF a woodsman without
knife or gun inspired them with that
fQalinQ of awe which thpv had for nm