Difference between revisions of "Johnny Appleseed"
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His nickname came from his love for nature, as he called an apple blossom a "living sermon from God," and particularly his habit of collecting apple seeds from cider presses in order to plant over a thousand nurseries in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Upon his death he gave his nurseries, then worth millions, to his sister. He often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount and lived with the Indians. | His nickname came from his love for nature, as he called an apple blossom a "living sermon from God," and particularly his habit of collecting apple seeds from cider presses in order to plant over a thousand nurseries in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Upon his death he gave his nurseries, then worth millions, to his sister. He often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount and lived with the Indians. | ||
| − | + | There is some credence to the legend of Johnny Appleseed wandering America, planting apple trees by the thousands. According to Michael Pollan in ''Italic text''The Botany of Desire''Italic text'', most settlers planted apple orchards not just for the fruit, but also for the hard cider that resulted from pressing. Known as "applejack," this alcoholic drink was a staple of Puritan times and beyond, as much of the water was often tainted or unpotable. Chapman was a champion of hard cider and wanted to spread its availability across the new nation. | |
Poet William Henry Venable said this about Chapman:<ref>''Id.''</ref> | Poet William Henry Venable said this about Chapman:<ref>''Id.''</ref> | ||
Revision as of 19:08, March 19, 2007
John Chapman (1774-1845), best known as "Johnny Appleseed," was a colorful, long-haired and barefoot Christian who ran to warn Ohio settlers of an imminent Indian attack incited by the British during the War of 1812.[1]
His nickname came from his love for nature, as he called an apple blossom a "living sermon from God," and particularly his habit of collecting apple seeds from cider presses in order to plant over a thousand nurseries in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Upon his death he gave his nurseries, then worth millions, to his sister. He often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount and lived with the Indians.
There is some credence to the legend of Johnny Appleseed wandering America, planting apple trees by the thousands. According to Michael Pollan in Italic textThe Botany of DesireItalic text, most settlers planted apple orchards not just for the fruit, but also for the hard cider that resulted from pressing. Known as "applejack," this alcoholic drink was a staple of Puritan times and beyond, as much of the water was often tainted or unpotable. Chapman was a champion of hard cider and wanted to spread its availability across the new nation.
Poet William Henry Venable said this about Chapman:[2]
- Remember Johnny Appleseed-All ye who love the apple-He served his kind by word and deed-In God's grand greenwood chapel.
Nathananiel, Johnny Appleseed's father, fought with the Minutemen against the British at Concord in 1775.
References
Pollan, Michael. The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World. New York: Random House. 2002.