Johnny Appleseed
(1774-1845)Born September 26 in 1774 was John Chapman,
known to us today as Johnny Appleseed. Johnny Appleseed's primary mission was not to plant
apples. |
John Chapman was born in
Leominster, Massachusetts on September 26, 1774. John Chapman became a well known figure
on the American frontier in the early 1800's. He traveled westward planting apple seeds he
had collected from cider presses in Pennsylvania. He spent his life planting and tending
nurseries of apple seedlings over hundreds of square miles in what are now the states of
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. This provided an item of great economic importance to the
pioneers.
Much of what is known about Johnny is mixed with legend. He apparently traveled barefoot,
wearing shabby clothing and a tin pot as a hat. He was never married, a vegetarian, a
friend of the pioneer, a friend of the Indian, and a friend of the animals. There are
numerous folk legends about this popular "holy" man. John Chapman is celebrated
in frontier legends as a symbol of westward-moving American civilization, and he figures
in literature in such works as In Praise of Johnny Appleseed (1923), by the American poet
Vachel Lindsay.
Actually, John Chapman's life is an interesting footnote in the history of alternative
religions. The American frontier was fertile ground for new religions. The pioneers prided
themselves on their religious tolerance. Johnny Appleseed was very effective in
disseminating unorthodox beliefs. In the frontier cabins he left not only apples, but also
Swedenborgian literature. He especially left chapters from Swedenborg's "Heaven and
Hell." This was one of more than 30 religious books by Swedenborg that attempted to
correlate Christianity with messages he purportedly received from spirit guides. Johnny
called it, "Good news fresh from heaven!" Johnny's primary mission was not to
plant apples but to spread the word of a mystical and occultic religion (The Church of New
Jerusalem) founded by Emmanuel Swedenborg.
Sources: Another Gospel - Ruth A. Tucker |
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