Colonial Era

Johnny Appleseed – Eighteenth Century Folk Hero

by Michael and Karen Iacobbo

Johnny Appleseed became an American folk hero by traveling far and wide to plant and give away apple seeds and seedlings. But Johnny Appleseed was much more than a sower of seeds: he was a missionary who was very likely a vegetarian. He was born John Chapman in Leominster, Massachusetts, in September 26, 1774—aptly a time of year when apples are ripe for picking.

Little is known about Chapman's early years, but scholars trace the start of his saga to the late 1790s. Chapman gathered seeds from the cider presses in western Pennsylvania, put them in bags and carried them into the wilderness of Ohio and neighboring territories and states. Chapman ventured as far west as Indiana and as far north as the Northern lakes, but spent many years in Ohio. He was respected by settlers and even by Native Americans hostile to other non-Natives.

Most of the time Chapman, who was a small and wiry man with long dark hair and a beard, walked barefoot, but he occasionally wore hand-me-down moccasins or shoes that he received as payment for his seeds. Chapman ate fruit, nuts, berries, and other goodies from the woods, but he sometimes accepted food from settlers.

The bearded traveler was a follower of the teachings of 18th-century mystic and vegetarian Emmanuel Swedenborg. Chapman carried and gave away or lent pages from the book “Heaven and Hell’ and other Swedenborgian writings to people Chapman met on his journeys.

Before the vegetarian and animal rights movement began in the US, Chapman wouldn't knowingly harm any animal, and it has been said that he would prematurely extinguish fires that he started to keep warm, because the light attracted bugs that might burn if they flew too close to the flames.

Chapman wasn't just a forest dweller. He bought and sold land in Ohio, mostly for use as orchards and seedling farms. Chapman, who died in 1845, also distributed medicinal herbs.

For more information, e-mail alumin@urbana.edu, or write the Johnny Appleseed Society, Historic Bailey Hall, Urbana University, 579 College Way, Urbana, OH 43078-2091.

 

Ephrata Cloister

18th Century Vegan Commune in Pennsylvania