John Chapman and His Apples

 Autumn means it’s time to peep at colorful leaves and pick apples, whether actually from the tree or from a fruit stand or farm. This year Leominster MA is celebrating the 250^th birthday of its famous son, Johnny Appleseed, or so I learned from Chronicle, WCVB’s popular evening program, recently. Born John Chapman in 1774, his father was off fighting in the Revolutionary War at the time. John lost his mother when he was very young. His father then remarried and moved to Longmeadow MA, and went on to raise a family that included ten more children.

Part of John Chapman’s story is true and part is legend. One part of the apple tree planting story that doesn’t get much publicity can be found in an article in Smithsonian Magazine from about 10 years ago (“The Real Johnny Appleseed Brought Apples – and Booze – to the American Frontier” from Nov. 2014).

The author explains that back in the early 19^th century, apples were smaller and a lot more sour than those we have today. These apples were mainly used in making hard cider. In the old days when you could not trust that water was safe to drink, you could always drink cider, and people drank a lot of it. I suppose it was better for everyone to go around at least slightly tipsy, if not drunk, than to die of cholera. Needless to say, this part of the John Chapman story was not included in the sentimental animated Disney movie about Johnny Appleseed from the late 1940’s.

Apples are not native to North America and were first brought over by English settlers who were eager to grow the fruit here. The first apple tree in New England was said to be planted in 1625 on Beacon Hill by William Blackstone, before he, like Roger Williams, came to settle in Rhode Island.

John Chapman was credited with planting orchards wherever he went in his nomadic life. But as his name tells us, he grew apples from seeds, not by the usual means of grafting, which he didn’t approve of. Apples grown from seeds produce fruit more suitable for making cider than for eating, like the apples we have today. His work did lay the foundation for some of the apple varieties we have today though, such as Granny Smith.

As a young man, John lit out for the territory (to borrow a phrase from Mark Twain). In this case, it was the Northwest Territory, which at that time included a large swath of what is now the Midwest. As he ventured west planting his apple orchards, he moved through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. He died in 1845 at age 70 in Fort Wayne, where he is buried.

It’s hard to think of what we now call the Midwest being considered the Northwestern frontier 200 years ago. I had ancestors in Ohio when it was on the frontier in the early 1800’s but I doubt that they knew Johnny Appleseed, who apparently spent his time mostly in northern Ohio.

My own best memory of apples in Ohio comes from visits to a friend’s house out in the countryside when I was a kid. Her family had a farm with apple and peach orchards (it’s still in business) and I’ll never forget the heavenly scent of all that ripening fruit when you went into their warehouse.

Another memory of apples comes from a visit to England in the late 1970’s. I can’t remember where exactly it was, but we stopped at little grocery and bought a small bag of apples that didn’t look like much but had an intense flavor. I thought to myself, “So this is what apples are supposed to taste like!”

Apples have many health benefits, including being rich in fiber and vitamins. While hard cider is making a slight comeback in the US, the sweet and flavorful non-alcoholic drink we usually think of as cider is always good to have on hand, for drinking and for cooking.

We may be surprised to learn that Johnny Appleseed, who is portrayed as such a free spirit, was regarded as a successful businessman of his time, especially since he lived so simply and humbly. By all accounts he was thought of as a kindly, hard-working man who cared deeply about nature. A true American eccentric in the best sense of the word.