USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. I > Part 22
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JOHNNY APPLESEED.
From several sources, more or less authentie. much interesting informa- tion may be collected concerning John Chapman, historically known as "Johnny Appleseed." He pursued his special calling of founding nurseries throughout eastern and northwestern Ohio-particularly Richland county- for many years. The early history of John Chapman is somewhat veiled in obscurity, for the reason that he was an obscure personage. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the year 1775.
On Thursday afternoon, November 28, 1900, a monument to Chapman's meinory was unveiled in the Sherman-Heineman park. Mansfield, with appropriate ceremony, in the presence of a large number of people, notwith- standing the cold and inclement weather. The opening address of the
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occasion was given by General R. Brinkerhoff, president of the Richland County Historical Society, under whose auspices the ceremonies were held.
From the Mansfield Daily News of that date the following account of the unveiling exercises is taken :
The exercises attendant upon the dedication of the monument to the memory of "Johnny Appleseed," one of the historic characters of Richland county in the early part of this century, were held this afternoon at two o'clock in the Sherman-Heineman park in the presence of a number of people who had gathered for the occasion at the monument. The invocation was pronounced by the Rev. Dr. H. L. Wiles, of the First Lutheran Church, after which the proceedings of the park commissioners in connection with the matter of the monument were read by Park Commissioner H. M. Weaver.
ADDRESS OF GENERAL BRINKERHOFF.
General Roeliff Brinkerhoff, of the board of park commissioners, in his address spoke as follows:
We have met here today to dedicate a monument to one of the earliest and most unselfish of Ohio benefactors. His name was John Chapman, but to the pioneers he was everywhere known as "Johnny Appleseed." The field of his operations in Ohio was mainly the valleys of the Muskingum river and its tributaries, and his mission, for the most part, was to plant appleseeds in well-located nurseries in advance of civilization and have apple trees ready for planting when the pioneers should appear.
He also scattered through the forest the seeds of medicinal plants, such as dog-fennel, pennyroyal, catnip, hoarhound, rattlesnake root and the like.
We hear of him as early as 1806 on the Ohio river, with two canoe loads of appleseeds gathered from the cider presses of Western Pennsylvania, and with these he planted nurseries along the Muskingum river and its tributaries.
About 1810 he made his headquarters in that part of the old county of Richland, which is now Ashland, in Green township, and was there for a number of years and then came to Mansfield. He was a familiar figure and a welcome guest in the homes of the early pioneers. All the early orchards of Richland county were procured from the nurseries of "Johnny Appleseed."
Within the sound of my voice, where I now stand, there are a dozen or more trees that we believe are the lineal descendants of "Johnny Appleseed's" nurseries. In fact, this monument is almost within the shadow of three or four of them.
As civilization advanced "Johnny" passed on to the westward, and at last, in 1847, he ended his career in Indiana and was buried near what is now the city of Fort Wayne. To the end he was true to his mission of planting nurseries and sowing the seeds of medicinal herbs. To the pioneers of Ohio he was an unselfish benefactor, and we are here today to aid in transmitting to coming generations our grateful memory of his deeds.
LETTERS FROM FORT WAYNE.
Letters describing the burial place of "Johnny Appleseed" were read by Park Commissioner Martin B. Bushnell. They are as follows:
IN MEMORY OF JOHN CHAPMAN BEST KNOWN AS JOHNNY
APPLESEED PIONEER APPLE NURSERYMAN OF RICHLAND COUNTY FROM 1810-1830
MONUMENT TO JOHN CHAPMAN
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MANSFIELD, OHIO, September 17, 1900.
President Fort Wayne Cemetery Association, Fort Wayne, Indiana:
Dear Sir: The park commissioners of this city are erecting a monument to the memory of John Chapman, better known as "Johnny Appleseed," to the early settlers in this (Richland) county, Ohio, from 1810 to 1830. He then went to Indiana, living in the vicinity of Fort Wayne from 1830 to 1847. A. A. Graham's history of our county notes that he died in 1847 and was buried by Mr. Worth and neighbors in David Archer's graveyard, two and one-half miles north of Fort Wayne. Will you kindly ascertain if this record is correct as to location of grave and is it properly marked? Answer at your convenience. Yours truly,
34 Sturges avenue.
MARTIN B. BUSHNELL,
Treasurer Sherman-Heineman park. FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, October 5, 1900.
Mr. Martin B. Bushnell, Treasurer Park Commissioners, Mansfield, Ohio:
My Dear Sir: On my return from my summer vacation a few days ago I found your letter herewith enclosed. I submitted it to Mr. Archer, whom I thought to be the best informed on the subject and he has answered on the reverse, as you notice. I regret most sincerely that a more definite location of the grave of John Chapman ("Johnny Appleseed") cannot be given. A worthy man well, and favorably known in his day.
Very respectfully,
O. P. MORGAN,
President Lindenwood Cemetery.
Mr. O. P. Morgan.
FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, October 4, 1900.
Dear Sir: During his life and residence in this vicinity I suppose that every man, woman and child knew something of "Johnny Appleseed." I find that there are quite a number of persons yet living here that remember him well, and enjoy relating reminiscences and peculiarities of his habits and life. The historical account of his death and burial by the Worths and their neighbors, the Pettits, Goinges, Porters, Notestems, Parkers, Beckets, Whitesides, Pechons, Hatfields, Parrants, Ballards, Randsells and the Archers, in David Archer's private burial grounds, is substantially cor- rect. The grave, more especially the common head-boards used in those days, have long since decayed and become entirely obliterated and at this time I do not think that any person could, with any degree of certainty, come within fifty feet of pointing out the location of his grave. Suffice it to say that he has been gathered in with his neighbors and friends, as I have enumerated, for the majority of them lie in David Archer's graveyard with him.
JOHN H. ARCHER, Grandson of David Archer.
HISTORICAL SKETCH
Of the Life and Work of "Johnny Appleseed."
A historical sketch of "Johnny Appleseed" was given by A. J. Baugh- man, who has given a great deal of attention to the carly history of this county. He spoke as follows:
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John Chapman was born at Springfield, Massachussetts, in the year 1775. Of his early life but little is known, as he was reticent about himself, but his half-sister, who came west at a later period, stated that Johnny had, when a boy, shown a fondness for natural scenery and often wandered from home in quest of plants and flowers, and that he liked to listen to the birds singing, and to gaze at the stars. Chapman's penchant for planting apple seeds and cultivating nurseries caused him to be called "Appleseed John," which was finally changed to "Johnny Appleseed," and by that name he was called and known everywhere.
The year Chapman came to Ohio has been variously stated, but to say it was one hundred years ago would not be far from the mark. An uncle of the late Rosella Rice lived in Jefferson county when Chapman made his first advent into Ohio, and one day saw a queer-looking craft coming down the Ohio river, above Steubenville. It consisted of two canoes lashed together, and its crew was one man-an angular, oddly-dressed person- and when he landed he said his name was Chapman, and that his cargo consisted of sacks of apple seeds and that he intended to plant nurseries.
Chapman's first nursery was planted nine miles below Steubenville, up a narrow valley from the Ohio river, at Brilliant, formerly called Lagrange, opposite Wellsburg, West Virginia. After planting a number of nurseries along the river front, he extended his work into the interior of the state- into Richland county-where he made his home for many years.
Chapman was enterprising in his way and planted nurseries in a number of counties, which required him to travel hundreds of miles to visit and prune them yearly, as was his custom. His usual price for a tree was "a fip-penny bit," but if the settler hadn't money, Johnny would either give him credit or take old clothes for pay. He generally located his nurseries along streams, planted his seeds, surrounded the patch with a brush fence, and, when the pioneers came, Johnny had young fruit trees ready for them. He extended his operations to the Maumee country and finally into Indiana, where the last years of his life were spent. He revisited Richland county the last time in 1843, and called at my father's, but as I was only five years old at the time, I do not remember him.
My parents (in about 1827-1835) planted two orchards with trees they bought of Johnny, and he often called at their house, as he was a frequent caller at the homes of the settlers. My grandfather, Captain James Cun- ningham, settled in Richland county in 1808, and was acquainted with Johnny for many years, and I often heard him tell in his Irish witty way, many amusing anecdotes and incidents of Johnny's life and of his peculiar and eccentric ways.
Johnny was fairly educated, well read, and was polite and attentive in manner, and was chaste in conversation. His face was pleasant in expression and he was kind and generous in disposition. His nature was a deeply religious one, and his life was blameless among his fellowmen. He regarded comfort more than style and thought it wrong to spend money for clothing to make a fine appearance. He usually wore a broad-brimmed hat. He went barefooted, not only in the summer, but often in cold weather, and a
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coffee sack with a neck and armholes cut in it was worn as a coat. He was about five feet, nine inches in height, rather spare in build, but was large- boned and sinewy. His eyes were blue, but darkened with animation.
For a number of years Johnny lived in a little cabin near Perrysville (then in Richland county), but later he made his home in Mansfield with his half-sister, a Mrs. Broome, who lived on the Leesville road (now West Fourth street), near the present residence of R. G. Hancock. The parents of George C. Wise then lived near what is now the corner of West Fourth street and Penn avenue, and the Groome and Wise families were friends and neighbors. George C. Wise, Hiram R. Smith, Mrs. J. H. Cook, and others, remember "Johnny Appleseed" quite well. Mr. Cook was, perhaps. better acquainted with "Johnny" than any other living person today, for the Wiler House was often his stopping place. The homes of Judge Parker, Mr. Newman, and others, were ever open to receive "Johnny" as a guest.
But the man who best understood this peculiar character was the late Dr. William Bushnell, father of our respected fellow townsman, the Hon. M. B. Bushnell, the donor of this beautiful commemorative monument, and by whose kindness and liberality we are here today. With Dr. Bushnell's scholastic attainments and intuitive knowledge of character he was enabled to know and appreciate Chapman's learning and the noble traits of his head and heart.
When upon his journeys "Johnny" usually camped out. He never killed anything, not even for the purpose of obtaining food. He carried a kit of cooking utensils with him, among which was a mush-pan, which he sometimes wore as a hat. When he called at a house, his custom was to lie upon the floor with his kit for a pillow, and, after conversing with the family a short time, would then read from a Swedenborgian book or tract, and proceed to explain and extol the religious views he so zealously believed, and whose teachings he so faithfully carried out in his every-day life and conversation. His mission was one of peace and good will and he never carrried a weapon, not even for self-defense. The Indians regarded him as a great "Medicine Man," and his life seemed to be a charmed one, as neither savage men nor wild beast would harm him.
Chapman never married, and rumor said that a love affair in the old Bay State was the cause of his living the life of a celibate and recluse. Johnny himself neyer explained why he led such a singular life, except to remark that he had a mission, which was understood to be to plant nurseries and to make converts to the doctrines taught by Emanuel Swedenborg. He died at the home of William Worth, in St. Joseph township, Allen county. Indiana, March 11, 1847, and was buried in David Archer's graveyard, a few miles north of Fort Wayne, near the foot of a natural mound. His name is engraved as a cenotaph upon one of the monuments erected in Mifflin township, Ashland county, this state, to the memory of the pioneers. Those monuments were unveiled with imposing ceremony in the presence of over six thousand people, September 15. 1882, the seventieth anniversary of the Copus tragedy.
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During the war of 1812 Chapman often warned the settlers of approach- ing danger. The following incident is given: When the news spread that Levi Jones had been killed by the Indians and that Wallace Reed and others had probably met the same fate, excitement ran high, and the few families which composed the population of Mansfield, sought the protection of the blockhouse, situated on the public square, as it was supposed the sav- ages were coming in force from the north to overrun the country and to murder the settlers.
There were no troops at the blockhouse at the time, and as an attack was considered imminent, a consultation was held and it was decided to send a messenger to Captain Douglas, at Mt. Vernon, for assistance. But who would undertake the hazardous journey? It was evening, and the rays of the sunset had faded away and the stars were beginning to shine in the dark- ening sky, and the trip of thirty miles must be made in the night over a. new-cut road, through a wilderness-through a forest infested with wild beasts and hostile Indians.
A volunteer was asked for, and a tall, lank man said demurely: "I'll go." He was bare-headed, bare-footed, and was unarmed. His manner was meek, and you had to look the second time into his clear, blue eyes to fully fathom the courage and determination shown in their depths. There was an expression in his countenance such as limners try to portray in their pictures of saints. It is scarcely necessary to state that the volunteer was "Johnny Appleseed," for many of you have heard your fathers tell how unostentatiously "Johnny" stood as "a watchman on the walls of Jezreel," to guard and protect the settlers from their savage foes.
The journey to Mt. Vernon was a sort of a Paul Revere mission. Unlike Paul's, "Johnny's" was made on foot-bare-footed-over a rough road, but one that in time led to fame.
"Johnny" would rap on the doors of the few cabins along the route, warn the settlers of the impending danger and advise them to flee to the block- house.
"Johnny" arrived safely at Mt. Vernon, aroused the garrison and informed the commandant of his mission. Surely, figuratively speaking,
"The dun-deer's hide On fleeter feet was never tried,"
for so expeditiously was the trip made that at sunrise' the next morning troops from Mt. Vernon arrived at the Mansfield blockhouse, accompanied by "Johnny," who had made the round-trip of sixty miles between sunset and sunrise.
About a week before Chapman's death, while at Fort Wayne, he heard that cattle had broken into his nursery in St. Joseph township and were destroying his trees, and he started on foot to look after his property. The distance was about twenty miles and the fatigue and exposure of the journey were too much for "Johnny's" physical condition, then enfeebled by age; and at the even-tide he applied at the home of Mr. Worth for lodging for the night. Mr. Worth was a native Buckeye and had lived in Richland
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county when a boy, and when he learned that his oddly dressed caller was "Johnny Appleseed," gave him a cordial welcome. "Johnny" declined going to the supper table, but partook of a bowl of bread and milk.
The day had been cold and raw, with occasional flurries of snow, but in the evening the clouds cleared away and the sun shone warm and bright as it sank in the western sky. "Johnny" noticed this beautiful sunset, an augury of the Spring and flowers so soon to come, and sat on the door-step and gazed with wistful eyes toward the West. Perhaps this herald of the Spring time, the season in which Nature is resurrected from the death of Winter caused him to look with prophetic eyes to the future and contem- plate that glorious event of which Christ is the resurrection and the life. Upon reentering the house "Johnny" declined the bed offered him for the night, preferring a quilt and pillow on the floor, but asked permission to hold family worship, and read "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven," "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," etc.
After he had finished reading the lesson, he said prayers-prayers long remembered by that family. He prayed for all sorts and conditions of men ; that the way of righteousness might be made clear unto them and that saving grace might be freely given to all nations. He asked that the Holy Spirit might guide and govern all who profess and call themselves Christians and that all those who were afflicted in mind, body, or estate, might be com- forted and relieved, and that all might at last come to the knowledge of the truth and in the world to come have happiness and everlasting life. Not only the words of the prayer, but the pathos of his voice made a deep impres- sion upon those present.
In the morning "Johnny" was found in a high state of fever, pneu- monia having developed during the night, and a physician called, said he was beyond medical aid, but inquired particularly about his religious belief, and remarked that he had never seen a dying man so perfectly calm, for upon his wan face there was an expression of happiness and upon his pale lips there was a smile of joy, as though he were communing with loved ones who had come to meet him and to soothe his weary spirit in his dying moments. And as his eyes shone with the beautiful light supernal, God touched him with His finger and beckoned him home.
Thus ended the life of a man who was not only a hero, but a benefactor as well; and his spirit is now at rest in the Paradise of the Redeemed, and in the fullness of time, clothed again in the old body made anew, will enter into the Father's house in which there are many mansions. In the words of his own faith, his bruised feet will be healed, and he shall walk on the gold-paved streets of the New Jerusalem, of which he so eloquently preached. It has been very appropriately said that, although years have come and gone since his death, the memory of his good deeds lives anew every Spring- time in the beauty and fragrance of the blossoms of the apple trees he loved so well.
"Johnny Appleseed's" death was in harmony with his unostentatious, blameless life. It is often remarked, "How beautiful is the Christian's life;
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yea, but far more beautiful is the Christian's death," when "the fashion of his countenance is altered," as he passes from the life here to the life beyond.
What changes have taken place in the years that have intervened between the "Johnny Appleseed" period and today! It has been said that the lamp of civilization far surpasses that of Aladdin's. Westward the star of empire took its way and changed the forests into fields of grain and the waste places into gardens of flowers, and towns and cities have been built with marvelous handiwork. But in this march of progress the struggles and hardships of the early settlers must not be forgotten. Let us not only record the history, but the legends of the pioneer period; garner its facts and its fictions ; its tales and traditions, and collect even the crumbs that fall from the table of the feast.
Today the events which stirred the souls and tried the courage of the pioneers seem to come out of the dim past and glide as panoramic views before me. A number of the actors in those scenes were of my "kith and kin," who have long since crossed over the river in their journey to the land where Enoch and Elijah are pioneers, while I am left to exclaim :
"Oh, for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still."
While the scenes of those pioneer days are vivid to us on history's page, future generations may look upon them as the phantasmagoria of a dream.
At seventy-two years of age-forty-six of which had been devoted to his self-imposed mission-John Chapman ripened into death as naturally and as beautifully as the apple seeds of his planting had grown into trees, had budded into blossoms and ripened into fruit. The monument which is now to be unveiled is a fitting memorial to the man in whom there dwelt a comprehensive love that reached downward to the lowest forms of life and upward to the throne of the Divine.
MONUMENT UNVEILED.
The monument was then unveiled by Mayor Brown, after which a quartette consisting of Charles H. Harding, Dr. C. N. Miles, Major Fred S. Marquis, and E. W. Dann, sang "Onward and Upward," and the exercises closed with the singing of "America."
A FITTING MEMORIAL.
The monument is a fitting tribute to one who was so, well known to the pioneers of this county and left for good the impress of his life on those with whom he was associated. It was presented to the city by M. B. Bush- nell, one of the commissioners of Sherman-Heineman park. The lower part of the monument is a buff stone and bears the inscription: "In memory of John Chapman, best known as 'Johnny Appleseed,' pioneer apple nursery- man of Richland county from 1810 to 1830." The upper part is a tapering shaft. It is located in middle park, east of the driveway and west of the foot-path, not far from the pavilion which was erected during the past summer.
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THE QUEST OF JOHN CHAPMAN.
John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed, was an eccentric charac- ter, who first appeared along the Ohio river in the southeast part of the state, in the very earliest settlement in that part of the country, with sacks filled with appleseeds. His plan was to go in advance of the settlers, planting nurseries through the wilderness. This philanthropic vocation he followed for some twenty-five or thirty years. Of his life prior to his advent into Ohio, but little is known. He was a man of much ability in some directions and exercised in his peculiar way a serviceable influence for good among the pioneers, among whom he wandered. Some years after Chapman came to Ohio, a sister or two and a half brother of his came also, and when they were questioned about Johnny's earlier life, they said it had been an unevent- ful one; that he had never cared for company; that he wanted to read religious books, and at night to gaze at the stars.
But recently the Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, pastor of Plymouth church, Brooklyn, New York, comes to the front with a work of fiction, the "Quest of John Chapman." While in a general way Mr. Hillis tries to say things commendatory of Johnny's life and character, yet his tale of fiction is a false one, putting Chapman in a wrong light-that of a disappointed lover- and that his work was not so much in the spirit of Christianity as it was to enable him to forget an unrequited love.
PARSON GERRY, A PIONEER PREACHER.
"Draw him strictly, so That all who view the piece may know him."
The pioneer preacher was never better or more concisely described than in the language of Peter Cartwright, as follows:
"A pioneer who felt that God had called him to preach, instead of hunt- ing up a college, or theological institute, bought a hardy pony or a horse. and with his library, consisting of a Bible and a hymn book, in his saddle- bags, started out on his mission. His text, "Behold the Lamb of God That Taketh Away the Sin of the World,' never wore out, never grew stale."
How different it is today. Preachers are now developed in theological institutions, like plants are grown in a hot-house. Some of them want the Bible revised "to suit the age," or rather to suit their particular form of belief or disbelief, and instead of preaching the crucified and risen Lord, take some so-called modern theme, and upon the eve of an election, some of them throw in a bit of politics, notwithstanding the sacred pages tell us that Christ's kingdom is not of this world.
One of the most eloquent preachers of the pioneer period was Parson Gerry, a nephew of Elbridge Gerry, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. For several years Parson Gerry made his home in Green township, which was then in Richland county. Gerry was scholarly, was gentlemanly and fascinating in his manner, and his wife was an accomplished
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