March 11th is Johnny Appleseed Day

On March 11th we remember a man who made apple (and pear) trees bloom across the nation.  National Johnny Appleseed Day is about a legend who really did exist.

In Fort Wayne, Indiana in Johnny Appleseed park there is a grave marking the spot where the legendary sower of apple seeds rests.

He was born John Chapman on September 26, 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts to Nathaniel and Elizabeth Simons Chapman. Not much is known of his early life other than his mother died when he was two. His father packed up Johnny and his sister (an infant brother had died the previous year) and moved to Springfield, Massachusetts. His father served as a Minuteman and fought at Bunker Hill.

Then in 1797 he shows up in northwestern Pennsylvania sowing his apple seeds and working his way steadily into the frontier of West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and eventually as far west as Illinois and Iowa and as far north as Michigan and Wisconsin.

In his wake he left orchards and the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish spiritual leader whose books he would buy with whatever payment he might receive for his endeavors. In turn he would give the books away as he traveled and planted.

Mostly though, he sowed his seeds and seedlings for free along with his wisdom, his broad brimmed pasteboard hat keeping the sun from his eyes as he went. Often shoeless, he traveled mostly by foot and sometimes by horseback or canoe. His appearance was nearly as noteworthy as his accomplishments, but so was his kindness. There was always a place at the table if Johnny Appleseed were to come by.

There are many stories told that the man would travel many miles to nurse an ailing orchard when word would reach him of it’s poor condition.

Across the Midwest, landmarks pepper the countryside honoring the man that brought fruit to the frontier. Warren County, Pennsylvania lays claim to Johnny Appleseed’s first tree nursery.

Mansfield, Ohio honors the man with a monument in South Park.

In his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts there is an entire park named after the man who nurtured the land and made apple trees bloom across a young nation.

Johnny Appleseed Day is celebrated on either March 11th or September 26th. The September date is Appleseed’s acknowledged birth date. The March date is sometimes preferred due to the planting season. While there is some vagueness concerning Appleseed’s death and burial, it is known he became ill in early March and passed soon after.

 National Johnny Appleseed Day is celebrated in many elementary schools across the country.