John Chapman

1774 - 1845  (70 years)

• Name	John Chapman
  Nickname	Johnny Appleseed
  Birth	26 Sep 1774	Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts
  Gender	Male
  Library book: Genealogy of the Chapman Family	003 - "Johnny Appleseed"
  Occupation	Johnny Appleseed
  		Hard Cider. Whatever you may have heard it was about land and booze. Frontier law allowed people to claim ownership of land through development of a permanent homestead. One way to prove a claim was by planting 50 apple trees. Traveling through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, Chapman would plant not random seeds but, orchards. Once the orchard matured he would then sell the land to settlers. It was a strategy that made him fairly wealthy for his time. You wouldn't want to eat John's apples. They were small and tart. They were not meant to be eaten but to be transformed into hard cider. Post revolution all the way up to prohibition hard cider was very popular in America and, sometimes safer than the water which might contain bacteria. Prohibition destroyed John's legacy. FBI agents took to the orchards with axes and, made sure they could no longer be used to produce alcohol. Today only one of John's trees is known to survive. Never the less while edible apples were not his intention, apples of the day were cultivated through grafting not planting seeds. Grafting produced apples that never changed. The seeds he planted allowed for mutations. When you visit the market today and get to choose from many varieties of apples it can be considered a gift from John and his work.
  Death	18 Mar 1845	Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana
  		Johnny Appleseed Obituary. Goshen (Indiana) Democrat, March 26, 1845 page 4.
  		Johnny Appleseed Estate. The Fort Wayne (Indiana) Sentinel, April 18, 1845 page 3.
  Burial	Johnny Appleseed Memorial Park, Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana, United States
  	There is controversy over the john's burial site.
  		Johnny Appleseed Gravesite. Johnny Appleseed Gravesite.
  		Johnny Appleseed Burial. The spot in Appleseed park was a state cemetery. Some believe that is the location of his burial although, there is no record. The stone marking the grave was set up September 25, 1965. It is likely not an indicator of an exact burial site. Others believe he was buried in a location not far from where he died and not far from the cabin was living in. This exact spot has been lost to development. For an extended look into the argument that John is buried in this location see the book "Chapman Genealogy" in our Family History Library.
  Siblings	3 siblings
  1. Andrew Chapman, Sr,   b. Abt 1784, New Jersey d. 1849
  2. Timothy Chapman, Sr,   b. Abt 1790
  3. Percis Chapman,   b. 1792
  Person ID	I36602	Nagel
  Last Modified	27 Nov 2018

  
  

  Father	Captain Nathaniel Chapman,   b. 13 Sep 1746, Tewksbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts d. 18 Feb 1807, Lower Salem, Washington, Ohio (Age 60 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Elizabeth Simonds,   b. 2 Feb 1748, Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts d. 18 Jul 1776, Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts (Age 28 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Marriage	8 Feb 1770	Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts
  Family ID	F11691	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 26 Sep 1774 - Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts Death - 18 Mar 1845 - Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana Burial - - Johnny Appleseed Memorial Park, Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana, United States  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos

  Johnny Appleseed. This image, widely reproduced was originally published in Harper's Magazine, November 1871.

  
  

  Stamps & Coins

  Johnny Appleseed A five cent stamp issued September 24, 1966 in Leominster, Massachusetts the town he was born in.