Growing up in the Midwest, I remember the tall tales of colorful people such as Paul Bunyan, John Henry and Johnny Appleseed. I am not sure if all of them are based on real people, but Johnny Appleseed was the nickname of a real person. Born in Massachusetts in 1774, John Chapman moved to western Pennsylvania when he was a teenager. A few years later, his father and his siblings moved to the Ohio Territory, where Chapman worked on his father’s farm. He started an apprenticeship at a nearby apple orchard that began his journey of growing apple trees.
Chapman traveled around the region, helping people plant and grow apple trees. They were not the apples that most people are familiar with today. They were smaller bitter sour apples used in the making of hard cider. Because of the lack of fresh water, hard cider was safer to drink and was less likely to contain bacteria and diseases. The fact that a person could get drunk from it also helped in its popularity. Having apples to make cider was more of a necessity to survive the harsh conditions of the unsettled Midwest. John Chapman was well liked for his kindness and generosity, giving out seeds and helping people plant them. He acquired the nickname of Johnny Appleseed as he traveled around from homestead to homestead. Chapman traveled throughout the Midwest during his lifetime.
In 1834, he came to the Fort Wayne area and purchased land along the Maumee River for a nursery. While he was visiting a friend in Fort Wayne, he became ill and died in 1845. The exact date of his death is not certain, and a stone that is believed to mark his grave is located in a small park near the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Up on a small hill with two apple trees and a wrought iron fence is a memorial where people leave apples in his memory. The Johnny Appleseed Festival is held at the park every year on the third weekend in September.
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