So not only is he a self-made man, frontiersman, naturalist, and all the things that would make him an American legend, but his eccentricity led to everyone on the western frontier having a “Johnny Appleseed” story- he is said to have had long black hair and piercing blue eyes. Legend had it that he wore a tin pot on his head that could double as a mush pot (a minor league affiliate of the San Diego Padres in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is called the “tin caps” as an homage to Johnny Appleseed). He was a nomad- never had a home himself and would often trade stories for a meal or floor to sleep on. And apples were helpful, not only as a source of sugar but for making cider- mashed and fermented apples made a cider that was safe to drink and had less alcoholic content than corn-based beverages.
As people traveled westward and set up homesteads, he would travel ahead of them, plant apple trees, and sell them to the new inhabitants. When he was 18, he convinced his half-brother to travel west with him- and his plan wasn’t to just plant apple trees willy nilly, but instead, he had a business plan. John Chapman was born on this day in 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts- he was baptized a year later with his sister in the local Congregational church. It’s a fascinating story wrapped up in American lore, the peculiar Church of the New Jerusalem, and the teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg. Well, it just so happens that today, the 26th of September, is the anniversary of the birth of John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed.
Back in the early days of the show, listener and friend Alice asked about the story of Johnny Appleseed- mentioning that he was some kind of self-appointed missionary and part of the Swedenborgian movement. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at I’m Dan van Voorhis.Īll right, today we don’t have a traditional mailbag but stick with me. *** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***
0 kommentar(er)
