We have been inundated with phone calls, faxes, telegrams, instant messages, tweets and e-mails inquiring about Episode No.5 in the 10 part W & D's "DO YOU KNOW...." series run in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in 1937 for Throwback Thursday. We say Sooooooorrrrry, we were filling our heads with knowledge yesterday to meet the bi-annual requirement of 24 continuing education credits for professional land surveyors. That being said, here it is! Enjoy friends!
Johnny Appleseed died in 1845, 71 years later a memorial stone was erected in 1916, 58 years later the Johnny Appleseed Festival started in 1974.
Johnny Appleseed was a colorful pioneer of the Indiana frontier in the early 1800's. There is conflicting information on his death date with some sources saying he died in 1847, others say in 1845. The Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel newspaper article Saturday March 22, 1845 shown above shows he died March 18, 1845, while The History Center has his death notice. He may have attended Methodist church services that became the Saint Joseph United Methodist Church when they held services along the Saint Joseph River. His funeral was officiated by the Methodist circuit rider preacher according to the church history which occupied an existing school house a half mile east of the river by 1863 and since 1957 is located a mile east on the northeast corner of St. Joe Center and Reed Roads. A September 16, 1916 newspaper article interview of Hiriam Porter at age 91 was the only person still living at that time who knew Johnny Appleseed stated: I am the only person living who attended his burial. There was no real funeral. There was no minister. Several of us who were his friends got him a coffin and stood around when he was lowered into the grave. Porter was a school teacher who lived in St. Joseph Township around the St. Joe Road area on the Porter family farm and taught at the St. Joe Center school.
The first crowdsourced book about Indiana, to be published in fall 2016 for the Indiana 2016 Bicentennial:
In honor of the Johnny Appleseed Festival this weekend, here's a story about Johnny Appleseed from Allen County historian Tom Castaldi:
Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman
John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed, serves as an example of a part of the religious fervor on the western frontier in the years before the Civil War. The legends and tales about him that grew even in his own lifetime rivaled those of his contemporaries, Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. Like them, Chapman’s career in the wilderness as a preacher and Good Samaritan quickly got caught up in the American imagination.
Johnny Appleseed had been on the frontier for several decades before coming to Fort Wayne, possibly as early as 1822. Already many stories were told of this gentle man’s propagation of fruit trees in odd plots of land all over the Pennsylvania and Ohio wilderness, his love of wildlife, and the awe in which the Indians held him up as a powerful medicine man. He repeated the Bible verse “refresh me with apples” declaring “with apples shall men be comforted in the wilderness of the West.” A holy man he was, for his principal aim was to bring, “some news right fresh from heaven” as he read from the Beatitudes to the settlers he visited in cabins in the forest telling of the spiritual happiness he enjoyed through the teachings of the Church of New Jerusalem.
One eyewitness described Johnny Appleseed’s appearance when he came to Fort Wayne as, “simply clad, in truth clad like a beggar. His refined features told of his intelligence, even though seen through the gray stubble that covered his face since he cut his hair and beard with scissors. Johnny was serious, his speech clean, free from slang or profanity. He traveled on foot – sometimes with just one shoe or two different kinds of boots.” Some descriptions have him wearing his cooking pot for a hat, at times with other parts of hats – the crown or the brim – on top of his tin cap. Other biographers claim that because his mush-pot hat did not protect his eyes from the bright sun well enough that he fashioned one made of pasteboard with a large peak in front. Although his eccentric appearance occasionally caused anxiety or even alarm in some people, by and large, he was well liked for his sincere and kind ways.
Exceptionally strong for his tall slim frame, one pioneer observed that Johnny Appleseed was able to get more work done clearing the forests in one day than most men could finish in two. Above all else, however, he was appreciated for his great ability to tell stories about his church, of his many adventures on the frontier, his narrow escapes in the wilderness, his dealings with the Indians, and his association with the wildlife of the Midwest, from bears to wasps.
He showed a great reverence for all life, including the lowly insects. One story often told was that when he was being stung by a hornet that had crawled into his shirt, he carefully removed his shirt to allow the creature to go on its way unharmed rather than kill the stinging nuisance. On another occasion, he put out his evening campfire to avoid the possibility of the moths being destroyed in the flames. He was known to have purchased an aged horse from a pioneer who was continuing to put the creature to work, in order that the animal could spend its last days peacefully at pasture. A settler once described him saying that he was like, “good St. Francis, the little brother of the birds and the little brother of the beasts.”
Johnny Appleseed died in 1845 at the age of 71. He had been protecting his saplings from some cows that had broken down the fence of one of his orchards just north of Fort Wayne. He was overcome by his exertions and succumbed to what the people of the time called the “winter plague.” He was buried along the St. Joseph River and the old feeder canal bed on the Archer farm but the actual site is not known today; a commemorative marker sits atop the hill in present-day Johnny Appleseed Park, which was once the Archer family cemetery. Each year during the Fort Wayne festival that bears his name, visitors remember the comfort John Chapman brought to the west, for around his memorial children fondly place their gifts of apples.
Photo of Johnny Appleseed's gravestone by Kevin M. Brooks.
Their are two local newspaper articles May 3, 1914 and May 10, 1914 titled Two Men in Fort Wayne Were Present at Appleseed Funeral discussing a personal recollection from attending the funeral, a Johnny Appleseed memorial commission on May 1, 1956 here in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with the original at Ohio State University, referencing many early publications, along with the 94-page National Register of Historic Places application listing sources, and the 1978 Steven Fortriede book which also lists many sources including courthouse records that are most likely among the best sources of accurate historical data.
Many popular sources list his death date as March 11, 1845 while local sources list March 18, 1845.
On page 22 in the 1978 Steven Fortriede book which appears to be the definitive book on Johnny Appleseed listing his sources states: The date of Johnny's death can be established with reasonable certainty then lists why.
March 18, 2019 post by The History Center on Facebook: When John Chapman died on March 18, 1845, his obituary was published in the Fort Wayne Sentinel, stating that “He followed the occupation of a nurseryman and has been a regular visitor here upwards of twenty years…”
March 18, 2023 post by the Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook: #OTD in 1845, pioneering apple farmer John Chapman, better known as "Johnny Appleseed," died near Fort Wayne.
Saturday, March 22, 1845 Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, page 2, copied in 2013 from microfilm at the Allen County Public Library.
DIED--In this city, on Tuesday last, Mr. Thomas McJanet, stone cutter, aged 54 years, a native of Girven, Ayrshire, Scotland.
On the same day in this neighborhood at an advanced age, Mr. John Chapman (better known as Johnny Appleseed).
The deceased was well known through this region by his eccentricity, and the strange garb he usually wore. He followed the occupation of a nurseryman, and has been a regular visitor here upwards of 10 years. He was a native of Pennsylvania we understand but his home - if home he had - for some years past was in the neighborhood of Cleveland where he has relatives living. He is supposed to have considerable property, yet denied himself almost the common necessities of life - not so much perhaps for avarice as from his peculiar notions on religious subjects. He was a follow of Swedenborg and devoutly believed that the more he endured in this world the less he would have to suffer and the greater would be his happiness hereafter - he submitted to every privation with cheerfulness and content, believing that in so doing he was securing snug quarters hereafter.
In the most inclement weather he might be seen barefooted and almost naked except when he chanced to pick up articles of old clothing. Notwithstanding the privations and exposure he endured he lived to an extreme old age, not less than 80 years at the time of his death - though no person would have judged from his appearance that he was 60. He always carried with him some work on the doctrines of Swedenborg with which he was perfectly familiar, and would readily converse and argue on his tenets, using much shrewdness and penetration.
His death was quite sudden. He was seen on our streets a day or two previous.
The Fort Wayne Sentinel newspaper printed his death notice on Saturday, March 22, 1845.
An article Johnny Appleseed in the archives of the The News-Sentinel newspaper references this Death Notice stating: Most believe Johnny Appleseed died March 12, 1845, and was buried on the mound in the old Archer family cemetery, where the memorial to him stands today. No other sources seen so far list the date 12.
I. H. W. Jones, the County Auditor authorized a January 1848 estate sale in the notice shown below from the March 18, 2019 post by The History Center on Facebook.
John W. Dawson, who came to Fort Wayne in 1836, knew Johnny Appleseed personally, and was 25 years old when Johnny Appleseed died. He was 51 years old when he published October 21-23, 1871 in the Fort Wayne Sentinel several articles about Johnny Appleseed reprinted on pages 1-6 of the Johnny Appleseed Memorial Commission shown above. He states it is certain Johnny Appleseed came to Allen County by 1830.
Page 5 states Johnny Appleseed died on March 11, 1845 [documents indicate death date is March 18, 1845] at the house of William Worth in St. Joseph township, Allen Co., Ind., on the land now owned by Jesse Cole, on the Feeder canal, and was buried in a reasonable time thereafter, at the family burning ground set apart by David Archer, deceased, now owned by Mr. Emanuel Rudisill and may be seen by the passer-up the towing path of the feeder, occupying a beautiful natural mound. At the east side of this mound, near its foot, Johnny Appleseed was buried, and a stone was then put up to mark the spot, by our townsman, Saml. C. Fletter, who attended his dying hours, dressed his body, laid it out and made his coffin. These are indisputable, and are in general confirmed by the papers on file in the Probate Court.
Page 15Monuments and Memorials item 7 says the granite stone marker placed on grave by Optimist Club of Fort Wayne May 26, 1935. The stone was taken from the Slinck farm ten miles down the Maumee river below Fort Wayne where Johnny Appleseed had a nursery of 15,000 apple trees when he died. The stone has the carving of an apple and an open bible inscribed Holy Bible. Between the apple and the bible are the following words: Johnny Appleseed, John Chapman. He lived for others. A copper plate, made by pupils of the James H. Smart School was placed on the fence to correct the dates. Johnny Appleseed John Chapman b. September 26, 1774; d. March 18, 1845.
Page 16Official Action - December 27, 1934 - The Johnny Appleseed Memorial Commission made a report upon the location of the grave of Johnny Appleseed. The commission invited those interested in the controversy to submit evidence. Both oral and written evidence was submitted. Their decision was summed up in the following words. The members of the commission do not recommend a change in the accepted location of the grave of Johnny Appleseed. The accepted location is the Archer Burying Ground.
Page 22, chapter VI. Death and Burial in the book: Johnny Appleseed: the man behind the myth by Fortriede, Steven, Publication date 1978 on Archive.org. Steven Fortriede discusses Johnny's death date and the obituary posted above. Includes bibliographical references.
The date of Johnny's death can be established with reasonable certainty. In 1934 his obituary notice was rediscovered in the March 22, 1845, edition of the Fort Wayne Sentinel by Miss Eva Peck of the Fort Wayne Public Library. The obituary reads in part, "Died- -in this city on Tuesday last (March 18) Mr. Thomas MC Janet ... On the same day, in this neighborhood, at an advanced age, Mr. John Chapman (better known by the name of Johnny Appleseed.)" After a few laudatory remarks the notice concluded, "His death was quite sudden. We saw him on our streets only a day or two previous." [ see March 22, 1845 Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel copy above ]
The fact that the Sentinel did not give the exact date of death has supported the belief that the actual date was the "Tuesday last" of the previous week, March 11. However, the Fort Wayne Times and Peoples Press of March 22, also ran an obituary, not of John, but of the Thomas Mcjanet referred to by the Sentinel with these words, "Died- -In this city on the 18th . . . Mr. Thomas Mcjanet." This confirms that John did indeed die on March 18, 1845.
Steven Carl Fortriederetired as associate director of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after more than forty years in the library profession. Copied from the ALAstore American Library Association.
Have you been to an apple orchard? The roots of today’s orchards in Allen County reach back to the efforts of early pioneer John Chapman (popularly known as Johnny Appleseed). Born in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1774, Chapman was a frontier horticulturalist and Swedenborgian missionary. Having previously visited the region, in the fall of 1830 he began purchasing land in Allen County in order to establish permanent apple orchards. When John Chapman died on March 18, 1845, his obituary was published in the Fort Wayne Sentinel, stating that “He followed the occupation of a nurseryman and has been a regular visitor here upwards of twenty years…” Following his death, several of his properties were sold by the county auditor, due to the fact that he owed back taxes. The properties, 48 acres in Milan Township and 116 acres in Maumee Township were sold in 1848 and 1849, respectively. In 1916, a decorative iron fence was erected by the Indiana Horticultural Society around the gravesite in Archer (Cemetery) Park, traditionally held to be Chapman’s final resting place. In 1935 the Optimist Club of Fort Wayne placed a headstone on the gravesite to honor the beloved early pioneer. Today, the 174th anniversary of his death, the History Center commemorates the man who would be known to the ages as the legendary Johnny Appleseed. #sociallyhistory
#OTD in 1845, pioneering apple farmer John Chapman, better known as "Johnny Appleseed," died near Fort Wayne. He had been protecting his saplings from cows that had broken down the fence of one of his orchards just north of Fort Wayne. Overcome by his exertions, he succumbed to the “winter plague.” Appleseed was buried along the St. Joseph River and the old feeder canal bed on the Archer farm.
Page 371 JOHNNIE APPLESEED, HIS HANDWRITING AND HIS BURIAL, PLACE. John Chapman, known as "Johnnie Appleseed," died at the home of William Worth, near Fort Wayne, in 1843. "The historical account of his death and his burial by the Worths and their neighbors, the Pettits, the Goings, Porters, Notestines, Beckets, Parkers, Witesides, Pechons, Hatfelds, Parrants, Ballards, Randsells and the Archers, in the Archer burial ground, is substantially correct," wrote John Archer in 1900. "The common headboards used in those days long since have 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 locating the grave." The burying ground is located a few rods west of Stop 3, on the Robison park electric line. "Johnnie Appleseed" is the hero of many interesting works of fiction dealing with the story of his life, which was spent in planting apple trees throughout the wilderness of the middle west. The portrait and the facsimile of an order for apple trees are after engravings which accompanied an article by E. O. Randall in Vol. IX of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical society publications. A bronze tablet dedicated to the memory of Johnnie Appleseed was placed in Swinney park. Fort Wayne, in May, 1916.
Page 373 He died on the 11th of March, 1843, at the home of William Worth, and the body, placed in a plain board coffin, was interred in the Archer burying ground. Mr. Porter accompanied his parents and witnessed the burial. The exact location of the burial spot was forgotten and it remained unknown until 1912 when the remains, together with a fragment of the box, were discovered while digging a grave. They were replaced, and the second body was placed directly above them. The Archer burying ground is a small piece of ground located at "Stop 3" on the electric line running between Fort Wayne and Robison park.
A May 4, 1916 newspaper article stated: Probably the most nearly authentic account of John Chapman and his work is found in the Historic Annals of Ohio, published by the Ohio Archaeological and Historical society in 1861.
