Ca. 1950s. Back of postcard: Johnny Appleseed Motel, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Open Year Around--24 hours a day. Electric radiant heat. 12 rooms and 12 baths. Compare our rooms. Phone A-0929. Directions: Route 30 W. 2 blocks off busy Highway on 324 By-Pass or Routes 427, 1, 27 and 3 North. December 7, 2023 disscussion on Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne Private Facebook Group by the daughter of the original motel owner. Her postcard included a map on the back.
Johnny Appleseed, Fort Wayne, IN Old Fort News Vol. 9, Issue 1-2 (Mar 1945) ACPL Call #: 977.201 Al5hsd
John Chapman-Johnny Appleseed bur. place Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly Vol. 52, Issue 2 (Apr 1943) ACPL Call #: 977.1 Oh3. See Ohio Historical Journal articles above.
John Chapman-Johnny Appleseed bur. place Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly Vol. 52, Issue 3 (Jul 1943) ACPL Call #: 977.1 Oh3
Johnny Appleseed tribute, 1871, IN Settlers' Broadside Vol. 30, Issue 1 (Fal 2005) ACPL Call #: 977.201 Al5hsaa
Personal acquaintance of Johnny Appleseed recollections, his desire for a 10-12-year-old bride, 1898, Allen County Lines Vol. 40, Issue 1 (Sep 2015) ACPL Call #: 977.201 AL5acgw
Worth family and John Chapman-Johnny Appleseed burial, IN Old Fort News Vol. 66, Issue 1 (2003) ACPL Call #: 977.201 Al5hsd
John Chapman aka Johnny Appleseed biography, 1770s-1845, IN Old Fort News Vol. 66, Issue 1 (2003) ACPL Call #: 977.201 Al5hsd
John Chapman aka Johnny Appleseed family research, Chapman Cemetery connection, 1774+ Washington Vol. 29, Issue 3 (Sep 2012) ACPL Call #: 977.101 W27ogs
Johnny Appleseed in the
I Remember History online tour of Summit City history from the archives of
The News-Sentinel newspaperstates under the title Warning settlers of Indian activities:
By 1830, Johnny Appleseed had moved his base of operations to Indiana. The first real evidence of Johnny Appleseed's presence in Fort Wayne is from April and May of 1834. There are records of him paying $250 for two pieces of land along the Maumee River east of Fort Wayne.
John Dawson, a newspaper editor of that era, said John Chapman was in Fort Wayne as early as 1834.
Another historian said he was here in 1828 and planted a nursery on the west side of the St. Joseph River, north of Fort Wayne. Others say he visited here as early as 1822.
Fort Wayne appears to be the farthest west that John Chapman ever traveled. At least that's what we can prove from the land records and other such information.
Johnny Appleseed legends, however, have him visiting Daniel Boone in Kentucky and Abraham Lincoln in Illinois. One California woman claimed he planted the first apple orchards in her state.
In any event, by 1836, Johnny Appleseed had completed his move from Mansfield, Ohio, to Fort Wayne, and from that time on he considered himself a resident of Allen County.
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. Obituary part legend... part truth
His death notice ran in the March 22, 1845, Fort Wayne Sentinel, as seen at right. It said, in part, "Died at an advanced age, Mr. John Chapman (better known as Johnny Appleseed). His death was quite sudden. We saw him on our streets only a day or two previous." John Chapman would have been 70 at the time.
Most agree Chapman died of a disease that newspaper editor Dawson called "the winter plague," which was probably a kind of pneumonia. Most also agree he died at the home of a Mr. Worth near the St. Joseph River.
Johnny Appleseed 'Rotarian Tramping through the wilderness of early America, he blazed a trail of selfless service. By James Cloyd Bowman, author and novelis; Rotarian, St. Petersburg, Fla. on page 30-31 of the April, 1957 The Rotarian.
Some of Johnny Appleseed's land still a farm by Nancy Vendrely in her Yesterdays column in the People insert was published May 21, 1996 in The Journal Gazette newspaper. Chester and Sally Green owned 40 acres of land owned by Johnny Appleseed his shed with foundation stones used to be on the Eel River Township farm. Not online, but should be on microfilm at
The Genealogy Center at the
Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
At age 85, sculptor Hector Garcia wants to live long enough to make Fort Wayne’s first serious public work depicting John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. ... Garcia envisions a non-Disney-fied John Chapman in a four-by-four bronze relief plaque that could go on the wall at the entrance to Parkview Field. .... His other works include Little Turtle in Headwaters Park and Jesuit Priest where the city’s three rivers meet. Copied from Where’s Johnny? A sculptor wants to immortalize 'the real' Johnny Appleseed in downtown Fort Wayne by Ann Votaw published March 13, 2019 on Input Fort Wayne.
Johnny Appleseed: The facts and mythsHank Fincken portrays colorful, eccentric Johnny Appleseed at schools, festivals and special events.(Originally aired on Nov. 14, 2009) His real name was John Chapman. He probably died in 1845 in Allen County, where the largest city, Fort Wayne, now celebrates a popular Johnny Appleseed Festival every autumn. Did he wear a saucepan on his head, as depicted in Walt Disney cartoons? What were the facts, and what were the myths or embellishments, about the folk hero of the Indiana frontier known as Johnny Appleseed? To enlighten us, one of the country's foremost experts on Johnny Appleseed joins Nelson in studio. His guest is Indianapolis-based re-enactor and playwright Hank Fincken, who has spent decades researching Appleseed/Chapman. Hank portrays colorful, eccentric Johnny Appleseed at schools, festivals and special events. Posted May 20, 2017 in the Archives of Hoosier History Live podcast on Saturdays, noon to 1 p.m. ET on WICR 88.7 FM and an August 11, 2022 post on Facebook.
The Johnny Appleseed Educational Center and Museum 518 College Way, Urbana, Ohio holds the largest collection of memorabilia and written information about the life of John “Appleseed” Chapman in the world.
An interesting comment by Charlie Savage November 13, 2021 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook stated: Thanks for this group which I just stumbled across. I will contribute this fact re Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) who definitely died in Fort Wayne but may not actually be buried in the old Archer family cemetery at the park by the Coliseum. There are lots of sanitized and feel-good myths about Chapman/Appleseed, but the real history is more interesting than what we were taught as children. He wasn’t selling/spreading apple seeds and seedlings that yielded wholesome fruit that pioneers ate to keep the doctor away, but rather an inedible strain that was only good for fermenting into hard cider. (Settlers called hard cider “applejack” - not sure how a kids’ cereal ended up with that name but it echoes the Disneyfication of Chapman). In short, he got famous for helping settlers get drunk. He was also kind of crazy. Best account I have seen is the apple chapter of “The Botany of Desire” by Michael Pollan. The novelist Tracy Chevalier, better known for “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” wrote a novel about the tough lives of settlers in this region (or northwest Ohio) in the early 19th Century before the Great Black Swamp was drained, called “At the Edge of the Orchard.” Alcoholism plays a major role and a character is a more realistic portrait of Chapman. In a comment he shared this article: The Real Johnny Appleseed Brought Apples—and Booze—to the American Frontier The apples John Chapman brought to the frontier were very different than today’s apples—and they weren’t meant to be eaten Natasha Geiling November 10, 2014 on Smithsonian Magazine.
Johnny Appleseed: The Man, the Myth, the American Story by City of Allen - ACTV Jul 16, 2015 one hour video on YouTube
Learn more about John Chapman, the frontier nurseryman who became the basis for folk legend Johnny Appleseed. Biographer Howard Means (Johnny Appleseed: The Man, the Myth, the American Story) explores the facts behind Chapman and the Johnny Appleseed mythology. It is the tale of two men — one real and one invented — the period in which they lived, how they have been used in our national story, and what they symbolize.
Johnny Appleseed: Man Behind the Legend by The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered May 27, 2020 on YouTubeUsually portrayed as a lanky man wearing a long-handled pot on his head and spreading apple seeds, the real Johnny Appleseed was a shrewd businessman and religious zealot who played an important role in U.S. westward expansion effort. The History Guy explores the reality underlying the character of American folklore. This is the forgotten history of the man, John Chapman, behind the legend of Johnny Appleseed. This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
