Lewis LeMaster column: Did Johnny Appleseed plant trees in Muskingum County?

Jonathan Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on Sept. 26, 1774. By 1797, the year Zanesville was founded, he was planting what we believe to be his first nursery along Brokenstraw Creek in Pennsylvania. According to a Wikipedia article, eventually he “introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and present-day Ontario, as well as the northern counties of present-day West Virginia.”

No doubt Chapman was looked upon by many settlers as a rather strange individual. Supposedly he cut holes in old coffee sacks to use for clothing and, at times, a tin pan served as a hat as well as a cooking utensil. Often he wore no shoes. Occasionally, even during the winter, he would sleep in the woods. According to one story, Appleseed had a pet wolf who began following him after he had treated the animal's injured leg.

Rosella Rice, writing in the "1863 History of Ashland County, Ohio," is quoted in a Wikipedia article: “His personal appearance was as singular as his character. He was a small, 'chunked' man, quick and restless in his opinions and conversation; his beard, though not long, was unshaven, and his hair was long and dark, and his eyes black and sparkling.”

Johnny Appleseed did not grow hybrid trees, perhaps because he believed if God had wanted such kinds of plants He would have made them. The apples collected from Johnny's trees were small and tart and were called “spitters” by many. For a person was likely to spit out a bite of apple once he or she had tasted it. However, these apples made excellent cider. No doubt many early settlers were feeling no pain thanks to the liquid refreshment made from Johnny's fruit.

Did Chapman visit our area?

According to local historian Thomas W. Lewis, in "Zanesville and Muskingum County" (p. 814), “Johnny Appleseed was one of the most unique, worthy and useful men that ever visited the Muskingum Valley in pioneer times. The path which he traveled on his journeys back and forth between Western Pennsylvania and Central Ohio lay through Muskingum County and the county was the beneficiary of some of his unique but highly practical services in behalf of the pioneer and his immediate descendants.”

The article continued: “Thence he would float down to Marietta with his precious freight (apple seeds from cider mills in Pennsylvania) and once there the valley of the Muskingum offered him opportunities that he took advantage of freely. It was a relatively favorable highway of travel between the Pennsylvania orchards and the spots in Ohio that he desired to visit. His work in Ohio began in 1806.”

Did Chapman plant trees in Muskingum County?

Robert Price, in his book, "Johnny Appleseed: Man and Myth," makes no mention of any nurseries in this county, although he speaks of orchards in Morgan and Licking counties. In a Times Recorder article dated Sept. 23, 1962, local historian Norris F. Schneider added: “Undoubtedly, he (Chapman) traveled up and down the river and carried apple seeds along Zane's Trace. But he made no known reference to Zanesville.” In his well-known book, "Y Bridge City," Schneider stated: “Johnny Appleseed probably planted in this county some of the apple trees he raised from seed.”

The aforementioned historian, Thomas W. Lewis, believed at least a few of Chapman's trees were planted here: “At first he planted the seeds in secluded spots in many sections of this valley and later he did the same in the regions drained by the upper Muskingum and its headwaters and at length he worked westward to the Ohio-Indiana border.”

Chapman was not impressed by Newark

Although we are not certain how many trees (if any) Chapman grew in this county, we do know he planted them in Richland, Knox, Ashland, Coshocton and Licking counties. Evidently, he had visited Newark in Licking County on several occasions but did not believe it was the best of towns. Referring to the Price book, Schneider said Johnny Appleseed believed hell must be pretty much like early Newark. Perhaps it's a good thing Chapman never mentioned Zanesville.

Appleseed did not abandon his trees after planting them. He would regularly visit his nurseries to make certain the trees were healthy and growing. Once the trees were ready for sale, he would appoint a local citizen to sell them at a modest price. The very poor were given trees at no cost.

In 1880, Lydia Maria Child wrote the following poem: “In cities, some said the old man was crazy / While others said he was only lazy; / But he took no notice of gibes and jeers, / He knew he was working for future years / And if they inquire whence came such trees / Where not a bough once swayed in the breeze, / The answer still comes, as they travel on, / “These trees were planted by Apple-Seed John.”

Different dates are given for his death, but the most accepted one is March 18, 1845, at Fort Wayne, Indiana. Although we know he is buried at Fort Wayne, the actual site is disputed.

John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, spent much of his life serving the pioneers as they moved westward. The apples from his trees helped nourish the pioneers and the generation that succeeded them. No doubt Chapman traveled numerous times through Muskingum County and he probably planted some of his trees here.

Lewis LeMaster is a retired school teacher of the Zanesville area.

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Did Johnny Appleseed plant trees in Muskingum County?