{"id":6966,"date":"2014-04-25T15:57:32","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T15:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=6966"},"modified":"2024-04-25T10:44:54","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T14:44:54","slug":"are-you-related-to-john-chapman-a-k-a-johnny-appleseed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/are-you-related-to-john-chapman-a-k-a-johnny-appleseed.html","title":{"rendered":"Are You Related to John Chapman, a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>Introduction<\/em><\/strong><em>: In this article, to celebrate today being National Arbor Day, Mary\u00a0Harrell-Sesniak explores the family tree\u2014and some of the stories\u2014of the legendary Johnny Appleseed. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In honor of today being National Arbor Day, let\u2019s explore the life, legacy and ancestry of John Chapman, who is more widely known by his nickname \u201cJohnny Appleseed\u201d (26 September 1774 &#8211; 18 March 1845). Although the famous American arborist never had children of his own, his New England ancestry has several items of interest.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6967\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6967\" style=\"width: 351px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/illustration-0425-2014-johnny-appleseed.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6967\" title=\"illustration-0425-2014-johnny-appleseed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/illustration-0425-2014-johnny-appleseed.png\" alt=\"drawing of Johnny Appleseed\" width=\"351\" height=\"586\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/illustration-0425-2014-johnny-appleseed.png 351w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/illustration-0425-2014-johnny-appleseed-179x300.png 179w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 351px) 100vw, 351px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6967\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Illustration: Johnny Appleseed, from H. S. Knapp\u2019s 1862 book \u201cA History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County.\u201d Source: Wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Johnny Appleseed\u2019s Family<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Born as John Chapman in Leominster, Massachusetts, Johnny was the son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Simonds) Chapman, who married on 8 February 1770. (See <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Johnny_Appleseed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Johnny_Appleseed<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>He had one older sister, Elizabeth, and a younger brother named Nathaniel (or Nathanael), both named after their parents. Johnny shares a name with his grandfather John Chapman (1714 &#8211; 1761), who passed away about 13 years prior to his birth.<\/p>\n<p>Johnny\u2019s life with his mother was short-lived. She died in 1776 shortly after giving birth to his brother Nathaniel.<\/p>\n<p>Familysearch.org has several references to Johnny Appleseed\u2019s family tree in their databases:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>His mother Elizabeth Simonds was born on 2 February 1748\/49, the daughter of James and Anna Lawrance (or Lawrence). James and Anna\u2019s marriage occurred in Woburn, Massachusetts, on 12 May 1740. (See <a href=\"https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/FZ8X-ZMW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/FZ8X-ZMW<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/FHVV-F6B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/FHVV-F6B<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li>Johnny\u2019s father Nathaniel Chapman was born on 13 September 1746 in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, the son of John and Martha Chapman. From other research, we learn that Martha\u2019s maiden name was Perley. (See <a href=\"https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/F4GG-GGQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/F4GG-GGQ<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li>Johnny\u2019s sister Elizabeth was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on 18 November 1770. Johnny was born there on 26 September 1774. The birth of his brother Nathanael on 26 June 1776 was also in Leominster. (See <a href=\"https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/FZ8X-4VJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/FZ8X-4VJ<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/FZ8K-JHT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/FZ8K-JHT<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Within the context of history, several events framed the circumstances in the family\u2019s life\u2014most notably the American Revolution and the settling of Ohio.<\/p>\n<p>Johnny\u2019s father Nathaniel was a Minuteman who fought at the Battle of Concord on 19 April 1775, and later served in a more official capacity.<\/p>\n<p>Four years after his mother died, Johnny\u2019s father remarried. On 24 July 1780 Nathaniel Chapman married his second wife: Lucy Cooley, daughter of George and Martha (Hancock) Cooley. Lucy became the maternal figure in Johnny\u2019s life, but since she bore an additional 10 children, her focus may not have been on Johnny. (See <a href=\"https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/FC8R-64G\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/familysearch.org\/pal:\/MM9.1.1\/FC8R-64G<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnny\u2019s Younger Life &amp; First Plantings<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No documents chronicle the facts of Johnny\u2019s younger life, despite much having been written speculating about his passion for apple trees. Some theories are that his father, a farmer, instilled a love of trees in his son\u2014resulting in Johnny becoming the nation\u2019s premier nurseryman\/arborist on the frontier.<\/p>\n<p>Johnny lived a life of devout faith and considered himself a missionary of Swedish native Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 &#8211; 1772). (See <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Emanuel_Swedenborg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Emanuel_Swedenborg<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Some accounts report that Johnny used apple seeds from Potomac cider mills for his first plantings, located in the Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania. He may have lived in Pittsburgh around 1794 during the time of the Whiskey Rebellion\u2014a farmers\u2019 uprising against paying taxes on the whiskey they made from grain and corn.<\/p>\n<p>As land opened up the family ventured west to the frontier of Ohio, settling in Monroe Township. Johnny is thought to have joined them by 1805, although he may have gone there earlier, planting apple trees. Some trees he gave away, or bartered to pioneer settlers for useful implements. When he sold trees, it was reportedly for the sum of a \u201cfippenny\u201d or \u201cfip-penny-bit,\u201d the equivalent of about six cents a tree\u2014as explained in this newspaper article.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6968\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6968\" style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/kalamazoo-gazette-newspaper-0427-1898-fippenny.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6968\" title=\"kalamazoo-gazette-newspaper-0427-1898-fippenny\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/kalamazoo-gazette-newspaper-0427-1898-fippenny.png\" alt=\"Money of the Past, Kalamazoo Gazette newspaper article 27 April 1898\" width=\"240\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/kalamazoo-gazette-newspaper-0427-1898-fippenny.png 240w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/kalamazoo-gazette-newspaper-0427-1898-fippenny-142x300.png 142w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6968\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kalamazoo Gazette (Kalamazoo, Michigan), 27 April 1898, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Fact or Fiction: Was Johnny Appleseed Truly an Eccentric?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After his death, newspapers described Johnny as an eccentric with shabby dress. Some accounts report that he used a tin pot as a hat, and these descriptions are colorful, if somewhat exaggerated. For example, this 1891 newspaper article states:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>One of the quaintest, queerest and most original characters that ever trod the trackless wastes of the western wilderness was Jonathan Chapman, known as old Johnny Appleseed\u2026His pinched and grizzled features were covered by a growth of very shaggy beard. His hair was quite long and very much faded by constant exposure to wind and weather&#8230;But old Johnny\u2019s crowning glory was an old tin mush pot that had a long handle. This battered old culinary utensil he wore for a hat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6969\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6969\" style=\"width: 441px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/people-newspaper-0823-1891-johnny-appleseed.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6969\" title=\"people-newspaper-0823-1891-johnny-appleseed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/people-newspaper-0823-1891-johnny-appleseed.png\" alt=\"article about Johnny Appleseed, People newspaper article 23 August 1891\" width=\"441\" height=\"591\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/people-newspaper-0823-1891-johnny-appleseed.png 441w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/people-newspaper-0823-1891-johnny-appleseed-223x300.png 223w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 441px) 100vw, 441px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6969\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">People (New York, New York), 23 August 1891, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This 1857 newspaper article describes how Johnny purchased his seeds in large quantities from nurseries near the Ohio River.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6970\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6970\" style=\"width: 428px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/sandusky-register-newspaper-0917-1857-johnny-appleseed.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6970\" title=\"sandusky-register-newspaper-0917-1857-johnny-appleseed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/sandusky-register-newspaper-0917-1857-johnny-appleseed.png\" alt=\"article about Johnny Appleseed, Sandusky Register newspaper article 17 September 1857\" width=\"428\" height=\"519\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/sandusky-register-newspaper-0917-1857-johnny-appleseed.png 428w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/sandusky-register-newspaper-0917-1857-johnny-appleseed-247x300.png 247w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 428px) 100vw, 428px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6970\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandusky Register (Sandusky, Ohio), 17 September 1857, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Johnny\u2019s Death<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Johnny Appleseed died on 18 March 1845, at the age of 70. A transcription of his obituary from the <em>Fort Wayne Sentinel<\/em> of 22 March 1845 was located at the Obit of the day website. It seems to confirm that the old adage from Benjamin Franklin was really true: \u201cAn apple a day keeps the doctor away!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Appleseed\u2019s obituary states:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>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 [70] years at the time of his death\u2014though no person would have judged from his appearance that he was 60.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Are You Related to Johnny Appleseed?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a plant lover or self-described arborist, I\u2019d like to plant some seeds about kinship to Johnny Appleseed. He has ancestral connections to many early American settlers of the Northeast. According to numerous online family trees, the surnames in Johnny\u2019s extended family include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Barker<\/li>\n<li>Blodgett<\/li>\n<li>Carter<\/li>\n<li>Chandler<\/li>\n<li>Chapman<\/li>\n<li>Davis<\/li>\n<li>Dresser<\/li>\n<li>Eggleton<\/li>\n<li>Fowle<\/li>\n<li>Green<\/li>\n<li>Jasper<\/li>\n<li>King<\/li>\n<li>Lawrence<\/li>\n<li>Morse<\/li>\n<li>Perley<\/li>\n<li>Phippen or Phipping<\/li>\n<li>Richardson<\/li>\n<li>Simonds or Symonds<\/li>\n<li>Smith<\/li>\n<li>Stearns<\/li>\n<li>Stone<\/li>\n<li>Tarbell<\/li>\n<li>Thorley<\/li>\n<li>Trumbull<\/li>\n<li>Walter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And if you explore reports of his famous cousins, Johnny Appleseed is connected to many former residents of our nation\u2019s White House, including: First Lady Abigail (Smith) Adams, John Quincy Adams, Barbara (Pierce) Bush, George H. W. Bush, George Bush, Calvin Coolidge, Lucretia (Randolph) Garfield, Richard Nixon and William Howard Taft.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/famouskin.com\/famous_kin_menu.php?name=8780+johnny+appleseed\">Famouskin.com<\/span> reports a kinship relationship with suffragette <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/tag\/susan-b-anthony\">Susan B. Anthony<\/a>, nurse <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/tag\/clara-barton\">Clara Barton<\/a>, Wild Bill Hickok, actress Raquel Welch, and Walt Disney, among others.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on John Chapman\u2019s life, see:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.urbana.edu\/resources\/community\/johnny-appleseed.html\">The Johnny Appleseed Education Center &amp; Museum<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.findagrave.com\/cgi-bin\/fg.cgi?page=gr&amp;GRid=1848\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Findagrave memorial for Johnny Appleseed<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Johnny Appleseed\u2019s Last Surviving Tree<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since Johnny had no progeny of his own, it seems appropriate to commemorate his last surviving tree. This 1961 newspaper article has a long feature on Johnny which I recommend reading, including a picture of \u201cthe last surviving apple tree planted by Johnny Appleseed.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6971\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6971\" style=\"width: 542px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/plain-dealer-newspaper-0530-1961-johnny-appleseed-last-tree.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6971\" title=\"plain-dealer-newspaper-0530-1961-johnny-appleseed-last-tree\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/plain-dealer-newspaper-0530-1961-johnny-appleseed-last-tree.png\" alt=\"a photo of the last surviving apple tree planted by Johnny Appleseed, Plain Dealer newspaper article 30 May 1961\" width=\"542\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/plain-dealer-newspaper-0530-1961-johnny-appleseed-last-tree.png 542w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/plain-dealer-newspaper-0530-1961-johnny-appleseed-last-tree-300x256.png 300w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/plain-dealer-newspaper-0530-1961-johnny-appleseed-last-tree-351x300.png 351w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 542px) 100vw, 542px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6971\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 30 May 1961, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I hope you\u2019ll celebrate National Arbor Day by eating an apple or drinking cider. Who knows\u2014the fruit may be a descendant from one of Johnny Appleseed\u2019s famous trees!<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re related to John Chapman, please tell us how your family is connected in the comments section.<\/p>\n<p>Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/sign-up\">Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak explores the family tree \u2013 and some of the stories \u2013 of the legendary Johnny Appleseed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":30781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12235],"tags":[6713,6823,6822],"class_list":["post-6966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-american-history","tag-john-chapman","tag-johnny-appleseed"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/illustration-0425-2014-featured-graphic-johnny-appleseed.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6966"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98777,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6966\/revisions\/98777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}