Johnny Appleseed Birthplace - Leominster, Massachusetts - Roadside Attractions on Waymarking.com

Nestled among trees along a quiet residential side street, is a plot of land researched, purchased, and built up by the Leominster Historical Society to honor Johnny Appleseed. There is a stone monument, an informational sign, and a miniature replica of a log cabin in this small area.

The light gray stone monument is engraved and sits closest to the road. On the front at the top edge there is a carved silhouette of Johnny Appleseed striding, fully, along flat ground towards the right. Left arm entirely extended forward and slightly upwards above shoulder height, palm wide open, he is dropping a flurry of seeds which reach from his hand continuously to the ground. Two trees in the background frame his walking figure. Below the scene is engraved:

NEAR THIS SITE WAS BORN
JOHN CHAPMAN
KNOWN AS
JOHNNY APPLESEED
SEPT, 26, 1774 — MAR. 18, 1845
LEOMINSTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1963

The reverse is engraved with:

LOCATED BY
FLORENCE E. WHEELER
1935

The informational sign is a few steps beyond the monument and further from the road. It reads:

The Birthplace of Johnny Appleseed

John Chapman, better known as “Johnny Appleseed”, was born in Leominster to parents Elizabeth and Nathaniel Chapman on September 26, 1774. They lived on what is now Johnny Appleseed Lane, very near this site.

Nathaniel Chapman responded to the alarm on April 19, 1775, and was one of the minute men who marched in Captain John Joslin’s company to Concord, and later in to Cambridge Common, here he joined General Washington’s Continental Army.

John’s mother Elizabeth succumbed to tuberculosis before he was two years old. John lived in Leominster until he was six years old, then moved with the family to Longmeadow, following his father’s second marriage.

Johnny began his western pilgrimage about 1797. Appleseed has been depicted as a somewhat deranged character wearing a tin pot for a hat, who spread apple seeds in Ohio and Indiana. In reality, this pioneer orchardist was an astute and practical nurseryman, who set out orchards and sold or gave trees to the pioneers. He was accepted by white men as an eccentric and by the Indians as a medicine man because he grew and distributed herbs to them — herbs that still grow wild near his old nurseries.

A deeply religious follower of Emmanuel Swedenbog, he became a self-appointed missionary, sharing his religious tracts and Bible with settlers, who listened in awe to his interpretations. During the War of 1812, he saved countless lives by being a peacemaker between the Indians and settlers.

After braving nearly fifty wilderness winters in peace and harmony with the land, Johnny Appleseed died in Fort Wayne, Indiana on March 18, 1845. He had planted seeds of love as an itinerant preacher, as well as apple trees, throughout much of the Midwest.

Walt Disney gave Johnny Appleseed worldwide recognition with his 1948 release of “Melody Time”, in which Johnny was depicted as an American folk hero.

Five members of the Leominster Historical Society preserved and expanded the Johnny Appleseed legend during recent decades. The late Florence E. Wheeler, former city librarian and a charter member of the Society, established his birth and birthplace in Leominster. Past President Margaret E. Hall obtained the deed to a small plot of what was Nathaniel Chapman’s land on Johnny Appleseed Lane in 1963, for the Leominster Historical Society. The Society erected a monument to Appleseed on this site the same year.

The Johnny Appleseed stamp was issued September 24, 1966, the first in the “American Folklore Series”, by the United States Postal Service. There were 900,000 cancellations on the First Day of Issue of the stamp. W. Herbert Green and the Historical Society Past President Forest A. Black approached Congressman Philip J. Philbin to request that the Postmaster General issue the commemorative stamp. Black was honored by the U.S. Post Office Department at First Day ceremonies in Leominster, for his efforts in not only getting the stamp, but requesting that its issue be held in Johnny’s hometown.

In 1976, The Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania honored Evelyn B. Hachey, Past President of the Historical Society and Chairperson of the Leominster Historical Commission, for her project submitted to the Foundation dealing with the Johnny Appleseed Bicentennial Week Celebration in September of 1974 — the first Bicentennial Week held in the United States.

Finally, there is a miniature log cabin about four feet tall at the ridge line. Actually, it is just the front half of a cabin. Walk around the back and you'll see a flat wall from roof to ground. There is an opening covered in plexiglass. Inside is a diorama of sorts. Mainly a smattering of dollhouse furniture, a stone fireplace, and what appears to be a porcelain figurine of Johnny, wearing a tin pot hat and sitting on a tree stump.

Price of Admission: 0.00 (listed in local currency) Weekday Hours: From: 12:00 AM To: 12:00 AM Weekend Hours: From: 12:00 AM To: 12:00 AM Roadside Attractions Website: [Web Link] Location Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
When posting a new log for a waymark, please include a picture if there isn't one included on the original posting. Add your thoughts about the roadside attraction and let everyone know if it is worth while stopping to see.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.