Johnny Appleseed - Franklin, PA
Posted by: Szuchie
N 41° 24.043 W 079° 49.863
17T E 597713 N 4583901
This marker describes French Creek as the area where Mr. Appleseed lived between 1797 and 1804!
Waymark Code: WM3EAF
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 03/23/2008
Views: 90
This historical marker states:
John Chapman, an actual person as well as a folk hero, lived nearby along French Creek between 1797 and 1804. Records indicate he had a nursery there and one near Warren, Pa., before moving on to Ohio. Born 1774 in Massachusetts, he died in Indiana, 1845.
Johnny Appleseed, born John Chapman (September 26, 1774–February 18, 1845), was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced the apple to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He became an American legend while still alive, largely because of his kind and generous ways, his great leadership in conservation, and the symbolic importance of apples.
The popular image of Johnny Appleseed had him spreading apple seeds randomly, everywhere he went. In fact, he planted nurseries rather than orchards, built fences around them to protect them from livestock, left the nurseries in the care of a neighbor who sold trees on shares, and returned every year or two to tend the nursery. Many of these nurseries were located in the Mohican area of North-Central Ohio. This area included the towns of Mansfield, Ohio; Lucas, Ohio; Perrysville, Ohio; and Loudonville, Ohio.[6]
Appleseed's managers were asked to sell trees on credit, if at all possible, but he would accept corn meal, cash or used clothing in barter. The notes did not specify an exact maturity date—that date might not be convenient—and if it did not get paid on time, or even get paid at all, Johnny Appleseed did not press for payment. Appleseed was hardly alone in this pattern of doing business, but he was unusual in remaining a wanderer his entire life.[
He obtained the apple seed for free; cider mills wanted more apple trees planted since it would eventually bring them more business. Johnny Appleseed dressed in the worst of the used clothing he received, giving away the better clothing he received in barter. He wore no shoes, even in the snowy winter. There was always someone in need he could help out, for he did not have a house to maintain. When he heard a horse was to be put down, he had to buy the horse, buy a few grassy acres nearby, and turn the horse out to recover. If it did, he would give the horse to someone needy, exacting a promise to treat the horse humanely.
Source: Wikipedia
Marker Name: Johnny Appleseed
County: Venango
Date Dedicated: 09/26/1982
Marker Type: City
Location: 13th St. (U.S. 322) & Franklin Ave., Franklin
Category: Agriculture, Folklore, Professions & Vocations
Website: [Web Link]
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