Wishes for a Happy Birthday

A 1972 postcard

  John Chapman was born September 26, 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts.  He was an expert gardener, a nurseyman, and a New Church (Swedenborg) missionary.  The mission in his life, he decided, was to carry his message and his skills to the, then, frontier.  We now know him by his other name Johnny Appleseed.
  He didn't plant seeds as he was depicted in film, as a nurseryman he plant small trees, fenced them in, and contracted with someone nearby to care for them, as those trees grew he would return and graft more trees and take them further down the trail.  Most of the early apples in Ohio and Indiana were from a part of Mr. Chapmans stock.
  Some parts of the films are true, he did wear a metal pot on his head it was for protection from the rain as well as his cooking pot.  Mr. Chapman loved every living thing; he was once observed like this:  He was cooking at a campfire and noticed a swam of mosquitoes were being burned by the flames; he put out the fire to save them.  He is quoted as saying "God forbid that I should build a fire for my comfort, that should be the means of destroying any of His creatures.”.  In another instance he had built a fire at the end of a hollow log, in which he intended to spend the night.  He soon discovered the log was already occupied by a bear and her two cubs.  Johnny moved his "camp" to the other end of the log and slept in the snow - so as not to bother the bears.
  So, today we can say "Happy Birthday" to Johnny Appleseed, part of the American story.

As depicted by Disney Studios

A childrens book

He planted trees in the shaded (red) area, quite a trip back then.