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nBornnJohn Chapman on this day in 1774, he earned his nickname by wanderingnover large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, introducing applentrees by planting nurseries. He would return every year or two tontend to his nursery, but while he was wandering he would leave thennurseries in the care of a neighbor. He gave away many apple treesnbut still ended up with a lot of valuable land and nurseries. n
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nJohnnynAppleseed was considered kind and generous, and he was ahead of hisntime in his thoughts about conservation and the treatment of animals.
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nHerenis a quickie story that shows some of those character traits. One daynJohnny Appleseed heard that a horse was going to be “put down”ndue to an injury. (That means that the horse was going to be killednin a humane, hopefully painless, way.) He saved the horse’s life bynpurchasing it. He then purchased a few acres of nice, grassy land onnwhich he could keep the injured horse. He allowed the horse to roamnaround the land, eating grass and recovering from its injury. Whennthe horse was fully recovered, Johnny Appleseed gave the creature tona poor family that needed a horse, saying that the only payment henwanted was a promise to treat the horse well. n
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nItnis said that Johnny Appleseed always treated animals—even wildnanimals—exceptionally well. He was a vegetarian, and he was a big believer in not disturbing wild animals. He is even said to have spent some chilly nights rather than accidentally killing insects with his campfire!
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nCelebratenby eating apples!
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nLittlenkids might also enjoy these apple-themed crafts and activities.
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nBynthe way…
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nSomenpictures of Johnny Appleseed show him walking around with a huge bagnof seeds, just indiscriminately tossing hands full of seedsneverywhere he went. (This is what Miss Rumphias is supposed to havendone with lupine seeds—but she is a fictional character!)
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nInntruth, however, as I mentioned, he carefully planted seeds andnseedlings in nurseries.
