The other day I chanced upon a novel from 1915 by Eleanor Atkinson titled Johnny Appleseed: The Romance of the Sower. I had never known very much about Johnny Appleseed other than being a man who walked all over America planting apple trees. Atkinson's book gives a much more detailed, if not highly idealized, view of the man whose real name was actually Jonathan Chapman.
The novel peaked my curiosity and I decided to seek more historical records of the man. The oldest reference I was able to find to him is from a magazine from 1846. This magazine however didn't even know Johnny Appleseed's real name. Most later references to the man though contained his name.
Take some time to relive this legendary man from America's past and the next time you are eating an apple keep in mind that that apple may very well be a descendent of trees planted by Johnny Appleseed.
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