Happy Birthday, Johnny!

I’m writing this on a special day (at least for apple enthusiasts!) -  what would be Johnny Appleseed’s 249th birthday!  Yes, Johnny Appleseed, of early American lore was actually a real person, born John Chapman on September 26, 1774 in Massachusetts.  And Chapman really did spend most of his adult life roaming the untamed lands of Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, planting apple seeds wherever he went.  But his roaming had a purpose.  

As eccentric as he was rumored to be, John Chapman was also a savvy businessman.  He would collect thousands of apple seeds from the pomace left behind at cider mills and set out westward just ahead of settlers, planting those seeds in small nursery plots.  When the settlers would arrive, Chapman would either sell them trees or the nursery plot itself and then move on to the next unclaimed territory.   But why were these apple trees such a valuable commodity?  We know that apple seeds produce unpredictable and often unpalatable fruit.  Why would these settlers want all of these random apple trees for their new homesteads?  

The answer is cider.  In early America, almost all apples were used for cider making.  And not the fresh sweet cider you steep with mulling spices and sip on a cool fall evening today.  No, this cider was fermented and alcoholic.  At that time, water could not be trusted to be safe to drink from bacteria or other contaminants.  Hard cider was the #1 drink of choice of early Americans – the fermentation process kills off potentially harmful bacteria.  In fact, even children would drink fermented cider – albeit a much less alcoholic version.  

So most of the apple seedling trees grown by John Chapman would produce small, hard, bitter, tannic apples – but those are kinds that make the best hard cider!  Occasionally one of the seedling trees might produce a sweeter, better for eating, variety of apple.  And that particular variety would then be grafted and shared with others as a “dessert” apple – good for fresh eating, baking, applesauce, etc.  But for the most part, all of Chapman’s apple trees were cultivated for the sole purpose of making cider.  

Chapman was known to be deeply religious, a vegetarian who valued life in all its forms.  He was an outdoorsman through and through - he was known to walk barefoot across any landscape and refuse the offer of a bed in a home in favor of sleeping in the woods by a fire.  He truly did single-handedly change history of the lands he walked.  

Unfortunately, there are very few known Johnny Appleseed trees left in existence.  Chapman died in Indiana in 1845 and his famed orchards followed suit as time went on.  Many of the trees planted by Chapman succumbed to disease or development, and likely many more were cut down by federal agents during Prohibition to prevent hard cider making.  Orleans County is lucky enough to have a graft of what is rumored to be one of the last surviving Johhny Appleseed trees on the grounds of the local Cornell Cooperative Extension office.  The tree was donated by Albion native Eric Andrews in 2019 and planted by local schoolchildren as part of their annual “Conservation Field Days” field trip.  Read more about that tree here: https://orleanshub.com/extension-receives-historic-johnny-appleseed-tree/. 

In addition to the delicious apples we grow for fresh eating, our family has taken the apple full circle back to its historic American roots.  Our winery, Leonard Oakes Estate Winery, led by master fermenter Jonathan Oakes (great-grandson of our founder Leonard), creates several different types of hard ciders – from a blend of 20+ different varieties in our signature Steampunk Cider, to ciders developed from just one single apple variety, the craft of hard cider making lives on here in WNY.   Don’t forget to visit our tasting room year-round for a sample or a bottle! 

 For right now, though, I’m raising a glass (of hard cider of course!) to the man who became a legend, and who found, at the core of all those apples, a source of health and prosperity for thousands of early Americans.  Happy Birthday, Johnny Appleseed! 

All the best,

Katie