Twenty-six years after Johnny died, an author wrote an article about him in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. It was called “Johnny Appleseed—A Pioneer Hero.” Readers all over America enjoyed reading about Johnny’s unusual life. Imagine a barefoot man roaming through the forest to plant apple seeds! Interest in him grew, and people wanted to know more about him.
Johnny didn’t leave any letters or diaries behind to tell us about his life. Luckily, a few people were so interested in him that they did some detective work.
In the 1930s, a Leominster, Massachusetts, librarian named Florence Wheeler decided to find out more about his family. She studied records that showed who owned land in the area and the dates they bought and sold it. Through birth and death records, she found more information.
We now know the names of five generations of Johnny’s ancestors. It turns out that he wasn’t the first person in his family to love apples. His great-great-great-grandparents grew apple trees in Massachusetts in the 1670s. And one of his relatives was a wealthy English count who did science experiments!
A woman in Ohio was interested in Johnny, too. Florence Murdock collected anything she found that was related to him. Her collection included articles that were published about him and old letters that mentioned him. She even managed to preserve leaves saved from trees he actually planted! Today her collection is part of the Johnny Appleseed Museum in Urbana, Ohio.
The legend of Johnny Appleseed continues to grow. Books and songs have been written about him. There are websites about him. In Leominster, there is a school named for Johnny Appleseed. There is even an official Johnny Appleseed Trail in northern Massachusetts.
Every September, Johnny Appleseed festivals are held in various towns. There are parades, games for children, and contests to see who can bake the best apple pies.
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Johnny Appleseed Memorial Park was named in his honor. A monument there marks what some people believe to be his grave. However, it’s uncertain if this is really where Johnny was buried.
Most of the trees Johnny Appleseed planted are now dead. But seedlings from some of his trees are now growing outside the Johnny Appleseed Museum.
Many other trees grown from seeds produced by his original trees still exist in the Midwest. So the next apple you eat could be related to one of Johnny Appleseed’s original apples!
APPLE FACTS
* AN APPLE TREE CAN GROW UP TO FORTY FEET TALL AND LIVE ONE HUNDRED YEARS.
* ABOUT 25 PERCENT OF AN APPLE IS AIR. THAT’S WHY APPLES FLOAT IN WATER.
* MANY APPLE FARMERS GROW DWARF APPLE TREES BECAUSE THE TREES USE LESS SPACE THAN LARGER ONES AND THE APPLES GROW CLOSER TO THE GROUND.
* A MEDIUM APPLE HAS ABOUT EIGHTY CALORIES.
* A BUSHEL OF APPLES WEIGHS ABOUT FORTY-TWO POUNDS AND CONTAINS ABOUT 115 MEDIUM-SIZE APPLES.
* THE BIGGEST APPLE ON RECORD WAS GROWN ON A FARM IN ENGLAND. IT WEIGHED 3 POUNDS 11 OUNCES AND WAS 21 ? INCHES AROUND.
* SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD KATHY WAFLER MADISON MADE THE WORLD’S LONGEST UNBROKEN APPLE PEEL IN 1976, IN NEW YORK. IT WAS 172 FEET 4 INCHES LONG.
* APPLES ARE A MEMBER OF THE ROSE FAMILY.
* THE SCIENCE OF FRUIT GROWING IS CALLED POMOLOGY.
* AMERICAN COLONISTS SOMETIMES CALLED APPLES “WINTER BANANAS.”
* APPLES ARE GROWN IN ALL FIFTY STATES. THE STATES THAT GROW THE MOST APPLES ARE WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, MICHIGAN, CALIFORNIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND VIRGINIA.
* THE COUNTRIES THAT GROW THE MOST APPLES ARE CHINA, UNITED STATES, TURKEY, POLAND, AND ITALY.
* WHEN AN APPLE IS CUT IN HALF CROSSWAYS, YOU’LL SEE A FIVE-POINTED-STAR PATTERN AT ITS CORE. EACH OF THE FIVE SECTIONS HOLDS EITHER ONE OR TWO SEEDS. SO THERE ARE BETWEEN FIVE AND TEN SEEDS IN AN APPLE.
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