JOHNNY APPLESEED—ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN

 

 

By Linda Lee Greene, Author & Artist

 

246 years have passed since nurseryman and missionary, John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Massachusetts, which at the time was a New World colony of British America, and in many ways its beating heart. When he was a toddling boy, the British Loyalists and the American Patriots went to war, and his is adolescence unfolded as the triumphant and newly-formed United States organized as a sovereign nation. The year of his eighteenth birthday, the United States Post Office Department was established; the United States Mint went into operation; the New York Stock Exchange opened for business; Kentucky became the 15^th state of the union; Washington D.C. was founded and the cornerstone for the White House laid; and George Washington was re-elected as President of the United States.

I can imagine that as he approached adulthood, his life flashed before his eyes, and he was not enthralled with what he saw. It is likely that he would have been expected to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the military—but a spirit as free as Johnny’s would have withered and died under such regimentation—such oppression of the gentle soul. Still, he wanted to do something with his life that would outlast him. He also had a convincing feeling that he would have to wait until his time in heaven to meet his soulmate, which meant foregoing fathering children through which to preserve his earthly legacy. By the grace of God, he came upon the idea of setting out from the security of hearth and home, and to plant apple trees hither and yon. In time spent as an apprentice to a local orchardist, he had developed expertise in the cultivation and management of fruit trees. I fancy, as well, that his specific interest in apple trees might have stemmed in part from his deep religious faith, whereby in the New Testament, the apple is an emblem of the redemption of mankind’s soul.

   Labeling himself as a “primitive Christian,” Johnny trudged barefoot and under-clothed in tattered and often hand-me-down garments, doffing a tin mush pot as a cap on his head, a receptacle that was useful in myriad ways. That same year, the precursor of the Nabisco Biscuit Company was founded in his home state. I refer to it only because Johnny was quite fond of biscuits, especially of the twice-baked variety, commonly called “dry rusk.” In his travel pouch was often a supply of dry rusk and cold meats. In his later years, he became a strict vegetarian. It is recorded that he traveled over four thousand miles on foot during his lifetime planting nurseries of apple trees across large tracts of land in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, and Ontario, Canada. Once planted, he left the nurseries in the care of neighbors who sold trees on shares. Every year or two, Johnny revisited each nursery to tend to them..   

As much as planting apple trees, Johnny was intent on saving souls. In exchange for supper and a place to rest his head for the night, he spoke the gospel to eager ears of his contemporaries, as well as many Native Americans, whom he greatly admired, and who welcomed him in their midst as one they believed to be touched by the Great Spirit. A raconteur of wide reputation, he entertained the children with stories of the Bible, as well as of his own exploits, stories laced with animals and insects, all of which he revered as God’s sacred creatures. I can hear him in my mind’s ear in what might well have been Mark Twain tones, the famous story about the snowy night in the woods that he came upon a hollow log in which he planned to spend the night. On close inspection, he discovered that the log was already occupied by a bear and cubs. He promptly removed to the opposite end of the log and crawled into it, snug and warm. Supposedly, all slept peacefully through the night.  And in another story, a wolf whose injured leg Johnny doctored followed him around like a docile puppy for a time. A horse scheduled to be put down was also the beneficiary of his goodwill. He bought the horse along with a grassy field in which to release it, and then he gifted both the horse and field to a friend, exacting a promise that the animal be treated humanely. "God forbid that I should build a fire for my comfort that should be the means of destroying any of His creatures," Johnny declared. Accordingly, he gave up the warmth of campfires because bugs would fly into the flame and be burned alive. His cheerful denial of creature comforts was based on his religious beliefs that the more hardship he endured in this world the greater his happiness would be in the hereafter.

By all accounts, the only surviving tree planted by Johnny Appleseed is on the farm of Richard and Phyllis Algeo of Nova, Ohio, located in the north central portion of the state. Nurseries offer immature Johnny Appleseed trees for planting on which scions of the Algeo stock are grafted. It is gratifying to know that although Johnny never had human children, his trees continue to propagate down through the generations.   

This past weekend would have marked the 45^th Johnny Appleseed Festival, except that it was canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Held yearly during the third weekend of September at the site in Fort Wayne, Indiana of his death at the age of seventy, it is but one of several similar commemorations in the USA of the life and legacy of the notable American pioneer. He spent more time in Ohio than in any other place, and many of the state’s first orchards had their start with saplings from Johnny’s nurseries. The produce from his trees fed many of Ohio’s early settlers as they struggled to establish farms and homes on the new frontier. As a result, several museums and historical sites not far from my home in Columbus, Ohio are living testaments to his contribution. His kind and generous personality and leadership in conservation and other humanitarian deeds are embedded in the popular consciousness and have earned him the designation of a folk hero on earth. I lay odds that he is crowned an angel in heaven, going his merry way planting apple trees in the company of his heaven-found soulmate.©

 

HOW TO MAKE DRY RUSKS

Rusks are dry, hard biscuits or twice-baked bread that find many uses throughout the world from teething snacks for infants to bread crumbs for salads to the bread base for traditional Italian and/or Greek bruschetta (toasted bread drizzled with olive oil and topped with garlic and tomatoes and other veggies and/or shell fish and spices). French markets sell rusks as biscotte. Germany’s version is packaged as zwieback. Russian sookhar’ are made from either stale bread or a bread similar to challah (a special ceremonial bread in Jewish cuisine made of eggs, fine white flour, water, yeast, sugar and salt). Sookhar’ are more like a cookie and served with warm milk or coffee. It is also added to soups much like crackers in western cuisine. Dry rusks in retail settings in the United States are labeled as melba toast and biscotti. This type of dry bread can be used in recipes calling for “friganies.”

Rye or wheat bread are preferred, and if not already sliced, slice and trim each piece to ¾ to ¼ inch squares. Place on a sheet and bake at 120º F / 50º C for 3 hours or more depending on the thickness of the squares. There is no need to flip them. Dry rusks will store in an airtight container for up to three months.

 

Multi-award-winning author, Linda Lee Greene’s GUARDIANS AND OTHER ANGELS is reviewed as 5.0 out of 5 stars – “Both thumbs up. Linda Lee Greene’s artistic background certainly influenced her writing style in this rich, expressive novel. Each well-chosen word is a masterful brushstroke that does its job to keep the momentum flowing. This is a lovely, often poignant family saga that I thoroughly enjoyed. Both thumbs up!”

 

Purchase link for GUARDIANS AND OTHER ANGELS: http://goo.gl/imUwKO