Ohio History Journal

OUTLINE OF FACTS RELATED TO THE BURIAL

PLACE OF JOHN CHAPMAN

 

By WESLEY S. ROEBUCK, February 15, 1942; revised July 3, 19431

 

1. Location of Henry Cassel's land, the burial place of John

Chapman and others

Description of land:

The N 1/2 of SE 1/4 Section 19, T 31 N of R 13 E; and the

S 1/2 NE 1/4 Section 19, T 31 N of R 13 E, east of the St. Joseph

River, Allen County, Indiana, 165 acres; three miles up the

St. Joseph River from the confluence of the St. Mary's River on

the east side of the St. Joseph River. Three miles from Fort

Wayne.

2. Death of Chapman

John Chapman died at the house of Richard Worth, some-

time between March 10 and 17, 1845.

References:

a. It is recorded in the Copies of Papers in the Estate of John

Chapman, Allen County, Indiana, pages 16, 17, that Richard

Worth was allowed $8.75 for boarding, and $13.44 for sickness

and laying him out.

b. In a notarized statement dated September 3, 1934, James

Ayers, age 68, a son-in-law of Jacob Parker, and a nephew to

Christian Parker, related to a conversation with Christian Parker,

which reads in part: "He stated that at the time of Johnny Apple-

seed's death, he was running a sawmill, and that Johnny Appleseed

died one night at the home of Worth. The following morning

Worth came to the Parker mill to tell Christian Parker that 'the

old man,' meaning Johnny Appleseed, 'died last night'."

c. Eben Miles Chapman, a son of Miles Eben Chapman, and

whose grandfather's name was Andrew Chapman, who was a

 

1 The report of the Commission appointed by the American Pomological Society

appeared in the April-June, 1943, issue. This additional information completes the

investigation of the Commission.

(276)

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BURIAL PLACE OF JOHN CHAPMAN           277

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278    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

brother of John Chapman. At the age of 76, Eben Miles Chap-

man, in his notarized statement of October 23, 1934, relates in

part: "When we used to water our horses and oxen at the spring

[the spring referred to was on the Henry Cassel land] there was

a log cabin about ten feet by twelve feet located about twenty-five

or thirty feet south of the spring. I never saw the occupant of

this house but apparently it was occupied by a trapper for there

always were coon and other hides nailed up on the outside of it

when I was there."

d. In a statement made on October 10, 1928, by the late

Dr. Walter Langtry in the presence of the late J. M. Stouder,

which reads in part: "Dr. Langtry informed me that Mr. Parker

described a log cabin and a spring nearby."

e. In October, 1935, Mr. W. S. Roebuck, assisted by King

Chapman (the latter is believed to be a great-great-nephew of

John Chapman), excavated at the spring and found evidence of a

cabin at the place close to the edge of the bank above the spring.

The log cabin evidently had been burned down, for the ground

logs were traced by the charcoal. The trenches where the logs

laid were about 15 inches deep and 16 feet long. There were

three trenches about 16 feet apart. This would make the building

about 16 feet by 32 feet. We discovered three ash piles 18 inches

below the surface, not far from the site of this building.

3. Burying Ground

Elenore Parker Ayers, in a sworn statement dated Septem-

ber 14, 1934, states in part: "In my early childhood there was a

little burying ground, about one-half acre in size, fenced off on

my Uncle Christian Parker's farm just west of the place where

the reservoir stands on what is now the W. S. Roebuck farm.

Some of my Uncle Christian Parker's infant children were buried

in this little cemetery. I remember distinctly hearing my father

and my uncle relate stories about Johnny Appleseed and that he

died in the home of Worth and was buried in the little cemetery on

my Uncle Christian Parker's farm in a coffin made by my father

and my Uncle Christian Parker at their sawmill nearby

"On December 1, 1928, I was interviewed by J. M. Stouder,

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BURIAL PLACE OF JOHN CHAPMAN              279

 

since deceased, concerning my knowledge of the death and burial

of Johnny Appleseed. At that time I made, signed and delivered

to Mr. Stouder the following written statement: 'I remember my

father, Jacob L. Parker, and Christian Parker stating the fact that

they and Uncle Dave Parker buried Johnny Appleseed on the

east side of the St. Joseph River. It was near an oak tree on

what is now known as the Roebuck farm'."

On September 4, 1934, in a written statement to J. M.

Stouder, she related that she remembered that "such burial ground

was located as described on the Roebuck farm, and that the Blume

family took up the remains of two children that had been buried

there and moved them to another cemetery. That two children of

the Stufflebean family were buried in this cemetery."

In a written statement signed by Dr. Walter Langtry on

October 10, 1928, he refers to a conversation with Christian

Parker along in the eighties, which reads in part: "Do you see

those three trees," pointing to the same standing down near the

St. Joe River. He said, "He [John Chapman] is buried within

two or three fence panels from those trees which is located on

the east side of the river, and which is now known as the W. S.

Roebuck farm."²

In a notarized statement, dated September 3, 1934, James

Ayers, age 68, relates in part a conversation with Christian Parker:

"The old river road, formerly known as the 'Indian Trail,' which

ran along the St. Joseph River, east of the river and past the

west side of what is now known as the Roebuck reservoir hill. Mr.

Parker further stated that there was a graveyard below the afore-

mentioned hill and that it was 'quite a historical spot because

Johnny Appleseed was buried there.'"

In a statement dated August 24, 1936, Mrs. Ida Halter Shelly

says: "I have often heard my grandfather Christian Parker tell

that John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) died at the home of

Worth and that he and his two brothers made the coffin out of

lumber at their sawmill, and that he was buried on the north plat

of ground which has since become the Roebuck farm."

 

2 Christian Parker, at the time of this conversation with Dr. Langtry, was living

at his home, which is 1,000 feet directly east of the southeast corner of the Cassel-

Roebuck land, and also where he lived at the time of John Chapman's death. The

three trees were visible then, because the view was not obstructed.

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280    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Eben Miles Chapman, in a notarized statement dated October

23, 1934, declares in part: "At that time there was also an old

graveyard or burying ground about one-quarter of a mile south-

west of the spring and about 500 or 600 feet west of what is now

the reservoir on the Roebuck farm. My father often took me over

to this burying ground and told me that my Great Uncle 'Johnny

Appleseed' was buried there. The first time I visited this spot I

saw two depressions in the ground about the size of a grave. The

place was grown up in weeds, and there was no fence around it.

Once when my father and my Uncle Timothy and I were coming

to town we stopped at this spring. On that occasion, my father,

my Uncle Timothy, and I went over to this burying ground,

and Father and Uncle Timothy got out their jack knives and cut

away all the weeds around the grave, in which they said Uncle

Johnny Appleseed was buried. My father once visited my Uncle

Timothy at his home in Ohio. Uncle Timothy lived about one-

half mile south of the old [Wabash and] Erie Canal and one-half

mile east of the Indiana-Ohio line, and was a section foreman on

the Wabash Railroad. The railroad ran close to Uncle Timothy's

house. When my father returned home he told me that on a Sun-

day he and Uncle Timothy had taken their axes, got on a hand

car and came to Fort Wayne. From Fort Wayne they walked out

to this burying ground and with their axes cut some poles and

built a three-pole fence around Uncle Johnny's grave, which my

father told me was the fence he and Uncle Timothy built. My

Uncle Timothy once told me that he attended Uncle Johnny's

funeral. He said there were only a few people at the funeral and

that he was the only relative present. At the time of my boy-

hood visits to Uncle Johnny Appleseed's grave there was a log

cabin about two hundred feet southwest of the place where he was

buried. About one-half of this cabin was rotted down when I saw

it. Both my father and my Uncle Timothy told me that Johnny

Appleseed lived in it part of the time when he was in Indiana."

We read from a notarized statement, dated September 24,

1934, signed by E. A. Nuttle: "That as a boy he often heard his

maternal grandmother, Mary Jane Platter, who resided on the

banks of the Maumee from 1836 to 1902, talk of John Chapman

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BURIAL PLACE OF JOHN CHAPMAN                   281

 

with whom she was well acquainted by reason of his visits to her

home. Affiant says that he has heard Mary Jane Platter say that

Johnny Appleseed died at the home of a pioneer by the name of

Worth, residing along the St. Joe River in St. Joe Township.

That he was buried in a coffin made by some of the neighbors and

distinctly recalls her mentioning the name of Parker as one of

those who assisted in the construction of the coffin; that he has

also heard her say that Johnny Appleseed was buried in a little

graveyard along a trail paralleling the east bank of the St. Joe

River."

 

Old Indian Trail

A notarized statement, dated October 23, 1934, signed by

Eben Miles Chapman, reads in part: "There was a trail running

from the main road to the spring on the Roebuck farm and then

around a hill through a ravine to the east bank of the St. Joe

River.

"Within the past thirty days I have visited the W. S. Roebuck

farm two or three times. I have retraced as best I can the trail

that ran from the St. Joe road, past the spring over the hill and

on down to the river, and marked it's route with stakes stuck in

the ground."

James Ayers in his notarized statement dated September 3,

1934, makes the following remarks: "I called Mr. Christian

Parker's attention to the fact that so many old orchards were

located so far back from the St. Joe road, indicating that the

houses had been likewise located so far from the road. And I

asked Mr. Parker the reason. Mr. Parker said that the houses

had not been originally built nor the orchards planted to be near

the St. Joe road, which was not then in existence, but that they

had been located facing the old river road, formerly known as

'the Indian Trail' which ran along the St. Joseph River³ and past

 

3 The St. Joseph River was called the Bean River by the Indians, taking its

name from the bean patches grown by them among the sand hills on the east side

where their village was. This land is particularly suitable for the growing of beans

as it is easily worked and it is comparatively free from early and late frosts. In a

letter dated March 26, 1937, Dr. Carl Voegelin of DePauw University, who has

spent many years in studying the Indian languages, says that the name for the

trail would be "Ko-Ki-Sa Sepe Me-Ar-We," meaning Bean River Trail.

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282     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

the west side of what is now known as the Roebuck reservoir

hill."4

The Archer Burying Ground, 1845

This cemetery is located in Section 25 of Washington Town-

ship on a sandy knoll bordering on the feeder canal which was

completed in 1835. There was no approach to this knoll except

by passing over lowlands infested by malaria and mosquitoes.

The first burial was in 1838. The only bridge crossing the St.

Joseph River was at Cedarville, about seven miles north of the

spring on the Cassel-Roebuck land. Another crossing was a

bridge at the foot of Main Street in Fort Wayne just below

where the St. Joseph and St. Marys join and form the Maumee.

This route from   the spring on the Cassel-Roebuck land to the

Archer Cemetery would be a distance of eight or nine miles. (See

map.)   In March the snows melt, the ice breaks up, and the

streams overflow--more so in 1845 than today.5

In our discovery of the old trail and the location of the

Indian houses on this farm and along the St. Joe River for

about two miles, we have not succeeded in finding an Indian

burying ground. I reckon the Indians did not take their dead

across the river and the canal to bury them where the Archer

Cemetery is located. Are we to believe that the Johnny Apple-

seed funeral party would be interested in such a trip? Not when

there was a burying ground near the old spring where he died.

A Funeral Cortege, March, 1845

The following story was related to me many times by my

father, born in 1813, in Perry County, Ohio: Someone had stolen

the clapboard roof off the sugar camp. Perry Roebuck, father's

youngest brother, boiled sugar water all night in the rain. He

took lung fever and died. The St. Marys was on a rampage,

its waters spreading over hundreds of acres.    As there seemed

to be no place suitable for burial in the neighborhood, the family

 

4 Cf. A. K. Hofer, C. E., of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Survey and Topographical

Map of the Cassel-Roebuck Land.

5 There were dams of driftwood in the rivers which retarded their rush down-

stream, thus causing the ice to pile up and the water to flow over the entire

valley. These driftwood dams were to be found all along the river. There was one

in particular, known as the "big drift," bordering upon our own land which was

one-half mile or more long and remained there for years.

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BURIAL PLACE OF JOHN CHAPMAN                   283

 

decided to bury across the St. Marys, two miles away, on a sandy

ridge. A coffin, made of rough lumber by the family and neigh-

bors, was taken to the funeral in the farm wagon. Before they

had gone far along the winding wagon trail the coffin was placed

across the top of the wagon box to keep it out of the water. On

arriving at the crossing place, they found the bridge had floated

away. The funeral party secured a log canoe, crossed the river,

and carried the coffin a quarter of a mile to the sandy ridge.6

These incidents are related in order to present a picture of

the St. Marys River in March. The St. Joseph River could have

been little different since it joins the St. Marys at Fort Wayne.

Richard Worth

Richard Worth lived at the spring on the Henry Cassel land.

Mr. Worth was a householder and the head of a family, which is

indicated by the fact that he qualified for service on the petit jury,

as it is recorded in the Allen County Commissioner's Records.

Book B, page 1, that during the January, 1839, term, he was

allowed the sum of $6.25 for 5 days on the petit jury. It is fur-

ther recorded in the foregoing volume on page 277, that Richard

Worth was allowed the sum of $1.50 for "marking,--assisting

surveyor in surveying--road." Valuable information was obtained

from  the old ledger of the Hamilton-Taber firm, pioneer mer-

chants of the City of Fort Wayne. During the period from 1836

to 1839, many entries were made in Ledger C, indicating that

Richard Worth made many purchases, and when the hooks were

closed in 1848, he owed a balance of $1.61, with the following

notation on his account, "Bill off, dead and insolvent." At various

places in his account, Mr. Worth was credited for timber furnished

to Hamilton and Taber; also he purchased steel, a line and spool.

Richard Worth must have died between 1845 and 1848.

In the issue of the Fort Wayne Sentinel, September 17, 1842,

 

6 On this sandy ridge once stood the Shawnee Indian village of Old Town.

Near it were two magnificent springs about 1/2 mile apart. The north one flowed into

Old Town Run and ran to the west; the south one forming a meandering stream

to the St. Marys. This beautiful place was the home of Louis Godfrey. Godfrey

sold to Ruel Roebuck, my grandfather, in 1826 a section of his reservation which

was composed of six sections. The section sold included the village. He then sold

the rest of his holdings and went to live with his brother, Francis Godfrey, chief of

the Miamis, who lived on the Mississinewa about three miles from its confluence

with the Wabash.

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284    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Richard Worth was listed a member of a committee to meet at the

Sentinel office on Saturday, September 24, at 3 p.m., to consider

the call from the State Central Committee for a State convention.

David Worth

David Worth was among the number drawn for the Septem-

ber term, 1836, of the Circuit Court, which is recorded on page

315, Book A, Allen County Commissioner's Records. David Worth

also made purchases from the Hamilton-Taber firm, from 1836

up until his account was paid in full, October 29, 1838. Among

the items entered in his account, were two axes at $2.50 each, and

a trace chain. His account was credited for timber furnished to

Hamilton and Taber. A credit of $5.57 was given to the account

of David Worth, "by Father," evidently Richard Worth.

The claim of $8.75 against the estate of John Chapman, al-

though not assigned by Richard Worth, was paid by Randall to

a William Worth. The correct date for the payment (April 22,

1855) by him for the above amount and the reason no doubt for

Randall paying the same to William Worth, and taking his receipt

therefor, was because William Worth was a son of Richard

Worth, and that Richard Worth was dead by that time.

A Grave Marker--The Stone Bust.

Beginning at a water valve on the south side of the reservoir

on the hill, measuring 841 feet directly west, then 249 feet directly

north. This point is on top of a knoll where the stone bust was

plowed up in 1907, or 1908. At this point a spruce tree is standing.

It was set at that place in 1937 to mark the spot. All those telling

about the burying ground below the hill have been more or less

confused about the exact location of this cemetery. This is to be

expected. Woods have been cleared away, trees here and there

have been cut down, and fences have been taken away. The old

lane from the barn to the river is not there, and moreover, the

roads have been changed, and the frog ponds and boggy places

have been ditched. The crests of the hills have been leveled and

some removed entirely. Through all this change, the place where

the bust was found fixes the location of the burying ground.

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