304 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
ADDRESS OF GENERAL BRINKERHOFF. General Roeliff Brinkerhoff, of the Board of Park Commis- sioners, in his address spoke as follows: We have met here today to dedicate a monument to one of the earliest and most unselfish of Ohio benefactors. His name was John Chapman, but to the pioneers he was everywhere |
|
known as "Johnny Appleseed." The field of his operations, in Ohio, was mainly, the valleys of the Muskin- gum river and its tributaries and his mission, for the most part, was to plant apple seeds in well located nurseries, in advance of civilization and have apple trees ready for plant- ing when the pioneers should appear. He also scattered through the forest the seeds of medicinal plants, such as dog-fennel, pennyroyal, cat- nip, hoarhound, rattlesnake root and the like. We hear of him as early as 1806 |
on the Ohio river, with two canoe loads of appleseeds gathered from the cider presses of western Pennsylvania and with these he planted nurseries along the Muskingum river and its trib- utaries. About 1810 he made his headquarters in that part of the old county of Richland, which is now Ashland, in Green township, and was there for a number of years and then came to Mans- field. He was a familiar figure and a welcome guest in the homes of the early pioneers. All the early orchards of Richland county were procured from the nurseries of "Johnny Appleseed." Within the sound of my voice, where I now stand, there are a dozen or more trees that we believe are the lineal descendants of "Johnny Appleseed's" nurseries. In fact, this monument is almost within the shadow of three or four of them. As civilization advanced "Johnny" passed on to the west- ward and at last, in 1847, he ended his career in Indiana and was |