FAITH LAPIDUS: When John Chapman was old enough to leave home, he asked his half-brother, Nathaniel, to come with him. They slowly traveled south and west from Massachusetts to the state of Pennsylvania. At that time, much of western Pennsylvania was undeveloped.
Government records show that John lived in the Allegheny Mountains in seventeen ninety-seven. He is said to have cleared land and planted apple seeds near a waterway. In a short time, the seeds grew to become trees that produced fruit.
STEVE EMBER: Pennsylvania was the first stop in what would become a life-long effort to plant apple trees. The reason for John Chapman’s life’s work is unknown. Some people said he loved to watch the flowers on apple trees grow and change into tasty fruit.
Apples were an important food for the early settlers of North America. Apples offered something different in daily meals. They were easy to grow and store for use throughout the year. They could be eaten raw, cooked or dried for eating during the winter. And they could be made into other products, like apple butter and apple juice.
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FAITH LAPIDUS: After a few years, Chapman left the hills of western Pennsylvania and traveled west into the Ohio Valley. He transported sixteen bushels of apple seeds down the Ohio River in eighteen-oh-one. He planted apple seeds in several areas near a place called Licking Creek. Some of the seeds were planted on land owned by a farmer named Isaac Stedden.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25