Pages

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Tombstone Tuesday ~ John Chapman, died 1785, Londonderry, NH. Cousin to "Johnny Appleseed"?

This tombstone was photographed at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Derry, New Hampshire (which was formerly Londonderry, New Hampshire).


ERECTED
In memory of
Mr. John Chapman
who departed this Life
Augst. ye 10th 1785
In the 43d year
of his age. 
Happy the company that's gone
From cross to crown, from thrall to throne
How loud they sing upon ye shore
To which they fail'd in heart before! 



I don't know the identity of this particular John Chapman, but there was a family  headed by a Joseph Chapman of Ipswich who bought land in Londonderry in 1776.  This Joseph Chapman was a cousin to Johnny Appleseed, who hailed from Leominster, Massachusetts.  Is this John Chapman related?  Does anyone know?

There is a statue of Johnny Appleseed (AKA John Chapman) in the lobby of the Londonderry Leach Library, just outside the door to the children's room.  And I have blogged several times about Johnny Appleseed.  You can read more at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/on-trail-of-johnny-appleseed.html

and also at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/more-johnny-appleseed-photos-from.html

--------------------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ John Chapman, died 1785, Londonderry, NH.  Cousin to "Johnny Appleseed"?", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 3, 2017,  ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/tombstone-tuesday-john-chapman-died.html: accessed [access date]).

3 comments:

  1. Please post if and when you learn whether this is a relative of Johnny Appleseed as well! Happy new year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, fun story Heather. I remember story telling when I was young, and have photographs of my grandmother reading me/us stories starting very young. In grammar school there was a big push to read stories, so I read many books on legends including American ones such as Johnny Appleseed. Do children of today still read those legends, or have they moved on to modern characters? What do you read to your grandchild?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't wait to read stories like this to my granddaughter. Right now she barely sits still for picture books, but she likes me to recite nursery rhymes and finger plays (like Itsy Bitsy spider and Patty cake).

      Delete