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

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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]).

More Johnny Appleseed photos from Cincinnati, Ohio

My blogger friend Pam Seavey Schaffner read my Johnny Appleseed post from August and she send me some photos of this beautiful monument to him from Cincinnati, Ohio.  Pam's blog is called "Digging Down East", and we share a few New England ancestors.  And then blogger Carol Bowen Stevens from "Reflections from the Fence" sent me some photos of Johnny's burial spot in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Thank you so much, ladies!

John Chapman AKA "Johnny Appleseed" is a distant cousin to me.  He left his hometown of Leominster, Massachusetts and went to the Ohio and Indiana territories as a missionary.   These photos are of the memorial to Johnny at the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He is not buried here, but was buried in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

JOHNNY APPLESEED

JOHN CHAPMAN SEPTEMBER 26, 1774 - MARCH 18, 1845

JOHNNY APPLESEED, FIGURE OF LEGEND, WAS A SWEDENBORGIAN

MISSIONARY TO THE OHIO AN DINDIAN FRONTIER.  SAINTLY

IN HIS DAILY LIFE, HE LOVED LIFE IN ALL ITS FORMS AND

HAD A JOYOUS WILL TO HELP THE EARTH YIELD ITS FRUITS.

BIBLE IN HAND AND SACK OF SEEDS SWINGING FROM HIS SHOULDER

HE PLANTED MANY APPLE ORCHARDS THAT LIVE TODAY IN THIS

NATION.  MAY HE BE REMEMBERED IN FACT AS WELL AS IN

LEGEND FOR HIS GODLINESS AND GOODNESS.

These next photos are from Fort Wayne, and are of the supposed burial spot for John Chapman "Johnny Appleseed". 

Johnny Appleseed

1774 - 1845

Johnny Appleseed, legendary planter of orchards

across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, was a real

person named John Chapman.  He was a friend to

all God's creatures and a missionary for the 

Swedenborgian religion, a Christian denomination.

He was also a smart businessman.  Moving ahead

of the waves of westward bound settlers, he

purchased property, carefully sowed appleseeds,

and had seedlings available when settlers arrived.

His seedlings were valuable because apples were

highly nutritious and orchards were a symbol of 

permanency.  He sold trees for 3 cents if you

planted them and 6.5 cents if he planted them for 

you.  Johnny was also very generous, often saying

"pay me when you can."  

The amber water flask Johnny gave to a little girl on her birthday

gives us a clue to his success and fame.  Material things meant

little to Johnny except when they could make a child smile, give

a pioneer family the means to improve their diet or increase 

their cash income from apples or apple jack.  Cider and apple

jack were pioneer currancy.

Documents like this receipt

indicate that Johnny lived

and worked here from the 

1830s until his death in 1845.

Johnny lived a life of service in harmony with nature that impressed Native Americans, as

well as his fellow Americans.  He was a proud patriot.  His thoughts were of God and the

afterlife and his greeting was often, "I have good news from heaven!"  He must have been a

good salesman.  People loved him.

The water flask is on display at The History Center, 302 East Berry Street. 

JOHN CHAPMAN

"JOHNNY APPLESEED"

DIED 1845

----------

ERECTED BY

INDIANA

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

"JOHNY

APPLESEED"

JOHN CHAPMAN

HE LIVED FOR OTHERS

HOLY BIBLE

1774 - 1845

IN FOND MEMORY OF

JOHN CHAPMAN, ENDEARINGLY KNOWN AS "JOHNNY APPLESEED"

THESE GRAVESITE IMPROVEMENTS WERE PROVIDED BY

THE MEN'S GARDEN CLUBS OF AMERICA

AND

THE JOHNNY APPLESEED NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOUNDATION, INC.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1965

My blog post about Johnny Appleseed's birthplace in Leominster, Massachusetts

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/on-trail-of-johnny-appleseed.html 

Pam Seavey Schaffner's blog   http://www.diggingdowneast.blogspot.com/

Carol A. Bowen Steven's blog http://reflectionsfromthefence.blogspot.com/

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/more-johnny-appleseed-photos-from.html 

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Colonel Loammi Baldwin

DISSEMINATOR OF THE APPLE

IN HONOR OF HIM CALLED

THE BALDWIN

WHICH PROCEEDED FROM A TREE

ORIGINALLY GROWING WILD

ABOUT TWO MILES NORTH

OF THIS MONUMENT

A PARTICIPANT WITH THE

RANK OF MAJOR

IN THE BATTLES OF

LEXINGTON AND CONCORD

A COLONEL OF 

THE 26TH REGIMENT OF

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY

WITH GENERAL WASHINGTON

DURING THE OCCUPATION

OF NEW YORK

AND IN THE BATTLE

OF TRENTON

LOAMMI BALDWIN

PATRIOT

PUBLIC OFFICIAL

BORN JANUARY 21, 1745, N.S.  [New Style]

IN NORTH WOBURN

MASSACHUSETTS

DIED OCTOBER 20, 1807 

ONE OF THE PROPRIETORS

AND

PRINCIPAL CONSTRUCTOR

OF THE MIDDLESEX CANAL

A MEMBER OF

THE COMMITTEE TO SIGN

THE PAPER MONEY OF

MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY

FIRST SHERIFF OF

MIDDLESEX COUNTY

UNDER THE STATE CONSTITUTION

A LEADER OF AFFAIRS

IN WOBURN 

ERECTED IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE WILL

OF HIS GRANDDAUGHTER

CATHERINE RUMFORD GRIFFITH

BY HIS GREAT-GRANDSONS ROSWELL PARK

LOAMMI FRANKLIN BALDWIN AND BALDWIN COOLIDGE

EXECUTORS AND TRUSTEES

A.D. MCMXVII

Loammi Baldwin is my 2nd cousin 7 generations removed.  I was driving through Woburn, Massachusetts when I saw this monument.  The name Loammi jumped out at me.  How many Loammi's do you know?  It's a very unusual Biblical name, and one I remembered was found in my family tree.  I knew that Loammi Baldwin was an officer in the American Revolutionary War, but I didn't know that he was also a horticulturalist, civil engineer and politician.  

Across the street from this monument, at 2 Alfred Street in Woburn, is the Loammi Baldwin mansion.  It is currently a restaurant, but it is still standing, and the outside of the building has a sign saying it was part of the National Register of Historic Places.  The house was moved from nearby to make room for a supermarket.   Just south of the house, near the lawn, is the remains of a section of the Middlesex Canal.  This was once a major waterway between downtown Boston and the Merrimack River.  Loammi Baldwin was a proprietor (shareholder) in this canal, which lasted until railroads took over transporting goods from Boston to Middlesex County and New Hampshire, and vice versa. 

You will often read that Loammi Baldwin was a great friend of Count Rumford, another politician, military leader and scientist who lived in Woburn at the same time period.  This is true, but more important, Count Rumford, the alias of Benjamin Thompson, was also Loammi's second cousin, one generation removed. I think that relationship is often overlooked by historians.  Click HERE to learn more about Count Rumford. 

                                               Samuel Richardson m. 1632  Joanna Thake

                                                                                  I                                            

                                      Joseph Richardson m. 1666 Hannah Greene

                                            I                                                         I    

           James Fowle m 1688. Mary Richardson             Joseph Richardson m. 1693 Mary Bloggett

                                I                                                                    I

            Mary Fowle m. 1714 James Simonds                Ruth Richardson m. James Baldwin

                                 I

            Ruth Simonds m. Benjamin Thompson               Loammi Baldwin (1745 - 1807)

                                 I                                                       m. 1772 Mary Fowle (first cousin)

       Benjamin Thompson "Count Rumford" (1752-1814)

        

Here is my kinship to Loammi Baldwin:

(you can see I am a first cousin, 6 generations removed from Count Rumford)

                                               Samuel Richardson m. 1632 Joanna Thake

                                                                                I

                                             Joseph Richardson m. 1666 Hannah Greene

                                                 I                                                    I

                  Mary Richardson m. 1688 James Fowle           Ruth Richardson m. James Baldwin

                                                I                                                      I

             Mary Fowle m. 1714 James Simonds                    Loammi Baldwin (1745 - 1807)

                                                I

             Caleb Simonds m. 1746 Susanna Converse

                                                I

              Ruth Simonds m. 1785 Andrew Munroe

                                                I

              Luther Simonds Munroe m. 1826 Olive Flint

                                                I

              Phebe Cross Munroe m. 1853 Robert Wilson Wilkinson

                                                I

              Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. 1894 Isabella Lyons Bill

                                                I

              Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. 1926  Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents) 

Here's something fun that I didn't know about the Baldwin Apple.  Genealogy Blogger Janice Brown, the author of the blog Cow Hampshire, told me that there was a monument to the Baldwin Apple.  The monument above states that Baldwin apple originated two miles north of Woburn.  This is in the town of Wilmington, Massachusetts.  The Rumford Historical Society erected this impressive monument to the apple here near the site of the original tree.

THIS MONUMENT

MARKS THE SITE OF THE FIRST

BALDWIN APPLE TREE

FOUND GROWING WILD NEAR HERE.

IT FELL IN THE GALE OF 1815

THE APPLE FIRST KNOWN AS THE 

BUTTERS, WOODPECKER

OR PECKER APPLE

WAS NAMED AFTER

COL. LOAMMI BALDWIN

OF WOBURN

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

ERECTED IN 1895

BY THE 

RUMFORD HISTORICAL 

ASSOCIATION

[on the left side of the monument]

EXACT SPOT

340 FEET WEST

-------------->

10 DEGREES NORTH

In an interesting twist, Colonel Loammi Baldwin was also a cousin to Johnny Appleseed.  You can read the story of Johnny Appleseed HERE.   I always wondered if Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman took Baldwin apple seeds with him on his journey to the Midwest.  Does anyone know the answer to that question? 

                                                Joseph Richardson m. 1666 Hannah Greene

                                                         I                                         I

Mary Richardson m. 1688 James Fowle                    Joseph Richardson m. Mary Bloggett

                            I                                                                      I

Mary Fowle m. 1714 James Simonds                        Ruth Richardson m. James Baldwin

                            I                                                                      I

James Simonds m. 1740 Anna Lawrence                  Colonel Loammi Baldwin (1744/45 - 1807)

                            I

Elizabeth Simonds m. 1769 Nathaniel Chapman

                            I

Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman (1744 - 1854) 

Click here for my blog post about Johnny Appleseed

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/on-trail-of-johnny-appleseed.html 

Click here for my blog post about Count Rumford

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/05/count-rumford-house.html

Click here for my blog post about the Middlesex Canal
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-middlesex-canal.html  

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

To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Colonel Loammi Baldwin", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 14, 2013, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/10/colonel-loammi-baldwin.html , accessed [access date]).  

On the Trail of Johnny Appleseed

This spot, with the historical markers and miniature log cabin,
marks the birthplace of Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman, in Leominister, Massachusetts

Every time I drive to my Mother’s house we drive down Route 13 through Leominster, Massachusetts.  Along the way we pass a “Welcome to Leominster” sign that says “Home of Johnny Appleseed”, a  Johnny Appleseed school , Appleseed plaza, and lots of other references to the mythical hero.  But he was a real man, and his actual name was John Chapman.  He was my 2^nd cousin, five generations removed.   His mother was Elizabeth Simonds, the niece of my 5^th great grandfather, Caleb Simonds (1720 – 1811).

One day last month when we were passing though Leominster I said to my husband, “Let’s find the historical marker for his birthplace”.  Of course, it was located on Johnny Appleseed Lane, next to the Johnny Appleseed State Park.  It was easy to find with an iPhone using Google and a mapping app, or GPS.   The memorial was small and solemn, and easy to drive past if you don’t go slowly and keep your eyes open on Johnny Appleseed Lane.   There is no space to park and pay your respects, so we pulled over on the side of the road and took a few quick photos out the car window.

NEAR THIS SITE WAS BORN
JOHN CHAPMAN
KNOWN AS
JOHNNY APPLESEED
SEPTEMBER 26, 1774          MARCH 18, 1845
LEOMINSTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1963

My fellow genealogists are gathering in Fort Wayne, Indiana this week for the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference.  This is near where Johnny Appleseed lies buried at the Johnny Appleseed Memorial Park.  You can see photos of this at FindAGrave.com at this link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1848 Or here are a few from my fellow blogger Carol A. Bowen Stevens.  Thanks, Carol!

"JOHNNY

APPLESEED"

HE LIVED FOR OTHERS

HOLY BIBLE

1774 - 1845

IN FOND MEMORY OF

JOHN CHAPMAN, ENDEARLY KNOWN AS "JOHNNY APPLESEED"

THESE GRAVESITE IMPROVEMENTS WERE PROVIDED BY

THE MEN'S GARDEN CLUBS OF AMERICA

AND

THE JOHNNY APPLESEED NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOUNDATION, INC.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1965

Johnny Appleseed Memorial Park
Fort Wayne, Indiana
photo courtesy of Carol A. Bowen Stevens

In a funny coincidence, my ancestor Caleb Simonds, mentioned above,  had a first cousin married to Colonel Loammi Baldwin (1744 – 1807), who was a renaissance man - an engineer, inventor, politician and an officer in the American Revolution.  Loammi Baldwin has a statue in his hometown of Woburn, Massachusetts, and is widely remembered as the cultivator of the Baldwin apple among all his other acomplishments. He is the husband of my 2^nd cousin six generations removed.   I wonder if Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman took Baldwin apple seeds with him on his journey to the midwest?   

This Johnny Appleseed statue is in the
Londonderry Leach Library, next to the Children's Room.
It was sculpted by Pat Verani of Londonderry.

Johnny Appleseed’s genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Chapman, born 26 September 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts, died on 18 March 1845 in Fort Wayne, Indiana; unmarried.

Generation 2:  Johnny “Appleseed”’s parents were Nathaniel Chapman, born 13 September 1746 in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, died 18 February 1807 in Salem, Ohio; married as his first wife  on 9 August 1769 in Leominster to Elizabeth Simonds.  She was born 2 July 1748 in Ware, Massachusetts, died 18 July 1776 in Leominster.  

Generation 3: James Simonds, born 10 March 1717 in Woburn, Massachusetts, died in Leominster; married as his first wife on 12 May 1740 in Woburn to Anna Lawrence, daughter of John Lawrence and Elizabeth Stone.  They are my 5^th great uncle and aunt.

Generation 4: James Simonds, born 1 November 1686 in Woburn, died 30 June 1775 in Woburn; married on 17 June 1714 in Woburn to Mary Fowle, daughter of James Fowle and Mary Richardson.  She was born 18 June 1689 in Woburn, died 9 March 1762 in Woburn.  They are my 6^th great grandparents.

Generation 5: James Simonds, born 1 November 1658 in Woburn, died 15 September 1717 in Woburn; married 29 December 1685 in Woburn to Susannah Blodgett, daughter of Samuel Bloggett and Ruth Eggleton.  She was born 17 February 1663 in Woburn, and died 9 February 1715 in Woburn.  My 7^th great grandparents

Generation 6: William Simonds, born about 1612 in Winchester, Hampshire, England, died 7 June 1672 in Woburn; married on 18 January 1644 in Woburn to Judith Phippen.  She was born about 1619 and died 3 January 1690 in Woburn.  My 8^th great grandparents.

For more information:

The Chapman Family Association, www.chapmanfamilies.org

From the Chapman Family Association website, the Johnny Appleseed page at this link: http://www.chapmanfamilies.org/BIO/j_appleseed.html

"This Day in History- September 26" video from YouTube by the Freedom Trail Foundation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei_mKYvGU-c

New England’s Insomniac Theater visits the Johnny Appleseed Birthplace, on YouTube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ofihZVnBG8

A story from the Worcester Telegram, 3 July 2011 “Johnny Appleseed Tale Grew Tall in Leominster” by Karen Nugent at this link:  http://www.telegram.com/article/20110703/NEWS/107039793

Johnny Appleseed Country website, sponsored by Massachusetts Visitor Center on Route 2 westbound, located between exits 35 and 36 in Leominster, Massachusetts.      http://www.appleseed.org/

Carol A. Bowen Stevens blog "Reflections from the Fence" http://www.reflectionsfromthefence.com/

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/on-trail-of-johnny-appleseed.html

If you are reading this at any other URL you are reading stolen content

Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

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