The Core of Johnny Appleseed: The Unknown Story of a Spiritual Trailblazer

by Ray Silverman, Nancy Poes (Illustrator)

Overview

Recent biographies of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, have portrayed him as anything from a schizophrenic wandering ascetic to a hedonistic pleasure-seeker. But who was the real man behind the misconceptions?

In this spiritual biography, Ray Silverman explores the stories and the popular misconceptions about Johnny Appleseed as well as the truths behind the legends. As a businessman, Chapman owned nineteen nurseries and twenty other land holdings throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, brokering deals that belie the popular image of him as a wandering nomad with a tin pot on his head. But it is only once we talk about Chapman’s spiritual convictions that we come to the core of who he was: a thoughtful and also joyful Christian who was deeply moved by the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.

The picture that emerges is of a lighthearted person whose convictions led him to seek harmony not only in nature but in the spiritual realms also—and to share his bounty with as many people as he could.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780877856276
Publisher:	Swedenborg Foundation Publishers
Publication date:	10/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	152
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Ray Silverman is the author of Rise Above It: Spiritual Development through the Ten Commandments (co-authored with his wife, Star) and the editor of Helen Keller’s spiritual autobiography Light in My Darkness. More recently, he authored the introduction for the stand-alone edition of Helen Keller’s inspirational essay How I Would Help the World.  Ray has a PhD from the University of Michigan, an MAT from Wesleyan University, and an MDiv from the Academy of the New Church Theological School. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Religion, English, and Moral Philosophy at Bryn Athyn College, and is an adjunct instructor at Urbana University, the home of the Johnny Appleseed Education Center and Museum, and the Chapman School of Leadership in Sustainability.

Nancy Poeswas born in Elizabeth, New Jersey and received a BA in history from the University of California Berkeley. She studied illustration at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Since 2006, she has lived and painted in Santa Fe after twenty years in Hawaii and extensive time in Portugal. Her work is part of many international public, corporate, and private collections.

Read an Excerpt

Many of the talented researchers who have devoted substantial time and energy to uncovering the true story of Johnny Appleseed have not been students of [Emanuel] Swedenborg. Admittedly, it takes many years and thoughtful study to thoroughly understand Swedenborg’s theology. While the basics are simple (love God, love your neighbor), the explanations are complex and vast. This is perhaps why Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82) was inspired to say, “The most remarkable step in the religious history of recent ages is that made by the genius of Swedenborg. A colossal soul, he lies vast abroad of his times, uncomprehended by them, and requires a long focal distance to be seen. . . . He is not to be measured by whole colleges of ordinary scholars."

In some cases, the inability to fully comprehend Swedenborg’s theology has resulted in mistaken ideas about the true nature of Johnny Appleseed. Scholars have conjectured about why he never married, why he lived in the woods, why he was a vegetarian, why he wouldn’t harm a mosquito, and why he wore a cooking pot on his head. Their conclusions are based on stories that have been handed down through the generations. For the most part, these stories are childhood impressions and dim recollections, passed down in a historical version of “whisper down the lane.” And many are “tall tales” told merely to amuse children, but later retold as fact.

To reason about Johnny in this way is to draw conclusions based on his outward appearance and not on his essence. It would be like judging a book by its cover, an apple by its peel, or a person by a story about them. In this book, we will go beyond the outward appearance and take a new look at Johnny Appleseed. We will examine the peel (what people saw), enjoy the fruit (what he did), and discover the core of Johnny Appleseed (who he really was).

Table of Contents

Contents Foreword 1. The Open Road 2. The Peel (What People Saw) 3. The Fruit (What Johnny Did) 4. The Core (Who Johnny Was) Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Appleseed A: John Chapman’s Ancestry B: John Chapman’s Nurseries C: John Chapman’s Land Holdings D: Transcriptions of Original Documents Acknowledgments Notes Sources Index

Editorial Reviews

The author (Rise Above It: Spiritual Development through the Ten Commandments) explores the man and the myth of Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) in history, telling quite a tale. Far beyond the Walt Disney version that may be familiar to many readers, Johnny was a pioneer who not only sowed fruit trees but also was a theologian who spread the gospel of the New Church in America as a follower of the visionary scientist-theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. "From home to home he went, armed not only with apple seeds, but with the seeds of heavenly truth he found in Swedenborg's writings," Silverman writes. He dispels the myths that Johnny walked always barefoot and lived with the animals and documents his genealogy and purchases of apple seeds. In his later years, he bartered land for Swedenborg's books. This is an engaging biography of an underexamined nineteenth-century figure. Illustrations by Nancy Poes use soft lines and washes and are evocative. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly