Swedenborg’s writings have inspired people across the years, including some that you might not expect.
For example, not many people know that John Chapman (1774–1845), better known as the folk hero “Johnny Appleseed,” was a devoted reader of Swedenborg. On his travels to the frontier regions of Ohio and Indiana, he would take parts of Swedenborg’s books, which he would leave for people to read as a kind of circulating lending library. People recall him referring to Swedenborg’s writings as “Good News, right fresh from heaven.”
In 2000, the Swedenborg Foundation planted two seedlings grafted from the last authenticated apple tree planted by Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman. In 2006 they bore their first fruit. Here is their progress in 2013!
We have two trees outside of the Foundation office:
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Through the beginning of August, the apples on the trees grew.
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As the apples ripened and some began to fall to the ground, we decided that something needed to be done with them. So to celebrate the beginning of autumn and our bountiful harvest, we made the apples into a pie.
To learn more about Johnny Appleseed, download a free e-book or PDF of our recent title The Core of Johnny Appleseed: The Unknown Story of a Spiritual Trailblazer by Ray Silverman.