Arriving in 1623, Reverend William Blackstone was the first English settler in present day Boston. Something of a hermit, he lived on what is now Beacon Hill and planted apple trees.
“As American as apple pie...”
”
- Library of Congress
Red Apples
Russian scientist Nicolai Vavilov traced the first cultivation of apples to Kazakhstan in Central Asia. From there the practice spread, eventually reaching England. (The Romans were enthusiastic planters of apple trees.) Vavilov hoped to end famine in Russia by the scientific study of agriculture. Falling out of favor with Joseph Stalin, he died in a Soviet prison.
Apples and apricots . . .
Apples and apricots were brought to Massachusetts from England.
- Graphics Fairy
-
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Laommi Baldwin
- Library of Congress
A Massachusetts Variety
Baldwin apples were found in Wilmington
Massachusetts on the farm of John Ball around
1740. They are named for Laommi Baldwin,
a Revolutionary War officer who fought at
Lexington and Concord. Colonel Baldwin later
supervised the construction
of the Middlesex Canal
connecting the area around
present day Lowell to
Boston. Baldwin noticed
the apple, took grafts, and
planted and promoted the
“brand.” Appropriately,
Baldwin was a second cousin
to “Johnny Appleseed.”
Johnny Appleseed
The official Massachusetts folk hero, Johnny Appleseed,
was born in Leominster in 1774. His real name was
John Chapman. Although eccentric, he had a practical
side. Anticipating settlement in western Pennsylvania
and Ohio, he bought land, increased its value by creating
orchards, and sold out at a profit. He mostly planted seeds
for the variety of apples used to make “hard cider.” Some
of Chapman’s trees were chopped down during prohibition.
Honeybees
Honeybees were brought from England to pollinate apples. (They were called “English flies” by native people.) This petition from the town of Newbury, requests assistance for John Eales “age upward of 70 years…a beehive maker incapable of making a living.”
