random truths - Day 2,019 (Friday) - family tree

My Aunt Theresa researched the family tree for many years, back before the Internet and genealogy sites, when getting information required letters, phone calls, and visits to libraries, town halls, and records agencies for documents and photocopies. When I was in high school or thereabouts, I remember being at Aunt Theresa and Uncle Ted's house with my parents and she was talking about her research and some of the people in the Simonds family tree. 

Aunt Theresa was especially excited about two historic figures. One was Colonel Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (26 March 1753 – 21 August 1814), an American-born British military officer, scientist, and inventor. He was born in Woburn, Mass., and is known for improved fireplaces and chimneys, and also invented a double boiler, a kitchen range, and a drip coffeepot. He supported the British Loyalists and was a spy after the outbreak of the American Revolution, and as a result, in 1776 he was forced to flee to London. Thompson also studied heat and friction and performed groundbreaking work in thermodynamics. 

The other family member that Aunt Theresa was excited about was John Chapman (26 September 1774 – 18 March 1845). He is more commonly known as Johnny Appleseed and was born in Leominster, Mass. According to genealogy sources, Johnny is my first cousin five times removed. Our familial connection is through his mother, Elizabeth Simonds. The same year ancestor Benjamin Thompson was leaving his wife and daughter behind and fleeing to England, John Chapman's mother died while giving birth to her second son, Nathanial Jr., who died a few days later.

Honoring Johnny Appleseed.

Johnny Appleseed traveled the country and planted 1,200 acres of apple trees in large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, the northern counties of West Virginia, and Ontario, Canada. He planted from seeds instead of trees grown with grafting. According to Wikipedia, apples grown from seed are generally not edible but are perfect for making hard cider, which was in high demand in the early part of the nineteenth century. 

In honor of family tree relative Johnny Appleseed's birth, tonight, I opened a bottle and raised a glass of Welch's chilled sparkling apple juice. I love fizzy fruit juice almost as much as I love an apple crisp or a big glazed fritter, both of which I now deeply regret not buying during recent shopping excursions. Cheers to Johnny Appleseed. Now excuse me while I run out for an apple pastry.