I was perusing the Wikipedia entry for John Chapman (AKA Johnny Appleseed) and was a bit suprised to see a line that specifically takes issue with Dex’s Staff Report. Dex makes a small mention that Chapman drank; the Wikipedia entry contends that he did not. While I have much more faith in the Dope than Wikipedia, are there any references to Chapman as a drinker or teetotaler in the historical record?
Oh, man, I wrote that report two years ago, and I certainly don’t remember the details. I wouldn’t have made it up. The Wikipedia article says that Swedenborg philosophy called for vegetarianism and abstinence; I agree with the vegetarianism, but I don’t recollect anything about abstinence. My reading of the Wikipedia article is sort of like saying, “Christianity teaches not to steal; Kenneth Lay was a Christian; therefore he wouldn’t steal.” I suspect that the reality is that Johnny Appleseed was a complex person, and he may have sometimes abstained and sometimes imbibed.
However, I will try to track this down.
Ha, don’t mean to create more work for ya! Take it as a testament to the power and controversy of your scholarship that the column is rebutted within a Wiki article. 
And you’re absolutely right about the tautological nature of the Wikipedia argument – would make it all the more handy to have some hard cites one way or the other.
Thanks, Dex!
Or some hard cider.
…apple wine, apple whiskey, apple schnapps, apple martinis, uh, Snapple with vodka in it, apple nail polish remover …
I’ll take some of that. Just don’t ask me for a sponge bath.
I’ll try to get around to checking some cites, but it won’t be for a week or two. Life’s like that at the moment.
And, not to worry, flurb, I know you didn’t intend to increase my workload. It’s kind of weird to be quoted on Wikipedia, so I’m glad you found it and pointed it out. Thanks.
From encycl.opentopia.com, FWIW. Similar to, but a little different from, the current incarnation of the Wiki article:
Although Chapman himself was a teetotaler as well as a vegetarian, his version of Swedenborgian theology condemned drunkenness, rather than requiring total abstention from alcohol. On the frontier, water supplies were often of questionable quality, and alcoholic beverages could be the healthful alternative.
There’s also a link there to Dex’s masterful article.
I thought the main reason for growing apples was alcohol? 