Apples, an Old World fruit, arrived after European exploration, became fuel for pioneers and a symbol of American bounty
This fall, tip your basket to William Blaxton when you pluck a plump apple from a tree, bob for apples on Halloween or cherish your grandmother’s amazing apple pie on Thanksgiving.
Reverend Blaxton, among other claims to fame, planted the first seeds that would fuel a pioneering nation and give apples an image of all-American wholesomeness.
A bookish, eccentric loner, the early English settler nurtured what historians believe were the first apple orchards in what’s now the U.S. in present-day Boston in the 1620s. His name Blaxton is often modernized as Blackstone.
Applejack (fermented cider) was an important homegrown brew that seasonally rivaled beer in rural America.