Among his many accolades, Reverend Blaxton is credited with sowing the initial seeds that propelled a nation of pioneers and established apples as a symbol of all-American purity.
The early English settler, a bookish and eccentric loner, planted what historians believe to be the first apple orchards in the United States in the 1620s in what is now Boston. Blackstone is a common modernization of his name Blaxton.
He established Rhode Island a year ahead of Roger Williams and Boston five years ahead of the Puritans, making him a great pioneer.
MEET CLARENCE BIRDSEYE, AN ADVENTURER AND INNOVATOR FROM AMERICAN WHO COOKED UP FROZEN FOODS.
He was undoubtedly the first, or at least the first known, to bring this alien crop to our shores “though there may have been historical figures who accomplished more for apples in America than he did,” according to American apple specialist, farmer, and author John Bunker.
The New England apple enthusiast, who was “tracking down ancient trees” in the rural Maine woods, told News, “That’s a pretty awesome legacy.”
