I’ve pieced together information from a variety of sources, since sources about different aspects of his life have not been so good about providing a full biography, including some articles in historical society journals, old newspaper articles, among others. The most complete biography is a doctoral dissertation: David Diamond. “Migrations: Henderson Luelling and the Cultivated Apple, 1822-1854”, Northern Arizona University, 2004. I hadn’t looked it in some time and hadn’t paid attention to the White Winter Pearmain. In Table 1 on page 205, Diamond indicates Henderson Lewelling’s source of the White Pearmain [he uses this name, not White Winter Pearmain] was “Ann Jessup’s Imports.” Back on page 52, he writes that “Ann Jessop was a Quaker minister who demonstrated her devotion to horticulture while on a religious visit to Friends in England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1790 to 1792.” On her return home she brought "many kinds of standard varieties of apples, pears, and grape cuttings and employed Abijah Pinson, an expert in grafting from Guilford County, NC, to graft her cuttings into seedling stocks, in the spring of 1793. Jessop and Pinson disseminated their stock to the Quaker community in the area which would have included Henderson Lewelling’s family. Diamond’s source was Addison Coffin, “Early Settlement of Friends in North Carolina: Traditions and Reminiscences,” The Southern Friend 5.(1983): 27-38. He states that we “cannot be sure that Lewelling’s trees derived specifically from Jessup’s English scions, but it seems likely that at least some descended from her imported wood.” The author also indicates that many migrants from North Carolina to Indiana brought with them trees that could be traced back to Ann Jessop’s original English imports.
This indicates White (Winter) Pearmain likely arose in NC circa 1800, to give time for the tree to produce, its merits determined, and grafts begun. Several times I’ve read about Brits complaining WWP is not the British Winter Pearmain, which is documented to 1200 BC, and reddish even in weak English light.
Rambour franc is Triploid so non viable seeds would be normal.
Rambour Franc is the first triploid apple to offer a crop on my ground. I’ll keep an eye on its seeds in years to come to confirm your assertion. I had never seen that in print before.
Will also look into Gravenstein apples to check for viable seeds, as it is a fairly common triploid.
I never thought that was a big secrete I read up on the apple before ordering scions last year.
https://www.acnursery.com/fruit-trees/apple-trees/5/summer-rambo
Gravenstien is a little weird. Most people claim its Triploid but other claim they regularly get viable seeds. My guese its somewhere in the middle more then 2 sets of chromosomes and less then 3.
I wanted to update.
We did genetic testing on the oldest apple tree in WA state, which by the way sadly died this year…but they are trying to “save” it by grafting on limbs from genetic clones.
Turns out to be a novel tree, not directly shown to have parents with any known variety, even though we know the seeds came from a desert apple grown in England, likely planted late 1700s.
The closest genes to a known variety is a variety that is FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD!
Here is more from our mayor:
I just saw this article about the Apple tree.bb
You are welcome. I knew last year that we needed to get this old tree tested genetically to give it a proper name rather than “old Apple tree” alone. I had asked the mayor and city council to contact the lab about it, however they didn’t say they actually were going to do it so this was great news. None of us were expecting this greening Apple would be so genetically unique!
So now it has an official name. And if they fail and it cannot be saved it will Rest In Peace.
Its amazing how majestic old apple trees are. I very much hope they save it and think that tissue culture should be able to get this done.
Here is bramley just being a lady
My Hunt Russet grafts took, so I’m set to wait a few years to see if I agree with you. It was one of only a couple dozen trees rated “very good to best” in Beach’s Apples of New York.
Growing conditions here tend to push apples to either gas away all taste or concentrate it. I expect your mileage to vary. Maybe in a dry summer for your area…