McIntosh with sticker by Lars Zapf 2006-03-30 cropped

John McIntosh (August 15, 1777 – c. 1845) was a

Scottish-Canadian Scottish Canadians are people of Scottish people, Scottish descent or cultural heritage, heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a ...

farmer and fruit breeder, credited with discovering the McIntosh Red apple. Through the apple, his surname is the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

of the

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

(or Mac) computers and operating systems by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

Early life

John McIntosh was born in

Mohawk Valley The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains, northwest of the Capital District. As of the 2010 United States Census, th ...

near Harpersfield in the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...

in 1777, the son of a Scottish immigrant who was a

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. McIntosh emigrated to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

sometime between 1795 and 1801 and settled in Matilda Township, now part of South Dundas Township. His four sons, David, Charles, Allan, and John served with the

Dundas County Militia The Dundas County Militia was a regiment of the provincial militia of Upper Canada that was raised in Dundas County, Ontario in the 1780s. The battle honours and legacy of the Dundas Militia are perpetuated by the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry ...

during the

Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the rebellion in Lower Canada (p ...

, fighting at the

Battle of the Windmill :''The "Battle of the Windmill" is also a fictional battle in the book Animal Farm.'' The Battle of the Windmill was a battle fought in November 1838 in the aftermath of the Upper Canada Rebellion. Loyalist forces of the Upper Canadian government ...

in 1838. His son Allan would continue growing the apples and expanded the orchards.

Discovery of the McIntosh apple

While clearing his property, McIntosh discovered a number of seedling apple trees growing wild. He transplanted them to his garden, and by the following year only one had survived. Several years later, the tree was producing the crisp, delicious fruit that is now well known. The discoverer eventually dubbed it the 'McIntosh Red', which is still the apple's official name. McIntosh farmed the original property until his death, sometime between September 19, 1845 and January 10, 1846, near

St. Lawrence Valley The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Original tree

The original tree that spawned this legacy was damaged by fire in 1894. The McIntosh family nursed the old tree along until 1908; the last year it produced a crop; and, in 1910, it fell over. A flat headstone now marks the spot where the stump had remained for years. At least three plaques commemorating the site's historic value are also located in the vicinity. In 1962, the

Ontario Heritage Foundation The Ontario Heritage Trust (french: link=no, Fiducie du patrimoine ontarien) is a non-profit agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture. It is responsible for protecting, preserving and promoting the built, natural and cultural herita ...

erected a plaque outside the former McIntosh homestead. In 2001 the

Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

unveiled another plaque in a nearby park and declared the apple's discovery and development an "event of national historic importance." The park, which belongs to the Township of South Dundas, also features a large hand-painted mural depicting the apple's history.

External links

Ontario Plaques

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntosh, John 1777 births 1840s deaths 19th-century Canadian people Farmers from New York (state) American emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Canadian farmers Canadian people of Scottish descent American people of Scottish descent History of agriculture in Ontario