Historically, chestnuts have throughout the ages provided food and wood products in both European and Oriental cultures. Chestnuts have saved some civilizations from vanishing during famines, wars, and natural disasters. Native American chestnuts offered many promises and comforts to the early colonists, but during a blight that was introduced by importing nursery stock from Asia, the chestnut trees of American were almost eliminated. Certain chestnut tree colonies survived in isolated locations and because of plant breeding advances, chestnut trees are being reestablished throughout the nation. The original stands of American chestnuts were far superior to all other types in the world in respect to the sweet taste and vast quantities of lumber that was produced. Foreign types of chestnuts such as Chinese, Japanese, and European have been used to implant immunity qualities back into the historical genetic code contained within the tasty kernel of the American chestnut.

An early reference to American chestnuts, ‘Castanea dentata,' was given in John and William Bartram's seed and tree nursery catalog, America's first nursery catalog that was published in Philadelphia, PA in 1783. The Bartram family, famous American explorers and botanists, were close friends of Benjamin Franklin and U.S. Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The Bartrams supplied American chestnut trees to gardens at Independence Hall at Philadelphia and the personal gardens of George Washington at Mount Vernon and to Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, Va. President Jefferson was an avid plant collector and spent endless hours searching for profitable horticultural crops that were commercially suitable for American farmers. President Jefferson attempted and succeeded in intercrossing and hybridizing the various collections of Spanish or European species of chestnuts, ‘Castanea sativa.' He also performed crosses on chestnuts forming hybrid crosses of the European chestnut, ‘Castanea sativa' and the American chestnut, ‘Castanea dentata.'

Thomas Jefferson is documented to have personally grafted European chestnuts onto American rootstock, however, it is unclear why he did this, since the American chestnuts were more desirable and tasted better than the European chestnuts.

In his book, Travels, William Bartram never mentions any encounter or observation of the American chestnut ‘Castanea dentata,' despite his extensive exploration of the Southeastern U.S., where the trees were growing in substantially large numbers in their native habitat. The mystery created by Bartram omitting references to this very significant inhabitant of American forests is a conundrum that may never be answered. Maps locating Bartram's famous Philadelphia, Pa. arboretum and garden still actively used today as a tourist attraction documented the presence of chestnut goliaths in the garden border.

The legendary nuts harvested from the American chestnut had a superior taste and production capability over the European chestnut. These nuts were gathered and stored in the shade and coolness of fall, so that the starchy kernel could develop its spicy sweetness. The nuts could be shelled and eaten fresh, or they could be roasted over hot coals to improve the flavor. A common sight on the streets of New York City or Philadelphia was peddlers with mobile stoves roasting the fresh chestnuts in cast iron pans to offer for sale to pedestrians. The heavy crops of nuts in the native forests offered enough food for not only human populations, but also for animals such as bears, deer, squirrels, turkeys, and the now extinct passenger pigeons.

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