Ohio, ca. 1845-1907. Leather bound notebook with laid paper and embossed stamp "Watman & Co. London". German and English penciled notations including "Catalogue of Apples and when Ripe", lists of fruit, flowers, and "Ornamental Trees & Shrubs" as well as garden grids. Several pages of grids for gardens with key numbers as well as drawn plans of fields with inked direction of North (Nord) and identifying buildings. Most of the buildings are numbered houses but some are identified in German as shops, "Springhaus", "Feundeig" (?), and one house as "R. Beuter". One double-page spread remains of what was most likely a fold out insert showing the Zoar garden plan. One building at the top is partially identified as "__ house Green". Two pages show the "Bauer Haus" as well as houses "No. 15", "No. 16", The Print Shop and "No. 17", The Boy's Dormitory. Notebook measures 6"h. 4"w. From the collection of the late Chris Powell and Christine Powell, Zoar, Ohio; purchased from the Beuter Family estate [tag] sale, 1988, Zoar, Ohio. Simon Beuter (1819-1907), widely known as “The Gardner” for the Zoar Society, was born in Germany, 1819. Beuter was the original and head gardener for the Zoar Society in charge of the Biblically symbolic community plot from about 1845 until the Society disbanded in 1898. He both maintained the famous radiating gardens, laid out in geometric patterns with Germanic precision, and taught many in the community to plant and garden.Before long, Zoar became the go-to place for Ohio’s growing gardening needs. People traveled from miles to purchase seeds, plants, and cuttings from the Zoar Garden and Beuter. The community collection of flowers and plants was one of the most complete in Ohio, rivaling the botanical gardens of both Cleveland and Toledo. Orders for plants and bulbs came from as far as Iowa.At the north end of the garden stands the Gardner’s House (No. 11), the residence for Beuter and his family beginning about 1835. The family added a greenhouse (or hothouse) to the structure to protect large potted orange, lemon, and other fruit [trees] in the winter. As such, it was commonly known as the “Orangerie”. Wealthy Clevelanders would send their plants during the winter to be kept in the Zoar greenhouse.Beuter specialized in fruit, developing both the Zoar Sweeting Apple and the Zoar Beauty Pear. It is said that Johnny Appleseed visited and planted in Zoar.Suffering injury and illness after a fall in his greenhouse while rummaging among seeds on shelves, he died on April 2, 1907.Beuter’s wife, Anna Maria Lessing (1823-1882), was born in Germany; she was a midwife and kept the first record of births in Tuscarawas Co. from 1851 until her death in 1882.

Wear and some loss and stains. Loose pages, wear and edge loss. Stains, at least 3 pages stuck together, small tear in diagram of block with Bauer house.