Ft. Wayne druggist

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marjorie040

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I came across this obit recently while searching and thought perhaps it might be of interest to any Ft. Wayne folks.

I'm not sure how well it will come out on the website.

Regards,


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surfaceone

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Hey Marjorie,

Left me in need of my good magnifying glass, and I haven't seen that in years.

Is this any of the text? :

"J. F. W. Meyer, Who Had a Notable Career Both in Retail and Wholesale Drug Trade, is Dead,.Aged 85. St. Louie, Sept. 20.—John Frederick William Meyer, who died Sept. 6, at Fort Wayne, Ind., was one of the founders of the great Meyer Brothers Drug Co., which has become famous throughout the world and has helped to advertise St. Louis. He was born Dec. 19, 1824, at the village of Haddem, Westphalia, in the kingdom of Prussia. His parents were Johann Heinrich and Louise Margaretha (nee Holt). His father was a farmer and raiser of live stock. His father died when William was nine years old and his mother when he was 23. His Christian name was Johann or John but he always went by the name of Wilhelm or William.
Soon after the death of his mother in 1847 William and a younger brother Frederick came to America, where a sister had come eight years before. They left Bremen on the sailing vessel Swanton and after seven weeks and three days arrived at New Orleans. They went by boat to Cincinnati, arriving there Dec. 1. They took a canal boat for Fort Wayne, in the vicinity of which their sister lived, but the boat became icebound and the brothers had to walk two days and a night, carrying little effects and thin purses, to their destination, where they assisted their brother-in-law in clearing land and doing other pioneer work. In March William went to Fort Wayne and became driver of a canal boat. Two years later he went into a drug store owned by H. B. Reed as porter and general do-whatever-is-handy. His brother Frederick also held a position with the same firm. In 1857 Mr. Meyer became a partner with his brother Frederick or C. F. G. Meyer, in the retail drug business, in which the latter had been established since 1852. The style of the firm was Meyer & Brother. They prospered, and drifted into the jobbing business. In 1865 they took in F. F. A. Fischer and E. P. Williams as partners and started jobbing exclusively, C. F. G. Meyer and Mr. Fischer going to St. Louis while J. F. W. Meyer and E. P. Williams remained at Fort Wayne, both houses being carried on under the name of Meyer Brothers & Co. Some years ago the retail business in Fort Wayne was entirely divorced from the western interests of the firm and was incorporated as Meyer Bros. & Co., admitting as stockholders many of the men who had long been with the firm as employes. Mr. Meyer was elected president of the company, and the business has grown to such an extent that the company is now operating four handsome retail drug stores in Fort Wayne.
Mr. Meyer married in May 23, 1851, Miss Caroline Schroeder. There were four children by this union, three sons and one daughter, of whom three are living. Mrs. G. J. Burkhardt of Boston, and two sons, married, Frederick G. Meyer of New York City and Wm. L. Meyer of St. Louis. On May 22, 1860, Mr. Meyer married his present wife, Miss Julia Gerke, born and raised in territory now a part of Fort Wayne. There were five children as the result of this union, four living, three daughters and one son. These are all married, and the son George T. Meyer has had charge of the legal department of Meyer Brothers Drug Co. for a number of years.
One close to him in St. Louis described him as a man whose life had been a monument of character morally and religiously. He was generally looked up to as a high class of American citizen and was most highly esteemed. He was actively identified with the German Evangelical Lutheran Church. He was an alderman and a commissioner of waterworks in his Indiana home.
The lnte JOHN F. W. MEYER,
of Fort Wayne, Ind." From The Pharmaceutical Era 1910.

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marjorie040

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Wow! surfaceone That is a great synopsis of Mr. Meyers life....much more so than the original obituary!!!
I enjoyed reading the story and it's a shame the newspaper clipping doesn't photocopy well enough to read easily.

We need more men like John Frederick William Meyer today!!
Thanks so much,
 

surfaceone

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Hey Marjorie,

If you liked the synopsis on John Frederick William, I thought you might get a kick from that of his older brother, Christian Frederick Godlove Meyer:

"Mr. C. F. G. Meyer joined the American Pharmaceutical Association in 1860. Only one Missouri member
eantedates him, and he by only two years. Mr. Meyer is one of the forty-seven living members of anti-bellum days. The semi-centennial anniversary of his advent in the drug business occurred August 1, 1902.
At the Golden Jubilee meeting of the A. Ph. A. in Philadelphia, September 8 to 15, Mr. Meyer will meet a number of other veterans in the cause of pharmacy, and enjoy with them reminiscences of days when practical pharmacy was the acme of our calling and theoretical pharmacy the morning rays of the changes which have been brought about by colleges, journals, authors and investigators.
It was during those early times in American pharmacy that Mr. Meyer predicated a plan of lifework which has built up the immense drug business of which he is president, and made the name of "Meyer" a synonym for "high quality of goods" and business integrity.
Under the heading of "Leading Business Men," a St. Louis daily paper recently had the following to say about Mr. Meyer: ,
"C. F. G. Meyer, founder of the house of Meyer Brothers Drug Company, of St. Louis, was born in the Province of Westphalia, Prussia, December 9, 1830, and came to this country in 1847. His father died when he was three years old, and his mother when he was'sixteen. C. F.G.,and his brother, William, came to this country, landing at New Orleans. They took a steamer for Cincinnati, and from there went to Fort Wayne, Ind. They went by canal boat, but on the way became ice-bound and had to walk the rest of the way. They reached a sister living eighteen miles south of Fort Wayne, after much trouble and wandering through the woods, and spent the winter there, felling trees.
"February 14, 1848, the brother-in-law took C. F. G. to Fort Wayne in a wagon, and after a day there it was determined the boy should remain. He spent the first ten weeks doing housework and working in a dry goods store, and then got a job washing bottles in a drug store at barely enough to subsist on, and for his lodgings slept in the store. After a time, when he thought he had washed bottles long enough, and remonstrated, another boy was hired for that work, and he rose to the distinction of waiting upon customers in a small way. In 1849 the Asiatic cholera visited Fort Wayne, and several of the em
ployes fled. This was young Meyer's opportunity, and he applied himself diligently to running the business, for, among others who stuck to their posts, his employer was stricken with the disease and died. Young Meyer thereupon took entire charge of the business, put up the prescriptions that were required, and faced all the dangers of the situation. There was but little business at the time, as Fort Wayne was then only a small town and almost deserted; but the new manager, being alone, had his hands full, stuck to his post and had his meals brought to him.
"In 1852 a Druggist named Watson Wall, with a small store in Fort Wayne, induced Mr. Meyer to join him in partnership, and the firm of Wall & Meyer soon began business. A month later Mr. Meyer took a trip to New York to buy drugs. He went to Toledo by canal boat, thence by lake to Buffalo, then by rail to Albany and thence by Hudson River steamboat to New York. Returning, he went over the Alleghanies, partly by rail and partly by stage.
"Mr. Meyer had Saved $420 from his salary, and, borrowing $80, he put $500 into the new firm. Mr. Wall's assets, after deducting liabilities, were $620.
"In 1857, the term of the partnership having expired, Mr. Meyer bought Mr. Wall's interest for something over $10,000. Soon thereafter Mr. Meyer gave his brother, J. F. W. Meyer, an interest, and the firm name was changed to Meyer & Brother.
"The Business Prospered during the war, but in 1803 their store was almost entirely destroyed by fire, the loss exceeding the insurance about $15,000. While the building was still burning Mr. Meyer secured new premises just across the street, and next day was off to New York to buy another stock of goods. It was not long before their business again assumed its normal condition.
"At the Close of the War, looking for new territory and a larger field, a branch store was opened in St. Louis. This was in August, 1865. St. Louis had a population of 200,000, with twelve wholesale drug houses; and, as a reaction in prices set in, the time for branching out was not well chosen, as the shrinkage in values was very great. But the "branch," notwithstanding all that, continued to grow, and it soon became greater than the trunk.
"Mr. Meyer Became a Director in the State Bank of Indiana before he was thirty years old, and has since been a director in two St. Louis banks. He is also a director of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
"Owing to Close Application to Business, Mr. Meyer, in 1889, completely broke down from nervous prostration, and for about five years was unable to do much work. During the time he and his wife traveled a great deal, sea voyages being especially beneficial to him. His domestic life has been a very happy one, and he and Mrs. Meyer have been blessed with nine children—seven sons and two daughters." From Meyer Brothers Druggist 1902.

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marjorie040

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surfaceone,

Very cool article! Thanks for posting!
Both the Meyer brothers lived exciting lives! It's interesting that "integrity" was the main attribute they eached possessed...

Regards,
 

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