Part 3

Glass and ceramic containers by the hundreds were also used to store simple ingredients and compounds for sale. Dr. Pasteur at one time, for instance, ordered 246 white glass vials ranging in capacity from two drams to twelve ounces. Dr. Alexander Middleton, whose tory sympathies cost him his Williamsburg shop and contents during the Revolution, listed more than fifty dozen bottles, from one ounce size to two gallons, along with dozens of pill pots, ointment pots, and syrup pots. Glass seems to have been the most common type of container, with earthenware “gallipots” probably second.

Among the articles with which the Williamsburg shop is furnished are a number that belonged to the first Dr. Galt that have been obtained from his descendants or generously loaned by them to Colonial Williamsburg. The largest is the secretary-bookcase that stands in the back office, the most numerous are the scores of glass bottles and cardboard pillboxes that cluster on one section of the shelves, and perhaps the most interesting are his diplomas in anatomy, surgery, and midwifery that hang on the wall. Vying with the last name is the account book displaying a charge of 7 shillings against Patrick Henry—but no entry to show that the bill was ever paid.

It would require more space than is here available to describe, or even to list, all the articles in the shop today, and to identify all the drugs, herbs, powders, and compounds that would have been contained in the numerous bottles, jars, boxes, and drawers of the shop. The quantity and variety, however, may be taken as typical of a well provided apothecary shop of colonial America.

One should note in particular the surgical instruments in their velvet-lined cases. These have been collected from various sources—including one case of lancets and a set of scales from the Galt family—and are of the period. Dr. Alexander Middleton claimed to have been deprived in the Revolution of instruments for amputating, trepanning, lithotomy, cupping, couching, dissecting, dentistry, and midwifery. The estate of Dr. Kenneth McKenzie of Williamsburg inventoried three sets of instruments for amputating, trepanning, and lithotomy.

The McKenzie inventory also listed the medical books in Dr. McKenzie’s library. There were more than seventy titles, of which all but a few were medical treatises, some of them in several volumes. Among them were listed _James’ Dispensatory_ and _Shaw’s Dispensatory_. These, along with _Bate’s Dispensatory_ and the _London Dispensatory_ were among the most widely read, owned, and used books in the colony, and not alone by doctors or apothecaries. One or more was almost certain to be in the library of every planter of tidewater Virginia, a kind of “What to do till the Doctor comes” manual for the home treatment of the planter himself, his wife and children, his relatives and neighbors, and his slaves. These dispensatories avoided the need or cost of a doctor’s services unless the trouble was so serious as to need “expert” attention.

This was by no means such an unwise system as at first glance may appear. After all, the doctor would probably dose with the same medicines from the same dispensatory, and with the same result. And while quacks were plentiful, well-trained physicians were extremely scarce, especially in rural areas where pay was sure to be slow and skimpy.

In view of the general state of medical knowledge and practice throughout the eighteenth century—bleeding being always a foremost treatment of numerous ailments—it seems likely that the liberal use of native herbs, being for the most part harmless, was probably the safest and most effective course of medication. Surely human and animal excreta, mashed-up insects, and the like, which were not uncommon in London prescriptions, could not have been more curative than rattlesnake root and ginseng, whose praises were sung by the famous William Byrd II:

The Earth has never produced any vegetable so friendly to man as Ginseng. Nor do I say this at Random, or by the strength of my Faith, but by my own Experience. I have found it very cordial and reviving after great Fatigue, it warms the Blood, frisks the Spirits strengthens the Stomach and comforts the Bowels exceedingly. All this it performs with out any of those naughty Effects that might make men too troublesome and impertinent to their poor Wives.

Then as for the Rattlesnake Root the Reputation of it encreases every day. The Tincture of it has done Wonders in the Gout.... By its purging, its deuretick, and diaphoretick Qualities it is of great use in the Dropsy ... of great Efficacy in Pleuretick Feaver ... [and] a Specifick against worms....

For the Bite of a mad Dog, ... it may perhaps be as Sure a Remedy; as for the Bite of a Rattlesnake.

_A List of Williamsburg Apothecaries_

This list includes only those medical practitioners of eighteenth-century Williamsburg who operated apothecary shops. It does not include physicians who may have made up and dispensed their own prescriptions but did not operate a shop.

Andrew Anderson (1768-1771)

Anderson studied medicine in England after serving an apprenticeship with Dr. James Carter. Anderson returned to Williamsburg in 1768 and formed a partnership with Dr. Carter and they purchased the shop of William Biers. Anderson moved to New Kent County in 1771 and in 1774 married Betsey Burnet, “an agreeable young Lady, with a handsome Fortune.”

Robert Anderson (1764)

Anderson advertised his apothecary shop in Williamsburg in 1764.

William Biers (1765-1768)

Biers operated a druggist shop in Williamsburg from about 1765 to 1768 when he sold his business to Dr. Carter and Dr. Anderson. In 1769 Biers announced his intention to leave the colony.

James Carter (1751-1779)

Dr. Carter opened his apothecary shop, “the Unicorn’s Horn,” in Williamsburg in 1751 and operated it until 1779 when he sold it to his brother William Carter. James continued to practice medicine in Williamsburg until his death in 1794.

William Carter (1773-1784)

In 1771 William Carter established his medical practice in Gloucester County. In 1773 he came to Williamsburg and formed a partnership with his brother James. Six years later he purchased his brother’s share of “the Unicorn’s Horn,” and in 1784 he moved to Richmond where he opened another apothecary shop.

Robert Davidson (1737-1739)

Dr. Davidson, mayor of Williamsburg, operated a druggist shop in partnership with Thomas Goodwin from 1737 to 1739 when Davidson died.

John Minson Galt (1769-1808)

After studying medicine in England, Galt opened his apothecary shop in 1769. From 1775 until 1778 he operated a shop in partnership with Dr. William Pasteur. In 1795 Galt was appointed visiting physician to the hospital for the insane and in 1799 he was appointed a member of the court of directors for the hospital.

George Gilmer, Sr. (1731-1757)

A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Gilmer established an apothecary shop in Williamsburg in 1731. He operated the shop in connection with a successful medical practice until his death in 1757.

George Gilmer, Jr. (1766-1771)

After completing his medical studies in England, Gilmer returned to Williamsburg in 1766 and opened his apothecary shop. In 1771 he moved to Charlottesville and established a successful practice.

Thomas Goodwin (1735-1739)

Goodwin owned a druggist shop in Williamsburg and apparently did not engage in a medical practice. From 1737 to 1739 he conducted the shop in partnership with Dr. Robert Davidson.

Peter Hay (1744-1766)

Dr. Hay conducted an apothecary shop in Williamsburg from 1744 until his death in 1766 when he was described as “one of our most eminent physicians.”

Kenneth McKenzie (1732-1755)

Dr. McKenzie owned an apothecary shop in Williamsburg from 1732 until his death in 1755.

Alexander Middleton (1776)

Dr. Middleton operated an apothecary shop in Williamsburg in 1776. Middleton, a tory, was forced to leave Virginia during the Revolutionary War.

Robert Nicolson (1779-1783)

Dr. Nicolson served his apprenticeship with Dr. Pasteur and then studied medicine in England. He returned to Williamsburg in 1779 and opened his apothecary shop. After the Revolutionary War he moved his shop to Yorktown where he practiced medicine until his death in 1798.

William Pasteur (1757-1791)

After the completion of his apprenticeship with Dr. George Gilmer, Sr., Pasteur studied in England for about a year. He returned to Williamsburg in 1757 and established an apothecary shop. From 1775 to 1778 he operated the shop in partnership with John Minson Galt.

George Pitt (1744-1768)

Dr. Pitt, born in 1724 in England and “bred a Surgeon,” established his apothecary shop in Williamsburg in 1744 at the “Sign of the Rhinoceros.” In 1768 he closed his shop and returned to England. He later came back to Virginia but no longer engaged in medicine or pharmacy. In 1776 Pitt, a tory, left Virginia again. He died later that year in England.

Thomas Wharton (1735-1746)

Wharton arrived in Virginia about 1703 as an indentured servant to Dr. Richard Wright. By 1735 Wharton had established an apothecary shop in Williamsburg, which he operated until his death in 1746. He left his drugs, medicines, and shop utensils to Dr. McKenzie.

_Suggestions for Further Reading_

Whitfield J. Bell, Jr., _The Colonial Physician & Other Essays_. New York: Science History Publications, 1975.

——, “Medical Practice in Colonial America,” in _Symposium on Colonial Medicine_. Williamsburg: Jamestown-Williamsburg-Yorktown Celebration Commission and the Virginia 350th Anniversary Commission, 1957.

John B. Blake, _Public Health in the Town of Boston, 1630-1822_. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1959.

Wyndham B. Blanton, _Medicine in Virginia in the Eighteenth Century_. Richmond: Garrett and Massie, 1931.

——, _Medicine in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century_. Richmond: William Byrd Press, 1930.

John Duffy, _A History of Public Health in New York City, 1625-1866_. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1968.

Harold B. Gill, Jr., _The Apothecary in Colonial Virginia_. Williamsburg: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1972.

George B. Griffenhagen, _Drug Supplies in the American Revolution_. Washington, D. C.: Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, Bulletin No. 225, 1961.

——, _Tools of the Apothecary_. Washington, D. C.: American Pharmaceutical Association, 1957.

Patrick Henderson, “Smallpox and Patriotism: The Norfolk Riots, 1768-1769.” _Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_, LXXIII (October 1965), pp. 413-424.

Thomas P. Hughes, _Medicine in Virginia, 1607-1699_. Williamsburg: Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation, 1957.

Thomas Jefferson, _Notes on the State of Virginia_, ed. William Peden. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1955.

Edward Kremers and George Urdang, _History of Pharmacy: A Guide and a Survey_. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1951.

Geoffrey Marks and William K. Beatty, “The Virginia Colony,” in _The Story of Medicine in America_. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1973.

Benjamin Rush, _The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush_, ed. George W. Corner. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1948.

Richard Harrison Shryock, _Medicine and Society in America: 1660-1860_. New York: New York University Press, 1960.

C. J. S. Thompson, _The Mystery and Art of the Apothecary_. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1929.

Surry Wood, _The Old Apothecary Shop_. Watkins Glen, N.Y.: Century House, 1956.

_The Apothecary in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg_ was first published in 1965 and previously reprinted in 1968, 1970, 1973, 1978, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990. Written by Thomas K. Ford, now retired as editor of Colonial Williamsburg publications, it is based largely on a monograph by Harold B. Gill, Jr. That study has been published as _The Apothecary in Colonial Virginia_ (Williamsburg, Virginia, 1972).

Transcriber’s Notes

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

—Silently corrected a few palpable typos.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.