Davis
H.M.P. Clarke Drug Co.
1896(?)—1904
The earliest record of this company existing are from 1896 (R.L. Polk & Co., 1896). 1904 was the final year it existed (Mercantile Agency, Mar. 1904).
H.M.P. Clarke Drug Co., Davis medicine bottle. Oval, sloped neck, prescription finish. Lists its location at the National Bank Building, which still stands.
H.M.P. Clarke Drug Co., Davis medicine bottle. Square, amber glass, rolled lip.
H.M.P. Clarke Drug Co., Davis medicine bottle. Oval, text in script, prescription finish.
F.S. Johnston Drug Co.
1891/4—19??
The first records I have of Felix S. Johnston are from 1895, when he did business in only Davis (R.L. Polk & Co., 1896). However, another source narrows this down to 1891-1894 (Cook, 1946). Elkins was his second branch, beginning sometime in 1903 (Mercantile Agency, July 1903). Parsons was the third branch, opening in 1910 (Mercantile Agency, Sep. 1910; see below). Not much information is available about his Davis branch, but it still existed in 1924, and likley beyond.
F.S. Johnston, Davis medicine bottle. 4-ounces, block letters, graduated (on the front). Oval mold, prescription finish.
F.S. Johnston, Davis medicine bottle. Script text. Oval mold, prescription finish.
F.S. Johnston, Davis and Elkins medicine bottle. 1/2-ounce, graduated, oval mold, collared ring finish.
F.S. Johnston, Davis and Elkins medicine bottle. Oval mold, prescription finish.
F.S. Johnston, Davis, Elkins, and Parsons medicine bottle. 6-ounces, oval mold, graduated, collared ring finish.
Parsons
Dr. F.S. Holsberry
Information needed.
F.S. Johnston Drug Co.
1910—1944
The Parsons branch of the F.S. Johnston Drug Co. was the latest branch to be established—not appearing in listings until 1910 (Mercantile Agency, Sep. 1910). As early as 1917, the company was located at 1000 Walnut Street in the Tucker County Bank building (National Park Service, 1990). It remained there, as the F.S. Johnston Drug Co., until Johnston sold the store in 1944 for $11,120 to Rodney A. Barb, who was a pharmacist for many years at the Parsons store.
F.S. Johnston Drug Co., Elkins, Davis, and Parsons medicine bottle. 6-ounces, oval mold, graduated, collared ring finish.
J.W. Kogelschatz
1902—1909
J.W. Kogelschatz was a druggist in Parsons starting in late-1901 or 1902 (Mercantile Agency, July 1901; Mercantile Agency, Sep. 1902). In 1904, he began his own company—the J.W. Kogelschatz Drug Company—with $7,600 of capital invested (Barton, 1906). According to a National Register of Historic Places submission (National Park Service, 1990), Kogelschatz’s company was located in the Walnut Street storefront of the Tucker County Bank Building, located at 1000 Walnut Street today. He disappears from Dun & Bradstreet listings after 1909, but it appears that he moved to Martinsburg and, in 1912, was granted a license to sell drugs there instead (“County Court,” 1912).
J.W. Kogelschatz, Parsons medicine bottle. Oval mold, prescription finish.
References
Barton, I.V. (1906). Ninth biennial report of the bureau of labor of West Virginia, 1905-1906. The Tribune Printing Company.
Cook, R.B. (1946). The annals of pharmacy in West Virginia. Jarrett Printing Company.
County court transactions. (1912, June 12). Evening Journal, 3.
National Park Service. (Oct. 1990). National Register of Historic Places registration form, Tucker County Bank. https://wvculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Tucker-county-bank-building.pdf
R.L. POlk & Co. (1896). West Virginia state gazetteer and business directory, volume V, 1895-1896.