Saturday, November 04, 2017

Caswell County Pharmacists

Pharmacists: Caswell County, North Carolina

Tommy Davis at The Drug Store (Yanceyville)



The purpose of this article is to identify all the druggists/pharmacists who practiced in Caswell County, North Carolina, both those who self-identified as such and those who were licensed by the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy.

While not confirmed, it appears that the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy (or its predecessor) dates from around 1880. Some of those licensed pharmacists listed below were "druggists" well before 1880. Were they grandfathered in and licensed automatically?

Yanceyville Druggists/Pharmacists

Henry Williams Perry (1869-1916)
Nathaniel C. Brandon (1863-1919)
Dr. James Scott Doak, M.D. (1864-1892)
Abner Miles Gunn (1846-1935)
Thomas Jones Ham, Jr. (1896-1967)
Robert Gardner Ham (1922-1977)
Joseph Dameron Davis (1936-1998)
Thomas Peete Davis
Hubert Vernon Massengill, Jr.
James B. Miller III
Melissa Renee Massengill Jones
Kimberly Ann Fuquay-Pickens

Leasburg Druggists/Pharmacists

William Riley Hambrick (1859-1941)

Milton Druggists/Pharmacists

James Robert Callum
Robert Lee Dixon (1861-1926)
George S. Barnes
Russell D. Apple
J. C. Walton, M.D.
Robert Lewis Walker
Lewis Walker
Leonard Henderson Hunt

Prospect Hill Druggists/Pharmacists

Dr. John Roger Hester, M.D. (1890-1918)
Joan Whitfield Floyd
_______________

North Carolina Board of Pharmacy License Numbers: Caswell County

00072 James Robert Callum (Milton)
00371 William Riley Hambrick (Leasburg)
00515 Robert Lee Dixon (Milton)
00535 Dr. John Chappell Walton, M.D. (Milton)
00550 George S. Barnes (Milton)
00562 Nathaniel C. Brandon (Yanceyville)
00572 Russel D. Apple (Milton)
00602 Dr. James Scott Doak, M.D. (Yanceyville)
00628 Lewis Walker (Milton)
00674 Robert Lewis Walker (Milton)
00699 Dr. John Roger Hester, M.D. (Prospect Hill)
00802 Henry Williams Perry (Yanceyville)
02146 Thomas Jones Ham, Jr. (1922) (Yanceyville)
03020 Robert Gardner Ham (1943) (Yanceyville)
04376 Thomas Peete Davis (1961) (Yanceyville)
04688 Joseph Dameron Davis (c.1969) (Yanceyville)
05846 Hubert Vernon Massengill, Jr. (1972) (Yanceyville)
10476 Tammy Stewart Gilbert (1989)
10909 Joan Whitfield Floyd (1990) (Prospect Hill)
14928 James B. Millner III (1999) (Yanceyville)
15883 Melissa Renee Massengill Jones (2001) (Yanceyville)
17667 Kimberly Ann Fuquay-Pickens (2005) (Yanceyville)

Purported Caswell County druggists/pharmacists with no NC Board of Pharmacy Record

Abner Miles Gunn (1846-1935) (Yanceyville)
Alfred A. Mitchell (c.1817-    ) (Yanceyville)
James Griffin Gunn (c. 1851-   ) (Yanceyville)
John Henry McAden (c.1868-1921) (Semora)1
Leonard Henderson Hunt (Milton)
_______________

1Note that his second cousin, Dr. John Henry McAden, M.D., was a North Carolina licensed pharmacist with a very low license number (NC License Number 00027).
_______________


While not a pharmacist or physician, there was a person important to the Yanceyville community health in the early 1900s. Yanceyville's pharmacist, Nat Brandon, died in 1919. Some way, Robert Lee Mitchell/Mitchelle (1865-1939) managed to keep the pharmacy open to service local physicians until a replacement pharmacist arrived on the scene in 1922, Thomas J. Ham, Jr. (1896-1967). During the busy Yanceyville years, Mr. Mitchelle held many positions of honor and trust in addition to his duties as Clerk. In World War I he served as chairman of the registration committee, as County food administrator, and as chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee.

As treasurer of the Red Cross, the Y.M.C.A., Jewish Relief and Armenian and Syrian Relief,Mr. Mitchelle still found time to head the promotion for the Caswell County Agricultural Fair. Mr. Mitchelle was president of the Bank of Yanceyville and responsible for training Mr. Sam M. Bason, his successor. He also bought the Yanceyville drug store and kept it open for the use of the doctors until Pharmacist T. J. Ham took over. He and his wife and family were greatly missed when they (Mitchelle family) moved to Danville.
_______________


Thomas Jones Ham, Jr.
The following is from The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 641:

Born in Richmond, Va., Aug. 22, 1896, son of Thomas Jones and Ida Virginia Cogbill Ham, Thomas Jones Ham, Jr., was educated at John Marshall High, University of Richmond, and the Medical College of Virginia, where he took his degree in pharmacy.

Tom Ham, afterwards to be known as "Dr." Ham, came to Yanceyville in 1922 and took over the drug stock and trade of the late Nat Brandon. He built the brick Yanceyville Drug Store adjoining the now-razed Florance building soon after his marriage in 1926 to Miss Margaret Dawson, formerly of Yellow Springs, Ohio, and later a successful business woman in Durham, N.C. The Hams lived above the drugstore and Yanceyville will remember as a landmark the graceful iron balcony of their apartment. When their adopted son, Robert, had graduated from U.N.C. in pharmacy and married, "Dr." and Mrs. Ham turned over their apartment to the newly-weds and moved to a two-story brick home which they built in east Yanceyville. Several years ago, the drugstore was torn down to make room for the Wachovia Bank and the Yanceyville Drug Store was moved to its spacious quarters on the corner of Main and Greensboro St. by "Dr." Ham's successors, Tom and Joe Davis who continue to serve the community.

The Hams are remembered for their leadership and support of Yanceyville United Methodist Church and many other community activities. T. J. Ham was also an officer in the State Pharmaceutical Association and served on many boards and committees until his death May 21, 1967; his wife succumbed July 28, 1971 and both are buried in the Methodist Church Cemetery here.

No comments:

Post a Comment