94 THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 



GUSTAV LUDWIG RAMSPERGER. 

 {Continued.) 



Soon after his arrival in New York, Gustav L. Ramsperger 

 acquired a small drug store in Oliver Street, which at that time 

 was right in the center of New York. His good judgment, his 

 thorough knowledge of all parts of his profession, his amiable 

 manners and the ease with which he made friends, soon made 

 him the leading pharmacist in his vicinity and his business was 

 one of the most flourishing in New York. He stayed in Oliver 

 Street for sixteen years, when the shifting of the business center 

 and the residential part of the city made it advisable to move 

 further uptown. He bought the share of his friend Faber, in the 

 Faber-Balluff pharmacy on the corner of- 6th Avenue and 38th 

 Street, and was equally successful in this new location. Having 

 acquired a small fortune, Ramsperger thought of retiring, sold out 

 his interest in the pharmacy and for some time devoted his energy 

 to scientific work. But feeling that he was too young for permanent 

 retirement, he again acquired a pharmacy in Brooklyn, at the 

 corner of Fulton and Cumberland Streets. Here he stayed a 

 number of years, until at his 60th birthday, he definitely retired 

 from business. Since that day until his death he engaged in 

 scientific and literary pursuits, and was active in a great many 

 chemical and pharmaceutical societies as member and officer. 



But the accumulation of a competency was not the sole object 

 of his life. He came to this country not only to be independent 

 and. if possible, to make money; he kept the ideals of his youth as 

 a sacred gift and allowed them to influence him in his actions 

 during his whole life. When he started in business and bought 

 the "Doctor-shop," as it was called at that time, he did not forget 

 the respected position that the German "Apotheker" has among 

 his fellow citizens, and he at once made it one of the objects of 

 his life to help raise the status of pharmacy and eliminate there- 

 from the foreign and improper belongings. He was fortunate 

 enough to find many companions in this work, men who were 

 inspired like himself, who had also left Germany displeased with 

 the reaction after the great year of the revolution in 1848, and 

 were looking for a broader and better field of usefulness. We must 

 not underrate the spirit of the men of those days. They were 

 real pioneers; they came to this country, not as adventurers, or 



