114 
Memoir  of  Samuel  F.  Troth. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      March,  1887. 
The  father  of  Samuel  F.  Troth  appears  to  have  been  a  man  whose 
intellectual  necessities  were  not  satisfied  by  the  routine  of  a  farmer's 
life ;  when  Samuel  wTas  about  five  years  old  he  removed  to  the  town 
of  Easton  and  opened  a  school,  which  was  continued  by  him  until  his 
death  in  1815. 
To  a  delicate  and  sensitive  boy  of  fourteen,  carefully  nurtured  in 
religious  thought  and  habits  after  the  custom  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
the  loss  of  his  father  produced  a  profound  impression,  and  confirmed 
in  him  a  reliance  in  a  supervision  beyond  his  own  to  direct  and  protect 
his  course  through  life. 
In  the  summer  of  1816  he  accompanied  his  mother  to  Philadelphia 
on  a  visit  to  relatives  residing  in  this  city,  intending  to  return  after  a 
few  weeks  to  his  home  in  Maryland.  An  unexpected  event,  however, 
changed  his  course,  and  shaped  the  business  career  of  his  life.  His 
elder  brother,  Henry  Troth,  with  his  brother-in-law,  Edward  Needles, 
had  entered  into  a  partnership  for  conducting  a  wholesale  and  retail 
drug  business,  on  the  south  side  of  Market  Street  east  of  Seventh. 
Samuel  had  not  shown  any  inclination  or  desire  for  the  business ; 
but  as  he  was  about  to  leave  the  city,  the  earnest  desire  of  his  brother 
Henry,  that  he  might  be  with  him,  prevailed  over  his  inclinations  for 
another  pursuit,  and  he  consented  to  remain  as  an  apprentice  to  the 
drug  business  with  the  firm.  His  great  regret  in  thus  early  accepting 
the  position  was  that  it  deprived  him  from  farther  opportunities  of 
school  education. 
As  was  the  custom  in  those  days,  the  store  and  the  dwelling  were 
under  the  same  roof,  the  change  from  a  rural  home  to  the  close  con- 
finement of  the  store  was  severely  felt  by  the  slight  and  delicate  boy 
of  fifteen. 
With  his  natural  cheerfulness,  he  assumed  his  new  duties  with  a 
determination  to  acquire  the  knowledge  which  would  make  him  a 
master  of  his  business,  and  also  to  supply,  as  far  as  possible,  the  loss 
sustained  in  leaving  school,  by  a  course  of  reading  and  study,  and  by 
availing  himself  of  the  opportunity  of  attending  such  lectures  as  would 
advance  his  general  education. 
His  duty  was  to  have  the  store  open  at  sunrise,  and  the  labors  of 
the  day  did  not  close  until  ten  at  night ;  the  opportunities  for  study, 
under  such  circumstances,  were  limited  to  the  hours  given  for  recrea- 
tion, and  at  night  in  the  store.  After  the  fatigue  of  the  day's  work, 
he  said  he  was  so  weary  that  if  he  sat  down  to  read  he  was  apt  to 
