58 
The  Story  of  a  Drug  Store. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
X    February,  1903. 
the  time  of  his  marriage  to  Sarah  Thompson,  in  1735,  he  bought 
the  property  afterwards  known  as  No.  56,  opposite  Strawberry 
Street  (the  present  number  is  214)  where  his  sons,  as  they  became 
of  age,  were  admitted  as  partners  in  the  business  (drugs,  chemicals 
and  paints),  Christopher  Marshall,  Jr.,  being  the  first  of  the  sons 
taken  into  partnership.  Christopher  Marshall,  the  founder,  retired 
from  trade  in  1772,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  sons,  the  firm  name 
being  Christopher  Marshall,  Jr.  and  Charles  Marshall.  The  father 
died  in  1797. 
He  was  a  remarkable  man  and  character  in  his  day,  and  filled 
many  positions  of  honor  and  trust  in  our  infant  city.  I  have  from 
his  great-grandson,  Charles  Marshall,  now  of  Germantown,  to  whom 
I  am  indebted  for  this  family  data,  a  list  of  over  a  dozen  organiza- 
tions— civic,  patriotic  and  benevolent — of  which  he  was  a  member. 
Some,  indeed,  are  in  existence  at  this  day,  notably  the  Society  for 
Alleviating  the  Miseries  of  the  Public  Prisons,  and  the  Philadelphia 
Library.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  events  which  led  up  to  the 
declaration  of  our  independence,  for  we  find  him  a  signer  of  the 
non-importation  act  of  November  7,  1 765  ;  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  Safety,  and  one  of  the  escorting  party  to  John  Nixon  when  he 
read  the  Declaration,  July  8,  1776.  He  was  also  one  of  the  original 
members  of  the  Free  Quakers,  and  to-day  can  be  seen  at  Arch  and 
Fifth  Streets  the  tablet — 
By  general  subscription 
for  the  Free  Quakers 
erected  a.d.  1783, 
of  the  Empire  8. 
For  the  information  of  those  not  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
Friends,  I  would  remark  that  the  Free  Quakers  were  an  offshoot 
from  the  main  body  of  comparatively  a  few  who  felt  that  they  could 
not  maintain  the  peaceful  principles  of  the  Society  when  it  came  to 
a  war  for  our  independence.  Their  active  membership  did  not  sur- 
vive that  generation,  though  if  birthright  membership  would  count, 
as  it  does  with  Friends,  and  as  they  never  disowned  any,  there 
would  be  perhaps  500  to-day.  The  diary  of  Christopher  Marshall 
was  written  after  he  retired  from  the  drug  business,  and  is  an  inter- 
esting little  book  of  the  times,  prized  by  antiquarians  and  now  a 
rare  work. 
