70 
The  Story  of  a  Drug  Store. 
c Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I    February,  1903. 
office  was  one  that  was  beset  with  difficulties,  and  during  this  long 
period  of  forty  years  his  services  were  rendered  gratuitously.  The 
labor  involved  in  keeping  the  accounts,  distributing  the  Journal, 
making  the  collections,  etc.,  was  of  no  light  character,  an  instance  of 
long  disinterested  service  rarely  met  with  in  the  annals  of  journalism. 
In  latter  years  Wellington  H.  Boyle  assisted  my  father  to  a  great 
extent. 
At  the  first  inception  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association, 
which  was  at  a  meeting  held  in  New  York  in  1851  to  obtain  legis- 
lation that  resulted  in  the  enactment  of  Drug  Inspection  Law, 
Charles  Ellis  was  one  of  the  three  from  Philadelphia,  William 
Procter  and  Alfred  B.  Taylor  being  the  others.  He  was  a  life-long 
devoted  member  of  the  Association  and  president  at  the  meeting 
held  in  Philadelphia  in  1857. 
"  In  early  life  he  was  often  solicited,  by  his  fellow  citizens  and 
neighbors,  to  take  part  in  the  affairs  of  civic  government ;  but  a 
sensitive  nature  like  his  shrank  from  political  associations,  and  found 
more  congenial  employment  in  works  of  benevolence  and  charity. 
There  is  enumerated  in  the  "  Tribute"  the  meetings  and  resolutions 
of  no  less  than  twelve  different  corporations  and  associations,  most 
of  them  of  a  benevolent  order ;  and  thus  mourned  by  all  who  knew 
him,  and  most  intensely  by  those  who  best  knew  him,  Charles  Ellis 
closed  his  earthly  career.  He  sought  not  human  applause,  but  in 
the  quiet,  unostentatious,  diligent  performance  of  his  daily  duties 
acquired  the  esteem,  respect  and  confidence  of  his  friends,  acquaint- 
ances and  fellow  citizens." 
In  this,  a  necessarily  limited  retrospect  of  the  history  of  a  drug 
business,  as  it  existed  in  Philadelphia  from  the  middle  of  the  eigh- 
teenth to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  there  are  recalled 
to  the  recollection  of  some  who  can  distinctly  remember,  the 
decade  periods  from  1840  to  i860,  many  interesting  facts  in  this 
connection.  The  personalities  of  those  who  were  most  prominently 
identified  with  the  earlier  periods  are  still  remembered  by  the  few 
that  still  survive,  and  who  are  themselves  declining  in  the  vale  of 
years. 
That  which  becomes  memory  only,  ot  individuals  and  events,  has 
had  thrown  around  it  by  the  lapse  of  time  a  halo  of  interest  which 
affords  much  pleasure  and  information ;  and  that  this  feeling  should 
be,  if  possible,  transmitted  to  and  shared  by  such  as  now  labor  in 
