46  Memoir  of  Thomas  H.  Powers.  {Am^i?35anD" 
A  short  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  house  of  Powers  &  Weight- 
man  will  be  of  interest  to  the  members  of  this  college. 
The  founder  of  the  house  of  Powers  &  Weightman,  Mr.  John 
Farr,  was  brought  up  to  the  drug  business  in  London,  aud  came  to  the 
United  States  at  an  early  age,  possessed  of  but  little  pecuniary  means. 
The  commencement  of  his  business  was  in  an  humble  way.  The 
firm  of  Farr  &  Kunzi  was  established  about  the  year  1818.  Their 
first  location  was  on  the  north  side  of  Arch  street,  near  Twelfth  street. 
In  1820  they  removed  to  the  south  side  of  Coates  street,  above  Fourth 
street.  In  1821  or  '22  they  purchased  the  property  at  Ninth  and 
Brown  streets,  then  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  ;  to  this  location  they 
removed  in  1839. 
Mr.  Kunzi  retired  from  business  in  the  year  1836.  In  1838  Mr. 
Farr  associated  Mr.  Powers  and  Mr.  Weightman  with  him,  under  the 
name  of  John  Farr  &  Co.  Three  years  afterwards  the  firm  name 
was  changed  to  Farr,  Powers  &  Weightman.  After  the  decease  of 
Mr.  Farr,  in  1847,  tne  name  °f  tne  firm  was  changed  to  Powers  & 
Weightman. 
About  this  time  the  operations  of  the  house  were  much  increased 
by  the  establishment  of  the  works  at  the  Falls  of  Schuylkill  for  the 
manufacture  of  chemical  products  used  largely  in  the  arts. 
The  time  of  the  first  manufacture  of  quinia  in  Philadelphia  is 
alluded  to  in  a  paper  read  by  Mr.  John  Farr  before  the  Philadelphia 
College  of  Pharmacy,  December  27,  1825,  as  follows  :  "  In  the  sum- 
mer and  autumn  of  1823,  a  season  peculiarly  memorable  to  Philadel- 
phia by  reason  of  the  alarming  prevalence  of  intermittant  and  other 
fevers,  the  sulphate  of  quinia  was  first  successfully  manufactured 
here."  1 
In  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century  nearly  all  chemical  and 
a  large  portion  of  the  pharmaceutical  products  used  in  the  United  States 
were  imported  from  Europe.  The  earliest  chemical  manufacture  in 
Philadelphia  of  which  we  have  information  was  carried  on  by  Gerard 
Troost,  M.D.  Dr.  Troost  delivered  one  course  of  lectures  on  chem- 
istry in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  in  the  winter  of  1821-22  ; 
he  afterwards  removed  to  Tennessee,  and  was  instrumental  in  the 
establishment  of  the  University  of  Nashville. 
1  Journal  of  Phil.  Col.  of  Pharmacy,  May,  1826,  "  On  Extract  of  Quinia.1' 
