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388  Memoir  of  Daniel  B.  Smith.  {^"^j^y'isti'""' 
In  the  fall  of  1808,  John  Griscom  commenced  a  series  of  public 
lectures  on  Chemistry,  given  in  his  school-room  in  Burlington,  and 
taught  chemistry  to  his  more  advanced  pupils,  which  was  probably 
the  first  teaching  of  chemistry  in  the  common  schools  in  this  part  of 
the  United  States.^ 
Under  the  instruction  of  a  teacher  who  was  gifted  with  a  remark- 
able conversational  ability,  who  had  a  love  for,  and  an  aptitude  in  the 
acquirement  of  scientific  knowledge,  who  possessed  considerable 
manipulatory  dexterity  as  an  experimenter,  and  who  withal  had  a 
fondness  for  children,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  instruction  here 
received  determined  the  course  of  his  after  life,  in  making  choice  of  a 
business  which  would  bring  him  in  close  relationship  to  scientific 
pursuits. 
After  leaving  school,  Daniel  B.  Smith  entered  the  store  of  John 
Biddle,  142  (old  number)  Market  between  Fourth  and  Fifth  streets,  to 
learn  the  drug  business.  At  the  completion  of  his  term  of  apprentice- 
ship he  was  taken  into  partnership  under  the  firm  name  of  Biddle  & 
Smith ;  this  partnership  continued  for  about  one  year.  In  1819, 
Daniel  B.  Smith  withdrew  from  the  ^partnership  and  opened  store  on 
his  individual  account  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Arch  and  Sixth 
streets. 
At  that  time,  and  for  many  years  afterwards,  this  locality  was  the 
quiet  and  somewhat  secluded  quarters  of  the  members  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  citizens  active  in  the  business  affairs  of  life,  but  in  their 
retirement  enjoying  the  comfortable  mansions  and  airy  yards  of  Arch 
street.  A  once  venerable  dweller  of  the  northwest  corner  of  Arch  and 
Sixth  streets,  often  remarked  to  me  as  the  wheels  of  commerce  invaded 
the  quiet  of  this  corner :  Why  for  years  after  Mr.  Smith  established 
his  store,  we  could  take  our  chairs  out  into  the  street,  and  sit  under 
the  shade  of  the  trees  all  of  the  morning  without  being  disturbed  by  a 
passing  vehicle.'^ 
We  regret  that  no  diary  or  autobiography  has  been  left  to  mark  the 
progress  of  his  business  at  Arch  and  Sixth  streets,  and  to  outline  the 
growth  of  the  habits  and  tastes  which  were  prominent  features  of  his 
after  life. 
As  an  index  of  his  turn  of  mind  as  a  young  man,  we  find  him  inter- 
ested in  the  means  of  extending  information  and  self-culture  to  boys 
^  Memorial  of  John  Griscom,  by  his  son. 
