142 
Obituaries. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Mar.,  1875. 
to  be  both  botanist  and  chemist,  not  only  to  make  tinctures  from  drugs  which  had 
already  been  gathered  in  store,  but  to  go  out  into  the  woods,  collect  the  plants,  dry 
and  powder  them,  and  then  make  the  preparations  5  for  there  were  no  laboratories  for 
supplying  finished  products  to  pharm  icists,  as  there  are  now.  He  largely  increased 
the  reputation  of  the  store,  and,  on  his  retirement,  his  daughter,  before  mentioned, 
succeeded  him, 
It  was  into  this  shop,  with  its  dignified  maiden  pharmaceutist  at  the  head,  that  Charles 
Ellis  started  on  his  career,  and  in  the  course  of  his  apprenticeship  he  had  a  number 
of  companions,  among  whom  were  Frederick  Brown,  Sr.,  Samuel  P.  Griffitts  (son 
of  Dr.  Griffitts),  Isaac  P.  Morris,  Casp  ir  Morris,  Joseph  Morris,  etc.,  names  that 
have  since  become  well-known  in  their  various  professions. 
It  was  not  long  before  Charles,  by  dint  of  industry,  perseverance  and  the  exercise 
of  those  qualities  which  make  the  pharmacist  honored,  respected  and  successful,  was 
called  upon,  in  connection  with  Frederick  Brown,  to  assume  the  management  of 
the  establishment.  In  the  year  1826,  he  associated  himself  with  Isaac  P.  Morris, 
and  purchased  the  business,  thus  becoming  part  owner  of  the  store  in  which  he  had 
passed  so  many  years.  The  firm  of  Ellis  &  Morris,  although  highly  prosperous, 
gradually  emerging  from  a  retail  to  a  wholesale  business,  was  not  destined  to  remain 
in  business  very  long.  About  1830,  Issac  P.  Morris  withdrew  from  the  partner- 
ship, and  subsequently  founded  the  extensive  and  well-known  Port  Richmond  Iron 
Works,  leaving  Charles  Ellis  the  sole  manager  of  the  business,  which  still  con- 
tinued to  steadily  grow.  The  increased  amount  of  responsibility  which  the  remain- 
ing partner  was  called  upon  to  assume  caused  a  rapid  development  in  his  character. 
A  friend,  who  knew  him  intimately,  thus  speaks  of  him  : 
"  It  is  impossible  to  place  too  high  an  estimate  on  the  influence  exerted  by  him, 
not  only  on  his  own  profession,  but  the  community  at  large.  Who,  but  the  physi- 
cian himself,  can  appreciate  the  anxiety  with  which  he  investigites  the  nature  of 
disease  and  perscribes  the  appropriate  remedy  ?  With  prudent  caution  the  symbols 
of  the  required  dose,  and  the  directions  for  the  appropriate  combination,  are  placed 
upon  paper  ;  but  the  effect  depends  on  the  quality  of  articles  employed  5  the  care 
with  which  the  quantities  are  measured  or  weighed,  and  the  skill  with  which  they 
are  compounded.  The  character  of  Charles  Ellis,  in  every  one  of  these  points,, 
stood  unquestioned,  and  the  medical  adviser  went  on  his  way  to  assume  other  re- 
sponsibilities, free  from  the  distracting  and  depressing  influence  of  dread,  when  the 
prescription  was  entrusted  to  his  care  for  preparation  j  and  his  spirit  of  confiding 
trust  was  extended  to  those  educated  by  him,  so  that  to  know  that  the  materials 
used  in  compounding  were  purchased  from  Charles  Ellis  was  ever  accepted  as  a 
guarantee  for  their  purity.  This  was  no  trifling  honor,  no  humble  achievement,  and 
it  was  acquired  not  by  boastful  pretention,  nor  by  advertising  arts,  but  by  the  sim- 
ple, quiet  and,  above  all,  honest  attention  to  the  duties  of  his  position.  His  entire 
life,  in  all  its  relations  and  outgrowth,  was  the  vjmple  development  of"  this  one  prin- 
ciple, and  hence  it  became,  as  nearly  as  fiUen  mture  may  do,  a  perfect  life,  so  far 
as  it  was  subject  to  finite  observation  and  judged  by  human  standard." 
In  1 821,  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  was  founded,  and  from  that  date 
did  Charles  Ellis  not  only  take  great  interest,  but  actively  labored  for  its  advance- 
ment. During  the  first  few  years  of  its  existence,  when  it  was  scarcely  more  than 
a  name,  he  was  always  found  at  his  post,  ready  *-o  do  his  part.  Though  oae  of  the 
sixty-eight  original  members  of  the  College,  at  his  death  he  left  but  three  of  the 
