A New Partnership Formed
The two proprietors of Comstock & Brother at 9 John Street
were the brothers George Wells and J. Carlton Comstock. At the
time of the events just related, their nephew, William Henry
Comstock, was an employee, but not a partner, of the firm (he was
the "clerk" who had removed the controversial letters from the
post office). This partnership was terminated by the death on
September 17, 1853, of J. Carlton Comstock, the inventor of the
veterinary medicines.
To continue the business, a new partnership, also under the name
of Comstock & Brother, comprising George Wells Comstock,
William Henry Comstock, and Baldwin L. Judson, was formed on
October 1, 1853. Judson was the husband of Eliza, a sister of
Lucius and his brothers. George contributed one half of the
capital of the new firm and the other two, one quarter each;
however, exclusive possession of all trademarks, recipes, and
rights to the medicines was reserved to George. It is not clear
precisely when Judson entered the drug business or first became
associated with the Comstocks; there is some evidence that he had
previously been in business for himself, as several remedies were
registered by him prior to this time. Judson's Chemical Extract
was registered with the Smithsonian by the Comstock firm in 1851,
but Dr. Larzetti's Juno Cordial or Procreative Elixir had
previously been entered by Judson & Co. in 1844. A variant of
the Juno Cordial label also mentions Levi Judson (a father?) as
Dr. Larzetti's only agent in America.
Besides the "new" remedies, the Comstock firm—both Comstock
firms—was also selling all of the "old" patent medicines,
most of them of British origin. These included such items as
Godfrey's Cordial, Bateman's Pectoral Drops, Turlington's Balsam
of Life, British Oil, and others. The only strictly American
product that could claim a venerability somewhat approaching
these was Samuel Lee's Bilious Pills, patented on April 30,
1796.
Most of the more recent remedies probably had been originated by
local doctors or druggists, either upon experimentation or
following old folk remedies, and after enjoying some apparent
success were adopted by drug manufacturers. With rare exceptions,
however, the names of the discoverers never seem to have made
their way into medical history.
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FIGURE 3.—Original
wrapper for Judson's Chemical Extract of Cherry and Lungwort,
printed about 1855.
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