Company Names, addresses, dates:
  M.E. Church, West Broad Street, Falls Church VA (c.1891-c.1903)^1,2

Notes:
Merton Elbridge Church was born in Derby Vermont on 14-Feb-1858¹.
He came to Virginia as a child, with his mother and his stepfather George P. Spofford, who his mother married after his father had died in the Union army during the civil war⁴.
He moved to Herndon in 1879, and then to Falls Church about 1886¹. His obituary says he ran a drug store for about 12 years, and served as president of the Virginia Pharmaceutical Association. The book "Historic Falls Church" by Cathy Taylor has a photo on page 84 of a drug store he ran with his father-in-law called "Spofford & Church", located in Falls Church on Broad Street.
Church put his drug store up for sale in 1903³.
Church was one of the early car-owners in Virginia, as he had an "Automobile Operator's Permit" in 1903, allowing him to operate a Steam powered automobile⁵.
Church went on to be one of the most prominent citizens of Northern Virginia, as a leader in various civic, fraternal and relgious organizations. Church was credited with establishing the first telephone line in Virginia - a line from his drugstore to Washington DC. The 1900 census listed a telephone operator living in his household. He made money in the real estate and insurance business, then went on to organize 5 or 6 Virginia banks. He passed away in 1931¹.


Bottles:

Clear 5.5" (4 ounce) bottle embossed: horizontal: M.E. CHURCH / (mortar & pestle) / DRUGGIST / FALLS CHURCH / VA. base: S B & CO / PAT'D