Johnston & Pearson


Company Names, addresses, dates:1
  Johnston & Wallace, Fredericksburg VA (1854-1855) 2,3
  Fayette W. Johnston & Co, Fredericksburg VA (1855-ca.1870's) 1,3
  H. Hoomes Johnston, 3 doors above the Post Office, Fredericksburg VA (ca.1883-ca.1886) 4,5
  Johnston & Pearson, Corner Princess Anne & William Sts, Fredericksburg VA (ca.1886-1911) 1,5
  Johnston & Pearson (E.Q. Garner), Corner Princess Anne & William Sts, Fredericksburg VA (1917) 1

Notes:
Dr. Fayette Wellington Johnston (ca.1827-1890)6 teamed up with James S. Wallace in April 1854 to purchase the drug store from Dr. A.C. Thom, and formed the team of Johnston & Wallace2.
That partnership was short-lived, as in August of 1855, the firm was disolved, with Johnston taking sole control3.
The new firm shows up in advertisements as FAYETTE W JOHNSTON & CO. Usually the "& Co" in the name of an early drugstore firm indicates a partner, but in this case I could not find out who the partner was.

Johnston's firm lasted until at least 1873, as that was the last year I could find a reference to his drugstore.1

Hay Hoomes Johnston (1861-1907)7 was Fayette's son. In 1883, he took over the drug store of Jas. H. Roy, located 3 doors above the Post Office4.
I don't know if there was a gap between when his fathers drug business ended and his new business started, or if there was no gap, or even if there was some overlap.

By 1886, Hoomes (he apparently went by his middle name) had picked up a partner, as that's the year I found the first reference to the firm of Johnston & Pearson5.
Hoomes' partner was George B. Pearson (1847-1933)8 in that firm1.
Hoomes passed away in 1907, but the drugstore continued on, using the same name.

By 1911, the Johnston & Pearson drug store was owned by Elliot Quinn Garner (1881-1965),9 because he put the store up for sale10. There was a notice that the "prescription files" were sold to M.M. Lewis11, but it's not clear what happened to the actual drug store business or the building that housed the drug store.

While none of the Virginia State directories of pharmacies I've seen list Johnston & Pearson between 1911 and 1916 inclusive, the 1917 directory did include it, with the name E.Q. Garner in parenthesis, so maybe Garner came back to Fredericksburg to try again, or maybe the drug store existed all those years but wasn't listed in the directories for some reason. In any case, the firm never shows up in any subsequent directories, and M.M. Lewis appears to have taken over that location in subsequent years. 1

A circa 1910 photo of the drugstore that I saw in the Fredericksburg Museum showed the location on the corner of Princess Anne and William Streets, where the Hyperion Espresso Coffee Shop is today.


F.W. Johnston Bottles:

johnston_03 This is a clear, 3.5" bottle, embossed:
vertical: F. W. JOHNSTON / DRUGGIST / FREDERICKSBURG, VA.
base: V / W. T. & Co.


Johnston & Pearson Bottles:
johnston_01 This shard is about 4" tall, and I estimate the whole bottle would have been about 6" tall. It is clear, and embossed:
vertical: & PEARSON / ISTS / C. Sts. / URG, VA.
My guess is that the full embossing would have been:
vertical: JOHNSTON & PEARSON / DRUGGISTS / ??? Sts. / FREDERICKSURG, VA.



Other Items:
johnston_02 This photo was taken August 2009. It shows the location where the 1910 photo I saw in the Fredericksburg Museum depicting the Johnston & Pearson drugstore.



1 Various Fredericksburg city and VA state directories, years: 1851,69,70,71,73,85,88,1905,06,08,10,11,12,13,16,17,19,21
2 Fredericksburg News, 3-Apr-1854, page 2 (JOHNSTON & WALLACE Druggists and apothecaries)
3 Virginia Herald (Fredericksburg), 16-Aug-1855, page 1 (ad titled "DISSOLUTION")
4 Fredericksburg News, 22-Oct-1883, page 3 (ad with heading "COME TO SEE ME")
5 Alexandria Gazette, 10-May-1886, page 2 (mention of Johnston & Pearson drug store in Fredericksburg)
6 Find-a-grave for Dr. Fayette W. Johnston
7 Find-a-grave for Hay Hoomes Johnston
8 Find-a-grave for George B. Pearson
9 Find-a-grave for Elliott Quinn Garner
10 The Free Lance (Fredericksburg), 01-Jul-1911, page 4 (article titled "JOHNSTON & PEARSON")
11 The Free Lance (Fredericksburg), 07-Aug-1911, page 4 (article titled "TO JOHNSTON & PEARSON'S CUSTOMERS")


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This page last updated on January 21, 2023.