The Lees of Patent Medicine fame................... never got along!!!!!
Patent Medicine was the most profitable business next to investing in real estate. The Lee family's from Connecticut, Maryland and then New York State played a huge role in beginning the American made versions of these popular medicines which for the most part were brought here in large numbers by the British in the period from 1720 right on up to the turn of the century. Even during the war of independence the Americans still needed their Dalbys Carminative,Robert Turlington's Balsam,Church's Drops,and all sorts of other Opadeldocs to ease the pains associated with diseases of the day. General store owners saw the huge profits reaped by these medicines and were soon concocting their own versions of these popular British medicines.
Now depending on what Lee story you find most forth coming, which Lee was first ? Samuel Lee from Windham Connecticut,Samuel H.P. Lee (Samuel Holden Parsons Lee) (1772–1863) of New London, Connecticut,Richard Lee Junior from Baltimore Maryland or his father Richard Lee Sr. also from Baltimore. From early historical accounts it appears Samuel Lee was the first however upon further research one may need to look at his claim with a little caution. Either way here is the most up to date information available of the Lees and their medicines they made available to the general public.
We will begin with Samuel Lee of Windham Connecticut.....According to Historical accounts Little is known of Samuel Lee’s early life other than his date of birth. During the war of the American Revolution, he was “discharged from the office of the surgeon and assigned to Colonel Durkee’s regiment in the Continental service.” In 1796 he patented a medicine called “Dr Lee’s True Bilious Pills.”Young Sam quickly began to advertise his medicine in papers from New England to Charlestown South Carolina.In an ad I found from the September 24, 1796 edition of the Providence Gazette (Providence, RI) Samuel Lee from Windham advertises Dr Lees True Bilious pills. This was the first name he gave to his patent pills in 1798 he would be forced to rename his medicine for one of his prior agents oddly enough with almost the same name was now advertising his own version of the Bilious pills. This new competition came from none other then one Samuel H P Lee and he named his pills The New London Bilious pills.
This dog fight of advertising would go one for the remainder of each gentleman's lives. From what I can gather the following is the closet to the truth based on newspaper accounts from the period 1796 to 1800. The first Lee to market Bilious pills was Samuel Lee from Windham Connecticut.He advertised on September 24th 1796 that he was granted a patent for his Dr Lees True Bilious Pills. To help justify his claim as the first person and most definitely the first Lee an ad was listed in the May 12th 1797 edition of the Massachusetts Mercury newspaper out of Boston stating that Samuel H P Lee was an agent from New London that was selling Samuel Lees Dr Lees Bilious pills. From the book titled "It Happened in Connecticut" Dr Lee of Windham saw this unprincipled attempt by the New London Lee to take unfair advantage of their nearly identical names to profit from the physicians patented medicine. Samuel Lee now changed his ads taking his case to the people explaining the forgery he felt Samuel H P Lee was committing.In his ads he explained how Samuel H P Lee was an agent/retailer for his Dr Lees true Bilious pills for about a year but quit after Dr Lee refused to supply him with the terms that Samuel H P Lee wanted.
Samuel H P Lee would go on to patent his New London Bilious pills in 1799 additionally he become a doctor in the state of Connecticut 1804. He was reprimanded by the Connecticut medical society for touting that his medicine could cure virtually every known ailment and that was backed by the Connecticut Medical Society. The society for which Lee was a member did not take this lightly and forced Dr Samuel H P Lee to reveal the recipe for his pills and allowing any member of the medical society to make their own pills with out the fear of being charged with infringing on the New London Physicians Patent. Once the Medical society saw that one of the main ingredients in the New London Bilious pill was Mercury it issued a statement "that in it's opinion an indiscriminate use of the said pills is not advisable-that in many of the cases that they are recommended they are efficacious,and in others injurious. Because of the high Mercury content the Society recommends the pills only to be taken on Doctors orders. This ruling by the Medical society hurt Samuel H P Lee's credibility at the time and public opinion now aligned itself more with Dr Lees True and Genuine Bilious pills.Round one goes to Samuel Lee of Windham as his case stated seems the most credible of the Connecticut Lees. Below are some of the ads placed by each gentleman
Now depending on what Lee story you find most forth coming, which Lee was first ? Samuel Lee from Windham Connecticut,Samuel H.P. Lee (Samuel Holden Parsons Lee) (1772–1863) of New London, Connecticut,Richard Lee Junior from Baltimore Maryland or his father Richard Lee Sr. also from Baltimore. From early historical accounts it appears Samuel Lee was the first however upon further research one may need to look at his claim with a little caution. Either way here is the most up to date information available of the Lees and their medicines they made available to the general public.
We will begin with Samuel Lee of Windham Connecticut.....According to Historical accounts Little is known of Samuel Lee’s early life other than his date of birth. During the war of the American Revolution, he was “discharged from the office of the surgeon and assigned to Colonel Durkee’s regiment in the Continental service.” In 1796 he patented a medicine called “Dr Lee’s True Bilious Pills.”Young Sam quickly began to advertise his medicine in papers from New England to Charlestown South Carolina.In an ad I found from the September 24, 1796 edition of the Providence Gazette (Providence, RI) Samuel Lee from Windham advertises Dr Lees True Bilious pills. This was the first name he gave to his patent pills in 1798 he would be forced to rename his medicine for one of his prior agents oddly enough with almost the same name was now advertising his own version of the Bilious pills. This new competition came from none other then one Samuel H P Lee and he named his pills The New London Bilious pills.
This dog fight of advertising would go one for the remainder of each gentleman's lives. From what I can gather the following is the closet to the truth based on newspaper accounts from the period 1796 to 1800. The first Lee to market Bilious pills was Samuel Lee from Windham Connecticut.He advertised on September 24th 1796 that he was granted a patent for his Dr Lees True Bilious Pills. To help justify his claim as the first person and most definitely the first Lee an ad was listed in the May 12th 1797 edition of the Massachusetts Mercury newspaper out of Boston stating that Samuel H P Lee was an agent from New London that was selling Samuel Lees Dr Lees Bilious pills. From the book titled "It Happened in Connecticut" Dr Lee of Windham saw this unprincipled attempt by the New London Lee to take unfair advantage of their nearly identical names to profit from the physicians patented medicine. Samuel Lee now changed his ads taking his case to the people explaining the forgery he felt Samuel H P Lee was committing.In his ads he explained how Samuel H P Lee was an agent/retailer for his Dr Lees true Bilious pills for about a year but quit after Dr Lee refused to supply him with the terms that Samuel H P Lee wanted.
Samuel H P Lee would go on to patent his New London Bilious pills in 1799 additionally he become a doctor in the state of Connecticut 1804. He was reprimanded by the Connecticut medical society for touting that his medicine could cure virtually every known ailment and that was backed by the Connecticut Medical Society. The society for which Lee was a member did not take this lightly and forced Dr Samuel H P Lee to reveal the recipe for his pills and allowing any member of the medical society to make their own pills with out the fear of being charged with infringing on the New London Physicians Patent. Once the Medical society saw that one of the main ingredients in the New London Bilious pill was Mercury it issued a statement "that in it's opinion an indiscriminate use of the said pills is not advisable-that in many of the cases that they are recommended they are efficacious,and in others injurious. Because of the high Mercury content the Society recommends the pills only to be taken on Doctors orders. This ruling by the Medical society hurt Samuel H P Lee's credibility at the time and public opinion now aligned itself more with Dr Lees True and Genuine Bilious pills.Round one goes to Samuel Lee of Windham as his case stated seems the most credible of the Connecticut Lees. Below are some of the ads placed by each gentleman
Ads placed by Samuel Lee of Windham Connecticut
This is the earliest Samuel Lee of Windham ad I was able to locate
Samuel Lee of Windham Connecticut was correct he did first employ Samuel H P Lee of New London Connecticut as an agent. In the ad from the April 20, 1797 Connecticut Gazette a Newspaper located in (New London, CT) listed below, in the highlighted blue area is the basis for Samuel Lee's version of the story.
Later on in June of 1797 Samuel Lee lists more Agents and continues to list Samuel H P Lee as an agent for him again solidifying his claim as he was in fact the first Lee to patent a medicine in the state of Connecticut.
As the months wore on apparently Samuel H P Lee of New London refused to sell Samuel Lee Junior's medicine and suddenly begins to sell his own Anti Bilious Pills. This forces Samuel Lee Junior of Windham to defend his Patent and to tell his side of the matter in which he seems to have a strong case against Samuel H P Lee. In the August 29, 1798 edition of the Connecticut Gazette (New London, CT) Samuel Lee goes into great detail listing as much factual information he could to defend his status and his medicine to the public at large.In this ad Samuel Lee calls out Samuel H P Lee and accuses him of complete fraud and defamation.
The accusations of Samuel Lee Junior were answered the following week by Samuel H P Lee. In a long scathing letter of appeal to the public Samuel H P Lee tore into his accuser although admitting for the first time that he did in fact sell some of Samuel Less medicine. In the September 6, 1798 edition of the newspaper the Norwich Courier (Norwich, CT) a long ad is placed by Samuel H P Lee from New London answering all of the charges brought forth by his accuser.
From the Library of Congress the only known bottle enclosed in its original wrapper of Samuel H P Lees medicine.
In the end it is apparent that the first Lee from Connecticut to patent his Anti-bilious pills was Samuel Lee from Windham Connecticut. Samuel H. P. Lee from New London Connecticut was not the originator of the Lees brand of medicine however both of these men were quite successful in their endeavors and the United States was large enough for both of them.
The Baltimore and New York City Lees of patent medicine fame.Richard Jr.and his wife Hannah, Richard Sr.,Michael and Noah Ridgley.
Next I would like to introduce you to the Lees who hailed from Baltimore and New York City who were also related to the Famous fighting Lee's Francis lightfoot Lee of Revolutionary war fame and none other then Robert E Lee the famous Confederate General in the Civil war. One genealogical trait of the Lee clan Connecticut and Virginia which cannot be denied is there ability to fight for their own beliefs at all costs.
Chapter two in this Lee Saga pits a single family against each other in a fight again over who founded the original Lees medicine. This mystery was fun to solve because I will present for the first time in written history a time line showing the birth of Richard Lees Medicine warehouse in Baltimore to the untimely deaths of all the Lees associated with the medicine in a short 15 year span.The Gentleman who ended up with the medicine Patent rights probably deserved it so from the get go as he was the person responsible for mixing the ingredients of the medicine at Baltimore for the Various Lee firms.
We begin with Richard Lee Junior in the city of Baltimore in the year 1799. Baltimore sitting between Philadelphia 90 miles to the North and the New Nations Capital Washington D C just 35 miles to the south and being located on the northern most part of the Chesapeake bay made Baltimore the shipping center of the new United States. Richard Lee Junior and his college friend Noah Ridgley born in 1777 in Maryland the son of Greenbury Ridgely a methodist preacher studied medicine in England for two years from 1795 to 1797.
These two young gentleman would form a strong bond almost family like in nature. Richard Lee Sr was a merchant in the city of Baltimore at number 31 Market Street while his oldest son was away in college. When Richard Junior returned to the United States he had seen first hand the wealth created by the patent medicine trade in England and saw the potential to market his own brand of various medicines he had learned to mix as a student.His partners in the new venture were his father and Noah Ridgley( who incidentally was not born into money as was Richard Lee) but showed a keen sense at an early age to understand the basics of Chemistry and at the inception of the venture was the true pharmacist in the new firm.
By advertising accounts in newspapers through out the United States the business began in Baltimore in 1799,however Richard informs the public in an ad in December 1802 that he has been the proprietor of his various medicines for the last six years which would have put a start date of December of 1797. The firms name was Lee and Company's Patent and Family Medicine Store. If the start date is true then the Baltimore based Lee's started their patent medicine business the same year as Samuel Lee in Connecticut the key difference was the Baltimore Lee's were selling other patent medicines first not their own.
The earliest ad placed in a newspaper I could find was in the September 20th edition of the Centinel Of Liberty Georgetown in the year 1799. In this paper the following medicines were offered to the public,Hamilton's Worm Destroying Lozengers,Dr Hahns Anti Bilious Pills,Dr Hahn's True and Genuine German Corn Plaster,Dr Leroux's Indian Vegetable Specific and Churches Cough Drops. Richard was now operating out of a warehouse on the water front in Baltimore owned by his father who also employed Richards younger Brother Michael. Business was good and over 100 agents from New York State to South Carolina were selling the Lee Brand of medicines.
This is where the Lee Patent medicine story has baffled and fooled patent medicine historians over the years. Some historians thought the New York Lees were possibly related but not sure if they were related to the Baltimore Lees. For the first time in Print I will explain to you backed up by testimonials in Newspapers from Key figures in the Lee saga as to how,where,and why there were two Lees (Father and daughter in-law) selling the same medicine at the same time from New York and Baltimore. As stated earlier business for Richard Lee Junior and his partners his father and Noah Ridgley was booming and they were becoming quite wealthy.
The next move is the only part of the story I cant explain exactly as to a cause but a big moment for the Baltimore based Lee's was about to unfold. Richard Lee Junior announced in the December 16th 1802 edition of the Chronicle Express out of New York City that he was moving Richard Lee and Company's manufacturing and wholesale store from Baltimore to New York City. One aspect of the new venture that stands out to me,was when the Business was located in Baltimore it was called Lee and Company's Patent and Family Medicine Store.With the move to New York Richard Junior named his business as Richard Lee and Company. Richard who had recently married and his new Bride Hannah moved into a building at Number 56 Maiden Lane.This is where the New York based Lees would operate for about 4 years before Richard Juniors untimely death.
Mean while back in Baltimore Richard Lee Sr.and his younger son Michael Lee were no where to be found in advertisements between 1803 and the beginning of 1806. If they were still in business it is questionable. With Richard Juniors death however it didn't take long for a new company to appear again in Baltimore called Richard Lee and Son . One must wonder if the Baltimore Lees would have ever gone back into the patent medicine business had Richard junior never died so suddenly. Late in the year 1806 and at the same time, two Lee's were selling the same medicine from two different citys. It was during this time period that the ads placed by each firm were begining to attack the other one as not being the original proprietor of the various medicines being offered by each firm. Here are some of those rather lengthy ads beginning with Richard Juniors first advertisements touting the newly established business in Baltimore.
In 1799 Richard Lee Junior advertised in the Friday, September 20, 1799 edition of the Centinel of Liberty (Georgetown, DC)
In 1800 this advertisement which appeared in the Saturday, August 16, 1800 edition of the Federal Gazette (Baltimore, MD) Richard Lee and Company advertised that they were importing their medicine at the time.
The Lees would stay in Baltimore harmonious until 1802 when Richard Junior announces to the public that he is moving his business to New York City. Richards Father and Brother Michael stay in Baltimore and begin to operate as a separate company. Oddly enough no record of them doing any business between Richards departing at the end of 1802 and his death May 2nd 1806.
Richard Juniors death marks the point when things begin to heat up between the family members. Richard moves his business to number 56 Maiden Lane in New York City which is situated not far from current day Wall Street. He produces an embossed bottle for his medicine . Here is that very bottle which is quite rare and most likely the only known whole example.This bottle was only produced between December 1802 and April 1806 when Richard died.
Below is an aerial Photo of 56 Maiden Lane in present day New York City,this is the location where Richard Lee Junior ran his patent medicine business from. His store is just 3 blocks East of the World Trade Center Memorials and just three blocks North of Wall street both seen on this map photo.