BRISTOL,TENN-VA COLLECTIBLE BOTTLES & HISTORY

DR. JAMES A. DICKEY & CAM ANDERSON - BRISTOL Druggists

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sketch of Dr. J.A. Dickey made about 1885

     One thing  that always bothered me when I began researching Bristol's history: why was it most Bristolians knew about  John R.Dickey,  yet had never heard of his older brother , James A.  Dickey ,(who  had preceded John R. to Bristol)  ??
   This page will hopefully shed some much required light on Dr. James Alexander Dickey  and his many contributions to  a young Bristol...as a Doctor, Mayor, Alderman, Druggist and Businessman. His partnership with I. Campbell (Cam),  Anderson ,and Anderson's Drug Store , will additionally be touched upon.
   I will make available what I have learned about John R. Dickey and his varied contributions to Bristol - on another page.

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    DR. JAMES A. DICKEY...was born in Grayson County, VA., Sept. 13, 1849.  He was a certified Physician having attained his education at Emory & Henry College and at the Washington University in Baltimore. He established a practice in Grayson County in 1869.  He was elected Treasurer of that County in 1873, and continued in that office until March of 1875, when he resigned and moved to Bristol,Tenn. By October of 1875 he had purchased the drug stock of the recently deceased *J.G.Pepper, formed a partnership with a druggist named Wright ,and opened a drug store on Main Street in Bristol.

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DR. DICKEY'S EYE WATER - Bristol,Tenn. & Eufala,Ala.

    By 1879, the  James A. Dickey & Wright partnership had been dissolved, and his business was known as J.A.Dickey & Co. City Drug Store, at the sign of the Mortar & Eagle.
     Advertisements during 1880 included the names of two Salesmen for the Company: I.C. (Cam) Anderson from Scott County, VA. and T.M. Crandall in West Tennessee. Also during this period, John R. Dickey ,(James' younger brother), was briefly associated with the Company. As early as May of 1883, J.A. Dickey was advertising his Painess Eye Water Cure, of which he was the "sole proprietor."
    By 1885, Cam Anderson had become a full partner in the Company.

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    According to a Bristol Herald newspaper  Industrial Supplement published in 1904, J.A.Dickey "rapidly gained the confidence and esteem of the people". and he played an important role in local politics. During the years 1877-1885, J.A.Dickey served as Mayor of Bristol,Tenn., and served 5 terms as an Alderman. Then he served as Mayor  once again from 1902-1905, combining for terms of 7 years.  
    He had sold his interests in the drug store to Cam Anderson in 1888, with Anderson renaming it the Cam Anderson Drug Company.
    In 1882 James erected a house at 421 5th St., where he and his wife Kate W. Dickey, lived out their lives.
    In 1889 - 90 Dr. J.A. Dickey & Dr.  Jere Bunting , established the Bristol Telephone Company, in response to the East Tenn. Telephone Company's policy of charging Physicians the same fee for a home phone as for an office phone. Dickey & Bunting sold the Company by 1909.

jadeyewater.jpg
@1885

    Not many bottles or other types of memorabilia survive from J.A.Dickey & Co...
There's two examples, embossed with:
Eagle/City Drug Store/ Bristol,Tenn. (with different Eagles)
Dr.Dickey's Eye Water/ Bristol,Tenn.
Dr.Dickey's Eye Water/ Eufaula,Ala.
Dickey & Anderson Druggists/ Bristol,Tenn...
and ...a Trade Card for ,"Painless Eye Water."

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young Dr.J.A. Dickey

In 1891 Dr. J.A. Dickey and partner were awarded a Patent for a railroad signal device:
Patent Number: 445106 Click here to view full-text of patent via USPTO
Title: Electric Signal for Railroads
Assignee: James A. Dickey, Napoleon B. Ainsworth
Issue Date: 1/20/1891
Inventor(s): Wiley, Edgar C., Bristol, TN (assignee from Indian Territory)
Notes:

James A. Dickey of Bristol, TN assigned 2/3 and Napoleon B. Ainsworth of McAlester, Indian Territory assigned 2/3

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DICKEY & ANDERSON - DRUGGISTS
Main Street, Bristol,Tenn.
 
     Among the leading mercantile industries of this thriving city none occupy a more prominent position than that of which the above named gentlemen are the proprietors. The firm is composed of Dr. J.A. Dickey and I.C. Anderson, who are the successors to Dr.J.A. Dickey.
   These gentlemen are the proprietors of the celebrated "Painless Eye Water", which for the benefit of the eyes, has no superior, as those who have tested it are ready to testify...@ 1885.

andersondose.jpg
cr. Rob Kesner

 
 
CAM ANDERSON Drug Company
 
     The Cam Anderson Drug Company survived but two years:... as in  1890, Anderson sold the business to Messrs. Stark & Cochran and returned home to ' Block House' in Scott County,VA. Seems Anderson had  always yearned to become a licensed Physician. Shortly thereafter, he entered Medical School and upon completion ,he opened a practice in Gate City,VA, where he also operated a drug store.  
     In 1906, he was callously murdered by his wife, sister-in-law, mother-in-law,  & brother-in-law, who had attempted to make his death appear as accidental. But Anderson survived just long enough to tell what really happened, and implicated the four as his murderers.
     It was learned that either Anderson's wife,( or her sister), and her mother, held Anderson while his brother-in-law slashed the brachial artery in his arm with a knife.
Newspaper reports of the time indicated however that only the brother-in-law was charged with the crime.
*(Special to The Bristol Herald  Dec.5, 1906 )
  
    Very few items remain to make us aware of Cam Anderson's business ventures in Bristol.
They are: 
Cam Anderson/ Druggist/  Bristol,Tenn.   Dose Glass
Anderson's Golden Eye Water/ Bristol,Tenn.   cyl. BIM
Cam Anderson Druggist/ Bristol,Tenn.   rect. BIM

andersons.jpg

  ** In Feb. 2008, Eleanor Heacock, GrandDaughter of John R. Dickey, and I,  entered a crawl space of an old building formerly owned by the Dickeys. Stored in this area were old boxes of assorted papers, bottles, and other paraphenalia from the J.R. Dickey Drug Company. While rummaging through one old box, we came upon the below J.A. Dickey Painless Eye Water, Eufaula, Ala. bottle, still totally wrapped in its original paper label. Being as this was the first J.A. Dickey bottle I had seen with a label I was enthused. But, upon examination of the label another unknown fact caused us even more interest and some consternation.
    Imprinted upon one end of the label was  Copyright Oct.27,1905.   As J.A. Dickey was known to have sold out his drugstore business to Cam Anderson in 1888 , why then did this bottle have a 1905 copyright date?  Eleanor & I conjectured that it was likely J.A. Dickey had retained ownership to the Eye Water Company in Eufaula, AL. as a means of additional income and , halted such production of his eye water in Bristol so as to not directly compete with his younger brother's,  (J.R. Dickey's Eye Water), business.
Makes for a nice story and may be true. More research is needed.

7springs1888.jpg
1888 Advertisment

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  **Perhaps the main reason so few Bristolians are acquainted with J.A.Dickey is because so few of his products remain and his drug store was extant but a little over 12 years. Whereas, his younger brother, John R., continued in the eye water business until his death in 1923, at which time his sons, ( Ernest & Herman - who had worked in the business for years), assumed control and kept operating it until the late-1950s.)...
*Note: J.G.Pepper was the brother of  Dr. C.T.Pepper who had recently closed down his practice-drug store in Bristol and retired to Rural Retreat,VA., where he opened another drug store with a soda fountain. (Short retirement). C.T.Pepper is the Pepper for whom the Dr.Pepper soft drink is named and MAY have been the creator of the original formual taken,  (some say stolen), to Texas by a former employee who was supposedly enamored of C.T.'s young daughter.

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Stephen Dickey
stephendickey.jpg
father of James A & John R Dickey

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DICKEY & ANDERSON

NEXT PAGE >>>>

 
 
Sources - Bibliography
 
i)      Library of King College, Bristol,Tenn. - Newspaper Microfilms
ii)     Bristol,TN-VA Public Library - Newspaper Microfilms &  City Directories
iii)     1904 Bristol Herald  Industrial Supplement 
iv)     Bristol-Goodson Industry & Resources in 1885  -W.F.Henry/Reporter
v)      Witness To An Epoch   - Chas.J. Harkrader
vi)     Double Destiny   - Robert Loving
vii)    Historic Sites of Sullivan County  - Muriel Spoden
viii)   Bristol Tennessee-Virginia : A History   - V.N. "Bud" Phillips
ix)     Spirits & Medicinal Bottles of Bristol, Tenn.-Va.   - Charlie Barnette 
x)       The Passing Years   - Bristol Historical Association
xi)      City of Bristol @ 1915
xii)     A Pictorial History -  Bristol Historical Association
xiii)    Whiskey, An American Pictorial History  - Oscar Getz
xiv)    Prohibition, 13 Years That Changed America - Edward Behr
xv)     The Shadow Of The Bottle -  Review & Herald Publishing Co.
xvi)    Historic Sullivan - Oliver Taylor
xvii)   One Year At A Time - Bristol - 1907 - Lonnie & Kim Blevins
xviii)   Honoring Our Heritage: Faces & Places From The Past -
                       Lonnie & Kim Blevins and Roy & Carolyn Williams
xvix)   Between the States: Bristol Tennessee - Virginia During the Civil War  - V.N. "Bud" Phillips
xx)      Pioneers in Paradise - Bristol, Tenn-Va.  - V.N. "Bud" Phillips
xxi)     A Good Place to Live - Bristol, Tenn-Va. - V.N. "Bud" Phillips
 
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