Currently , the only bottle known from Goodson, VA. is a paper labeled example
from the Sanford,Chamberlain, & Albers Company of Goodson,VA.
It is a blown in mold clear barrel-shape with one side flat for the label...."Pure Apple
Brandy Bitters".
It was purchased by Ralph Van Brocklin , a close friend of mine, at the Keene,
New Hampshire bottle show a couple of years ago. Amazing how these bottles get around...
GOODSON, VIRGINIA...Where's That?
When Joseph R.Anderson purchased the King's Meadows property
from his Father-in-Law in 1852 , the parcel was found to extend into both Tennessee and Virginia. After he
named his town Bristol, and began laying off streets and lots, there came into existence both a Bristol ,Virginina and
a Bristol, Tennessee.
Adjoining his parcel on the northeast in Virginia was land owned by Col.Samuel
Goodson, who also began to lay off streets and lots and, who named his town Goodsonville.( about 1852-53). In
December of 1855, a meeting was held by its citizens to incorporate Goodsonville and Anderson's Bristol, VA. into one
town, to be named Goodson. This incorporation was granted in March of 1856.
From the beginning Goodson had an identity problem. All
through its 34 years of existence it was known as Bristol. (Research indicates even Goodsonville had the same problem). After
the incorporation, many businesses continued to to give their locations as Bristol,VA. Newspapers, contracts, business cards,
some deeds, even the official records of the Confederacy gave the location as Bristol. There are numerous papers showing the
double identity, such as Bristol-Goodson or Goodson-Bristol, when locations were on the VA. side of town. Occasionally one
may find such addresses as " Bristol - north of Main Street". or "the Virginia side of Bristol."
Adding to it all was the fact that the railroad flatly refused to recognise
Goodson and continued to give its depot location as Bristol, VA. There are many stories of the confusion and difficulty encountered
by people during this time.
One story has a perplexed wholesaler stating he sold a bill of
goods to a merchant who said he was doing business in Goodson, VA., but the goods had been sent to Bristol, Virginia, and
the man gave his address as Bristol, Tennessee !! This type of problem and confusion continued until 1890, when the
town took back the original name of Bristol, VA.
There may be other bottles from Goodson but this one is the only one I have seen
or heard of in 34 years in the Hobby. Quite possibly the above difficulties encountered by businesses is the reason why ...?
SANFORD,CHAMBERLAIN & ALBERS - DRUGGISTS
The Knoxville, Tennessee drug firm
Sanford, Chamberlain, and Albers was founded in 1872. Edward Jackson Sanford, who moved to Knoxville from Connecticut in 1853,
worked as a carpenter, contractor, and partner in a lumber firm prior to the United States Civil War. When Confederates seized
Knoxville, Sanford and his wife, Emma Chavannes fled to Kentucky to join the Union Army. Rejected from service due to an illness,
Sanford and his wife spent a few years in Connecticut before returning to Knoxville after Union forces under General Ambrose
Burnside had captured the city. In Knoxville, Sanford joined the Union Army and fought in the Battle of Fort Sanders.
As a result of the war, Sanford extended his business interests and organized the drug
firm of E. J. Sanford and Company in 1864. Sanford quickly became a wealthy and influential citizen of Knoxville. In 1872,
he saw an opportunity to increase his business by merging his firm with the Albers and Chamberlain Drug Company. The new company
changed its name to Sanford, Chamberlain, and Albers and became one of the leading drug companies in the industry. Sanford,
Chamberlain, and Albers would serve as a vibrant part of Knoxville’s business community for one hundred years. The company’s
name was shortened to Alber’s Drug Company in 1926 and remained in the hands of the Albers family until 1994 when it
was sold to the Walker Drug Company in Birmingham, Alabama.
Embossed Knoxville,Tennessee bottles from E.J.Sanford &
Co., Albers & Co., as well as those from Sanford, Chamberlain, and Albers have been dug in Bristol and its
environs. The Goodson,VA. store must have been an outlet they began here in an attempt to make their products
more known. When established and for how long is not known by me. Also, why they chose to place Goodson,VA. on their labels
doesn't make sense, given the difficulty and confusion surrounding Goodson's identity crisis during its existence.
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