Hi All,
Don't know if any of you have had the opportunity to renovate an old house and found some interesting things in the wall. Now it isn't of course only houses that contain some interesting things. I know that when we tore down my Dad's old barn, the knooks and cranies were filled with liquor and wine bottles. I'm assuming they were put there so the Mrs. might not be aware of just how many the farmer may have indulged in.
Well, just the other day when I was down at the Town Office, Donna Meunier gave me a very interesting bottle that came from one of our local druggist here in town that was in business in the 19th Century. I asked Mike Cain if he would take some pictures of it to show you, just in case any of you run into something similar:
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/Old-Fairfax/jbdrew1.jpg)
Now although this was in perfect shape when it was found, Donna tells me a baseball made contact with it
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/Old-Fairfax/jbdrew2.jpg)
The writing on it says:
TAKE THIS TO
J B DREW
DRUGGIST & PHARMACIST
127 MAIN ST. FAIRFAX, VT
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/Old-Fairfax/jbdrew3.jpg)
I checked all of our old maps looking for J. B. Drew's Drug Store and found nothing
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/Old-Fairfax/jbdrew4.jpg)
Donna, however, with her excellent knowledge of all the old Fairfax Town Records found the following:
J B Drew purchased the store on September 7, 1878 from E J Pease and sold the drug store on June 19,1894 to P R Curly of Bakersfield.
Mystery solved as I knew where P. R. Curly's Drug Store was. It was the one that burned in the fire in the center of the village in 1898 and I do have one picture of the center of town before the fire:
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/Old-Fairfax/fxvil983a.sized.jpg)
The Drug Store is the little building between the two larger ones on the right. Upstairs over the Drug Store was Dr. Phelps Office
I went down in the Archives of The St. Albans Messenger and copied the following story published in 1898 that you can read if you wish:
http://www.vtgrandpa.com/fhs/fxfre198.html
[/b]
Just received the following note from David Lavallee along with the photo:
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/Old-Fairfax/EJPease_bottle.jpg)
Henry,
You've just solved a mystery that's been nagging at me for many years. Seems that back in the 70's I was mowing the lawn for Lorraine Wood when the mower scraped a raised bit of sod and exposed some glass. Not wanting to leave glass on the lawn, I reached down and dug it up and it turned out to be an intact bottle. Lorraine Wood let me keep it and I have it to this very day.
I always wondered about the inscription on the bottle until now.
Thanks Henry for the enlightenment.
Dave Lavallee[/b]