BOWMAN {John S. Bowman}

Born in Schmidmuhlen, Bavaria, Germany about 1830, John Schmerl Bowman arrived in California in the 1850s. He initially established a cigar and tobacco store in Marysville, California, sometime around 1857. He sold out about 1860 and returned to Europe where he married his wife. Bowman then returned to California about 1866 and opened another cigar and tobacco store in San Francisco at 128 Pacific Street.

By 1868, his partnership began with Louis Liebes and dissolved in November 1874. On January 1, 1877, Joseph Coblentz, formerly of the partnership of Levy & Coblentz of Los Angeles, was admitted to John S. Bowman & Co. as a partner. He undoubtedly brought his expertise in the liquor business with him, which added a new layer to Bowman’s activities.

At the beginning of 1890, the partnership admitted Boaz David Pike, which also witnessed John S. Bowman’s transition into a newly chosen profession. He had acquired a substantial estate and chose to become a lender of money, primarily on real estate deals where the properties to be purchased were used as collateral to secure the loans. Coblentz & Pike continued with their liquor and tobacco business until April 1897 when Coblentz died and Pike was left with a business having a $100,000 liability. Bowman’s first advertisement for lending money is noted in the San Francisco Call on March 28, 1892.

Bowman became a prolific brand designator in his cigar business and trademarked a number of different names for his cigars. While in partnership with Louis Liebes he chose to honor the San Francisco philanthropist, James Lick, with a cigar in his name, receiving California Trade-Mark No. 276 on July 30, 1874.

Bowman filed another California trademark (No. 808) on February 14, 1882, for his cigar trade. With this trademark, he chose to honor Lieutenant George W. DeLong. The ship Jeannette left San Francisco on July 8, 1879, on its quest to find a passage to the North Pole. The ship was captained by George W. DeLong, a seasoned Naval Academy graduate. Many of the expedition’s thirty-three members were lost, as the Jeannette became icebound and sank on June 13, 1880. The men moved to three smaller on-board boats, and the boat containing Capt. DeLong landed at the northern mouth of the Lena River in Siberia, with most of them suffering from severe frostbite. They were not heard from again. A relief party located the graves of DeLong and shipmates

By Eric McGuire

which were excavated in March 1883 and returned to New York on February 13, 1884.

Bowman’s cigar label depicting the ship Jeannette and the bust of her commander, George W. DeLong, who headed the ill-fated voyage to find a passage to the North Pole. It is puzzling that even though Bowman took great care to protect the trade names of his tobacco products, no record has been found that would treat Jewel Old Bourbon in the same fashion. While the embossed fifth proclaims that Bowman was the sole agent, it is not known if he owned the brand.

By Brian Bingham

Francis Edward Suire’s birthplace is a bit of a mystery. First, we have an entry in Baltimore, Maryland seagoing passenger lists that suggests he was, at age four, a member of the Suire family that claimed U.S. citizenship and arrived in Baltimore on July 1, 1821, aboard the Baltimore schooner Dandy from Aux Cayes on the island of Haiti. Suire being a French name and Haiti being a French colony, it makes perfect sense that they may have been fleeing the anti-colonial violence in Haiti at the time. Secondly, we have his son Frank Overton Suire’s death certificate that says his father was born in Puerto Rico, which was colonial Spanish at the time. And finally, we have the 1850 United States Federal Census Report noting that he was born in Maryland. We do know that he was born on August 17, 1819.

Like many families arriving in the New World, the Suire family was enticed to head west to what was then the frontier of Indiana with the promise of free land and opportunity. From Baltimore, they most certainly traveled by horse and wagon along the newly constructed National Road, (Fig. 3) passing through the Appalachian Mountains in Cumberland, Maryland, and arriving at Wheeling, West Virginia. Here they would have had to buy a boat, build a boat or join another family with a boat for the treacherous journey down the Ohio River.

[Fig. 4] Embossed on shoulder ‘F. E. SUIRE & Co. CINCINNATI,’ Round, 8 inches tall, 16 oz, BIM, tooled lip, smooth base, light blue.

For whatever reason, they chose Madison, Indiana as their destination and on April 17, 1844, at age 25, Francis E. Suire married Hannah Ann Fitch, age 19, in Madison Township, Jefferson County, Indiana. Hannah Ann Fitch was born on September 30, 1825 in Baltimore, Maryland. The following year, on June 10, 1845, they had their first of two sons, Hammond Suire. In the 1850 U.S. Census for Madison, Indiana, Francis E. Suire is listed with his wife Hannah and son Hammond with an occupation of “Druggist.”

During the early 1850s, it was clear that Cincinnati, Ohio, was going to grow much larger than Madison, so by 1857, Francis E. Suire left Madison for Cincinnati and was listed in business as Suire, Eckstein & Co., druggists, northwest corner Fourth and Vine Streets. (Figs. 1 & 2) His partner Frederick F. Eckstein was born in Virginia on September 10, 1821. Before going into business with Suire, Eckstein had already been operating as a druggist in Cincinnati for ten years, from 1846 to 1856.

[Fig. 5] 1867 Williams Cincinnati Directory advertisement for F. E. Suire & Co.

For the next eight years, from 1857 until 1864, Suire, Eckstein & Co. had at least two junior partners. They were Andrew B. Merriam, who was born on May 23, 1826, in Salem, New York. He had been working in Cincinnati as a clerk since 1849 before joining Suire, Eckstein & Co. in 1857. His name was dropped from the list of partners in 1865, and he went into business in 1865 as Merriam A. B. & Co., wholesale and retail druggists at 4th and Main. He remained in business until at least 1880 and died on March 26, 1902, in Charles City, Iowa. A second partner was Isaac H. Taylor, who was born in 1815 in Maryland. He was in Madison, Indiana, at the same time as Suire working as a clerk in 1850. After having several children in Madison, Taylor joined Suire, Eckstein & Co. in 1859. His name was dropped from the list of partners in 1866, and he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.

In 1865 Frederick F. Eckstein was dropped from the Suire, Eckstein & Co. business name, and he went into business with Townsend Hills as Eckstein, Hills & Co., manufacturers of white lead (base for paint) until at least 1880. He died on April 8, 1893, in Cincinnati, Ohio. With Eckstein’s departure, the company name became F. E. Suire & Co. with existing partner Isaac H. Taylor and new partner James Prince. The following year, 1866, James Prince was dropped, and his most important partner Edward S. Wayne was added. The following year, Isaac H. Taylor, was dropped from the list of partners. For the next eight years, 1867 through 1874, F. E. Suire & Co. operated as a partnership between Francis E. Suire and Edward S. Wayne.

Edward S. Wayne was born on April 4, 1820, in Pennsylvania. He had been a druggist and chemist in Cincinnati since at least 1846. During the 1850s, he was associated with the Cincinnati College of Pharmacy as a corresponding secretary and the Medical College of Ohio as a lecturer in practical pharmacy. Prior to joining

Suire, Eckstein & Co. in 1864, he had worked for W. C. Henderson & Co. at the Phoenix Oil Works. In 1866, as a partner in F. E. Suire & Co., he was undoubtedly the individual behind the embossed blue and amber “Wayne’s Diuretic Elixir, F. E. Suire & Co. Cincinnati” bottles.

On April 13, 1874, Francis E. Suire died in Cincinnati, and with that, the company ceased operation. Edward S. Wayne joined the wholesale druggist firm of James S. Burdsal & Co. for a few years and died on December 11, 1885, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In summary, bottles embossed ‘F. E. SUIRE & Co. CINCINNATI’ on the shoulder (Fig. 4) would have been made between 1865 and 1874, and bottles embossed on panels with ‘WAYNE’S DIURETIC ELIXIR F. E. SUIRE & Co. CINCINNATI’ (Fig. 6) would have been made between 1866 and 1874.

Regarding amber bottles embossed ‘WAYNE’S DIURETIC ELIXIR’ on one side and ‘WAYNE ELIXIR Co. CINCINNATI, OHIO’ on the other, this company was owned by William Gilmore, and existed for just three years between 1896 and 1898. This was 20 years after Francis E. Suire died and ten years after Edward S. Wayne died. I can find no connection between the two companies. By 1900 William Gilmore listed his occupation as “capsule manufacturer.”