Mott & Pursel / Mott & Purcell


Company Names, addresses, dates:
  Dr. A.R. Mott, across from Courthouse, Leesburg VA (1843-18??) 1
  Mott & Metzger, across from Courthouse, Leesburg VA (18??-ca.1872) 2,3
  Mott & Purcell, Leesburg VA (ca.1872-1906) 2,3
  Purcell & Littlejohn , Leesburg VA (1906-1963) 4

Notes:
Dr. Armstead Randolph Mott (1822-1894)5 opened a pharmacy on King Street across from the Loudoun County Courthouse in 18431.
During the civil war, Mott was one of a group of Leesburg residents who were arrested and sent to the Old Capitol prison in Washington DC - he was later unconditionally released6. After the civil war, Mott got a presidential pardon to retreive his property, which had been confiscated during the war7.
At some point, Mott teamed up with someone named Metzger and the pharmacy became known as Mott & Metzger.

Nicholas Sidney Purcell (1845-1930)8 bought out Metzger after the civil war, and the pharmacy became known as 'Mott & Purcell'2.
He graduated the University of Maryland school of Pharmacy in 1872, and the first mention I found of the firm "Mott & Purcell" was from a newspaper article in November 18723, so I beleive 1872 was the year that "Mott & Purcell" teamed up.
All the embossed bottles below have his last name spelled 'Pursel', but most documents have it spelled 'Purcell', and the labeled bottle below also has it spelled 'Purcell'. The 1880 US Census had it spelled 'Persell', but the 1900, 1910, and 1920 Census had it spelled 'Purcell'. It's spelled 'Purcell' on his death certificate and on his grave stone.
Purcell kept the name "Mott & Purcell" even after Mott passed away. In 1900, Horace Littlejohn started working for Purcell, and in 1906 Littlejohn bought out the Mott family's interest in the pharmacy, and it became known as Purcell & Littlejohn 4.
Purcell retired in 19139.


Bottles:

mott_01 This is a clear 5.0" bottle with a glass stopper embossed:
horizontal: MOTT & PURSEL / PHARMACISTS / (M&P monogram) / LEESBURG / VA
base: WT&CO / V
mott_02 The left bottle is 5.2" tall, the right one is 4.2" tall. They are both embossed:
horizontal: MOTT & PURSEL / PHARMACISTS / (M&P monogram) / LEESBURG / VA
base (right bottle): WT&CO / AH / USA
mott_03 This is a clear 3.5" bottle embossed:
vertical: MOTT & PURSEL / PHARMACISTS / LEESBURG / VA
base: WT&CO / A / USA
mott_06 mott_07 This aqua 4.8" un-embossed bottle has a label that says:
label: MOTT & PURCELL, Druggists / LEESBURG, VA. / ...
base: (glass pontil scar)
Mott & Pursel didn't team up until after the era when bottles had pontil scars on the base, but this looks legitimate (i.e. I don't think some bottle collector just stuck the label onto an old pontiled bottle). I wonder if Mott had this bottle lying around since the early years (1840s/50s) before he was teamed up with Pursel, and he just re-used it?



Other items:
mott_04 This is a clear, 1.8" dose glass, embossed:
oval slug plate: MOTT & PURSEL / DRUGGISTS / LEESBURG VA.
back: (1 vertical & 3 horizontal lines) TABLE / DESSERT / TEA
base: K
mott_05 I beleive his is the building that housed Mott & Purcell's drug store, at 5 N King Street, Leesburg VA4. This building is across from the Courthouse. The photo was taken in 2010.


1 Town of leesburg web site, history sub-section
2 Evening Star newspaper, Oct 27 1930, page B-1, obituary for Nicholas Purcell
3 Alexandria Gazette newspaper, Nov 21 1872, page 2 [first mention I found of 'Mott & Purcell']
4 Washington Post newspaper, Dec 7 2003, page L4, story by Eugene Scheel
9 Evening Star newspaper, Oct 27 1930, page B-1 (Obituary for Nicholas S. Purcell)
5 Find-a-grave for Dr. Armistead Randolph Mott, b:1823, d:20-Jan-1894, buried in Union Cemetery Leesburg VA
6 Alexandria Gazette newspaper, Jun 15 1864, page 3
7 Alexandria Gazette newspaper, Mar 23 1866, page 3
8 VA Death certificate 23750 for Nicholas Sidney Purcell, b:12/31/1845, d:10/27/1930 in Leesburg VA


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This page last updated on October 1, 2023.