Purcell & Littlejohn


Company Names, addresses, dates:
  Mott & Purcell, 5 North King Street, Leesburg VA (ca.1872-1913) 1,2
  Purcell & Littlejohn, 5 North King Street, Leesburg VA (1913-1919) 3
  Purcell & Littlejohn, 7 North King Street, Leesburg VA (1919-1963) 3

Notes:
Nicholas Sidney Purcell (1845-1930)4 became a partner with Dr. A.R. Mott sometime after the Civil War, and and the pharmacy became known as Mott & Purcell 2.

Horace C. "Hobby" Littlejohn (b. 1884, d. 1965)5 started working for Purcell in 1900, and in 1906 Littlejohn bought out the Mott family's interest in the pharmacy, and it became known as 'Purcell & Littlejohn'3.
Purcell retired in 19131. Littlejohn became the sole proprietory, however he chose to keep the name "Purcell & Littlejohn", although people sometimes referred to it as "Littlejohn's Pharmacy".


Bottles:

purcell_06 Cobalt-blue 8.0" bottle embossed:
horizontal: PURCELL & LITTLEJOHN / PHARMACISTS / (P&L monogram) / LEESBURG / VA.
base: C L G CO / 3
purcell_02 These are clear bottles embossed the same as above. They are 6.5" (8 oz), 5.25" (4 oz), 4.75" (3 oz) and 4.25" (2 oz). They are embossed:
horizontal: PURCELL & LITTLEJOHN / PHARMACISTS / (P&L monogram) / LEESBURG / VA
base on 6.5" bottle: WT&CO / AJ / USA
base on 5.25" bottle: WT&CO / BC / USA
base on 4.75" bottle: WT&CO / AF / USA
base on 4.25" bottle: WT&CO / AT / USA
purcell_01 These are clear 3.5" (1 oz) and 2.75" (1/2 oz) bottles, embossed:
vertical: PURCELL & LITTLEJOHN LEESBURG VA
base on 3.5" bottle: WT&CO / AD / USA
purcell_08 This is a 7.3" amber machine-made bottle with a cork & some dried-up original contents in it. It has a label that says:
label: Purcell & Littlejohn / DRUGGISTS / OPP. COURT HOUSE, LEESBURG, VA. / ...


Other stuff:
purcell_07 This is a clear, 2.2" dose glass. I can't tell if it's painted or etched, but in either case it's marked:
vertical: PURCELL & LITTLEJOHN / DRUGGISTS / LEESBURG, - VA. / Opposite Court House
also: Gradations for 4 TABLE spoons, 8 TEA spoons, and 1 WINE GLASS
embossed on base: H A
purcell_03 This is a photo (taken 22-August-2009) of what I beleive was the building that housed Purcell & Littlejohn's Pharmacy. Washington Post articles say the pharmacy was across from the courthouse, and this is indeed one of the buildings across from the courthouse. I further narrowed it down to this building by looking at an old photo hanging in the Loudon County Museum in downtown Leesburg.
purcell_05 Further proof that the photo above is the correct building:
This postcard shows a sign on about the 4th building on the left that says "LITTLE JOHNS / DRUGS / SODA".
The card is postmarked 1950.
purcell_09 This is my attempt to match the postcard above with a modern photo of the same spot. This photo was taken in 2010.



1 Evening Star newspaper, Oct 27 1930, page B-1, obituary for Nicholas Purcell
2 Alexandria Gazette newspaper, Nov 21 1872, page 2 [first mention I found of 'Mott & Purcell']
3 Washington Post newspaper, Dec 7 2003, page L4, story by Eugene Scheel
4 VA Death certificate 23750 for Nicholas Sidney Purcell, b:12/31/1845, d:10/27/1930 in Leesburg VA
5 Washington Post newspaper, Jan 16 1965, page B3 (obituary for Horace Littlejohn)


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This page last updated on April 25, 2020.