Saul's Pharmacy


Company Names, addresses, dates: 1
  Saul & Chewning, 14 Union, Norfolk VA (1890-1895)
  Saul & Chewning, 20 (14) Union, Norfolk VA (1897-1899) 2
  William B. Saul, 20 Union, Norfolk VA (1900-1901)
  W B Saul & Co, 20 Union, Norfolk VA (1902-1905)
  William B. Saul, Bank cor Wolfe, Norfolk VA (1906)
  William B. Saul, 90-92 Washington cor Bank, Norfolk VA (1907-1912)
  Saul's Pharmacy, Wolfe cor Bank, Norfolk VA (1913-1916)
  Saul's Pharmacy, 320-322 Market, Norfolk VA (1919)
  Saul's Pharmacy, 320 Market, Norfolk VA (1920-1925)
  Saul's Pharmacy, 318 Market (cor Bank), Norfolk VA (1927-39)
  Saul's Pharmacy, 320 Market, Norfolk VA (1940)
  Saul's Pharmacy, 301 Bank, Norfolk VA (1949-1961) 3

Notes:
The 1888 Norfolk city directory lists both William Benjamin Saul (1841-1926)4 and Harry Magruder Chewning (1862-1930)5 as clerks, working for the M.A. & C.A. Santos drug store. In the 1890 directory, they had teamed up to form that Saul & Chewning drugstore at 14 Union street. 1
There was an address change in 1897, but it was due to the street numbers being re-assigned, not a move of the drug store.2

By 1900 Chewning had moved on and had his own drug store in the town of Berkley (which wikipedia says was a separate town that eventually became part of Norfolk), and Saul became the sole owner of the original drugstore. 1

William B. Saul was born in England, where he earned his degree in pharmacy, and opened a pharmacy in 1875. In 1886, he came to Norfolk VA, and circa 1890 opened his drugstore with Chewning. William retired in 1906, and his son, Alan William (Wingate?) Saul (1884-1967)6 took over the drugstore.

Alan W. Saul's middle name is listed as "William" in find-a-grave6, and "Wingate" in his obituary, and I don't know which is correct7.
When Alan retired and announced the closing of the store in 1961, there was a newspaper article that talked about him, his father, and the store. It mentioned the use of Leeches in the early days, and said that there were some remedies that used the Saul name.3
One of these was "Saul's Diarrhea or Bowel Complaint Mixture", advertised in 1891, which was clamed to have been "acknowledged by the Government Board of Health as the most efficacious medicine during the prevalence of Choera in London", so it was likely created when William was in England.8

Bottles:
saul_01 This is a green, 7.5" bottle embossed:
square slugplate: CITRATE OF MAGNESIA / IT'S GOOD IF YOU / GET IT AT / SAUL'S / BANK STREET/ NORFOLK
saul_02 This is a clear, 5.2" mouth-blown bottle embossed:
vertical slugplate: SAUL & CHEWNING / DRUGGISTS / 14 UNION STREET / NORFOLK, VA.
base: PAT DEC 13/87 / C.L.G.Co 3


1 Norfolk City directories, 1851,66,70,72,74,75,77,80,82,83,85,86,88,89-92,94,95,97-99,1900-10,12-16,19,20,22,23-25,27,28,30,33-35,38-40,49,51-54,60
2 Street addresses changed in 1897; 14 Union Street became 20 Union Street, but was the same location
3 Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch, 26-Apr-1961, p.17 (article: "Saul's to fall as druggist ends career")
4 Find-a-grave entry for William Benjamin Saul
5 Find-a-grave entry for Harry Magruder Chewning
6 Find-a-grave entry for Alan William Saul
7 The Virginian-Pilot, 20-Apr-1967, p.14 (obituary for Alan Wingate Saul)
8 Public Ledger, 4-May-1891, p.2 (ad: "Once Used, Always Used.")


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This page last updated on August 6, 2025.