History
Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills have their genesis with the father of William Henry Comstock (1830–1919) — Edwin Perkins Comstock (1799–1837) — who founded a drug company in New York City sometime before 1833. The Comstock patent medicine business was involved in the sale of a number of successful drugs, including Carlton's Pile Liniment, Oldridge's Balm of Columbia, Kline's Tooth Ache Drops and Judson's Worm Tea. Between 1833 and the time of the acquisition of the rights to Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills, the company remained under the control of the Comstocks through the additional involvement of Edwin's four brothers:
- Lucius Samuel Comstock, MD (1806–1876)
- Albert Lee Comstock (1802–1876)
- John Carlton Comstock (1819–1853)
- George Wells Comstock (1820–1889)
The Indian Root Pills were first formulated and manufactured in 1854 by Andrew B. Moore (born around 1821, New York), who was then operating under the name A.B. Moore in Buffalo, New York. Rights to the pills were then transferred through a number of different business partnerships under the control of Moore involving:
- Andrew Judson White, MD (1824–1898) — paternal uncle of publisher and poet James Terry White (1845–1920)
- Baldwin Lake Judson (1832–1867), son of Edwin's sister
- George Wells Comstock
- William Henry Comstock
These reorganizations all occurred amid numerous disputes and lawsuits. During that long period of instability, the manufacturing operations moved from Buffalo to New York City and then to dual sites on opposite sides of the St. Lawrence River, one at Brockville, Ontario, and the other at Morristown, New York. Ownership of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills finally stabilized in 1867 when it settled solely in the hands of William Henry Comstock, and thereafter business was carried out under the name W.H. Comstock Co. Ltd.
When William Henry Comstock died in 1919, control of the company passed to his son, William Henry Comstock II (1897–1959), known as "Young Bill." A year after William Henry Comstock II died, W.H. Comstock Co. Ltd. ceased operations, patent medicines having already been in decline.
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