August 16, 1854 – An advertisement appears in the Iowa Capitol Reporter promoting L.B. & O.A. Patterson & Company in Iowa City.

According to records we found in Iowa City newspapers of the 1850’s, L.B. & O.A. Patterson & Company was a highly-successful shop that handled just about everything! Books, stationery, drugs, medicines, oil, glassware, window glass, soap, and yes, pure brandy and wine – for medical purposes, of course! It appears that the Patterson brothers purchased the drug store from the famed Iowa Senator James B. Harlan in 1850, just as Harlan was transitioning his occupation – from business to practicing law here in Iowa City. Interestingly, Harlan was, most likely, studying law and apprenticing with the Patterson brothers’ father – Peter, at the time of the transition.

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