Meyer Family Added Papers, ca. 1912-1965

Held by The Filson Historical Society

Creator: Meyer Family

Title: Added Papers, ca. 1912-1965

Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.

Size of Collection: 0.37 cu. ft.

Location Number:  Mss. A M612a

 

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of material relating to the Meyer family and Meyer’s Pharmacy of Louisville, Kentucky. Meyer’s Pharmacy at 1335 Story Avenue began as Bader’s Drug Store. It was renamed in the mid-1920s when purchased by Edward Henry Meyer (1882-1948), who had worked at Bader’s as a manager. The business was taken over during or after World War II by his son Edward Crawford Meyer, known as “E. Crawford” or “Crawford” (1910-1977).

Folders 1-2 hold a pension and insurance claims notebook and an ink formulas notebook from the 1910s-1930s. The pension and insurance claims notebook likely belonged to Edward Henry Meyer, who was a notary public as well as a pharmacist. It includes entries for the pension claims of Civil War veterans or their widows and for life insurance claims. The ink formulas notebook belonged to Blaine Marshel, who sold his ink business to Edward in 1933.

Folder 3 contains a diary from 1945 belonging to Bernadine Saxton Meyer, Crawford Meyer’s wife. Most of the entries are brief, documenting Bernadine’s days with her children and mother, her work and involvement with Meyer’s Pharmacy, social activities, and medical treatments. There are many blank pages starting in April.

Folders 4-6 contain a Meyer’s Pharmacy notebook and account book and a history of the Veterans Drug Club of Louisville, of which both Edward and Crawford Meyer were members. The ca. 1940s-1950s notebook lists commercial medicines and pharmaceutical drugs and their letter-number codes. The account book dates from the first half of the 1950s and includes drug store accounts with individuals and physicians. A typescript titled “Biography of the Veterans Drug Club” provides a year-by-year account of the Veterans Drug Club of Louisville from 1937-1964, along with a group photograph of members in 1965.

 

Related collections:

Meyer family papers [Mss. A M612].

Mrs. E. Crawford Meyer Photograph Collection [011PC17].

Meyer-Crawford Family Photograph Collection [025PC6].

Meyer family museum objects [2025.12.1-2].

Delmont Club records [Mss. C D].

Saxton family scrapbooks [Mss. SB S273].

 

Biographical Note

Edward Henry Meyer (1882-1948) was a pharmacist and a notary public. In the 1900s through 1925, he worked at Bader’s Drug Store, owned by Otto J. Bader and located at 1335 Story Avenue in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. By 1926, Edward had taken over the business and renamed it Meyer’s Pharmacy. Edward was married to Claudine Crawford Meyer (1885-1952). Their son Edward Crawford Meyer was born on December 1, 1910.

Edward Crawford Meyer, known as “E. Crawford” or “Crawford,” also became a pharmacist. He took over Meyer’s Pharmacy during or after World War II. In the years after World War II, the pharmacy was independently owned by Crawford as a franchise of the Rexall chain of American drugstores. The business remained on Story Avenue until the mid-1960s, when it was moved to 2039 Frankfort Avenue and became Gohmann and Meyer Drugs Inc.

Over his 26-year career, Crawford served as an executive officer or president of many local, state, and national pharmaceutical organizations. He was president of the National Association of Retail Druggists in 1971, the Kentucky Pharmaceutical Association in 1959, and the Louisville Retail Druggist Association in 1951 and 1952. In 1960 he was named Pharmacist of the Year by the Kentucky Pharmaceutical Association, and in 1970 he was named man of the year by the Jefferson County Academy of Pharmacy.

Bernadine Louise Saxton Meyer (1910-2006) was born on August 27, 1910, to Harvey Saxton (1887-1957) of Henry County, Kentucky, and Matilou Saxton (1890-1973) of Louisville. Bernadine and Crawford married in 1933 and had two children, Judith and Berl. Crawford died in 1977, and Bernadine in 2006.

 

Folder List

Box 1

Folder 1: Military pension and life insurance claims notebook, ca. 1912-1919

Folder 2: Ink formulas notebook, ca. 1920s-1930s

Folder 3: Diary of Bernadine Saxton Meyer, 1946

Folder 4: Notebook listing commercial medicines and pharmaceutical drugs, ca. 1940s-1950s

Folder 5: Drug store account book, ca. 1952-1955

Folder 6: Veterans Drug Club history (includes photograph), 1937-1965

 

Subject Headings

Drugstores – Kentucky – Louisville.

Family-owned business enterprises – Kentucky – Louisville.

Ink.

Life insurance claims.

Meyer, Bernadine Saxton, 1910-2006.

Meyer, Edward Crawford, 1910-1977.

Meyer, Edward Henry, 1882-1948.

Military pensions.

Notaries – Kentucky – Louisville.

Pharmacists – Kentucky – Louisville.

Rexall Drug Company.

United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Veterans – Pensions.

Veterans Drug Club of Louisville.

Women – Kentucky – Louisville – 20th century.

Woodmen of the World.