A Piece of Dixon History: Charles R. Walgreen’s roots in Dixon

Editor’s note: This is the first of a series of articles on Charles R. Walgreen.

DIXON – “He liked Dixon; he always liked Dixon.”

So said Myrtle Walgreen about her husband, Charles R. Walgreen, the famous founder of the Walgreens drug store chain.

On their first date in 1901, Dixon was clearly a topic of conversation. “Listening to him talk about Dixon,” Myrtle said, “I built up a real desire to see the town but never thought I would be living many happy decades on its outskirts.”

Like so many others, Charles Rudolph Walgreen became forever attached to this historic endearing town by the Rock River. Although he acquired more wealth and business success than any other person in Dixon history, he remained attached to Dixon throughout his life.

“In Dixon he could play baseball and swim in summer, hunt in the autumn through woods he was later to own, and in the winter skate on the frozen Rock River,” Myrtle said.

Farm boy from Galesburg

Charles was born Oct. 9, 1873, on a farm 14 miles north of Galesburg. The son of Swedish immigrants, Charles and Ellen (Olson) Walgreen, Charles was the youngest of five children.

Growing up on a farm instilled certain values in the boy. “The Walgreen children were expected to work hard,” said Myrtle, “but also they had plenty of time for their studies, and all of them were ambitious.”

In the 1880s, Charles’ big brother Edwin left the family farm for Dixon’s growing Northern Illinois Normal College, which had blossomed to 885 students in 1885. In letters back home, Edwin wrote glowingly of Dixon and urged his little brother to join him.

Dixon’s better schools

Father Walgreen was convinced. In 1887, when Charles was 14, the entire Walgreen family moved to Dixon, population 6,000. The primary motivation of the move was “so that the children would have better public schools,” said Myrtle.

After selling his Knox County farm, father Charles began a real estate business in Dixon. They lived on South Galena Avenue at Fourth Street, a block from the famous Nachusa House.

In 1889, son Charles finished Dixon High School, which was probably the “white brick” school later known as South Central School, only a block from his home. At age 16, Charles entered Dixon Business College, which was located with Northern Illinois Normal College in the west end near College Avenue.

After a year of business college, he landed a job as a bookkeeper at the I. B. Countryman General Store on Galena Avenue downtown. Having a passion for accuracy, he liked the job, but didn’t see a future there.

Losing a finger, gaining a future

In 1891, the Henderson Shoe factory in Dixon was booming. The Telegraph then described it as “Dixon’s greatest institution” and “one of the largest shoe factories in the world.” Located near the college, the impressive factory stood four stories high, stretched the length of a football field and employed about 10% of the city.

So, seeing opportunity, Charles went to work at the factory. But one day, his left hand got caught in a piece of machinery that lopped off the first joint of his third finger.

While Dr. D. H. Law of Dixon was dressing the wound, the youth seemed fascinated by the medicines in the office. The physician cautioned the 18-year-old to minimize strenuous activity, but the very next day, Dr. Law caught Charles playing ball.

Remembering Charles’ fascination with medicines, the doctor urged the young Walgreen to take a less strenuous job working as a clerk for Dave Horton at Horton’s Drug Store on West First Street next to the Dixon National Bank. After initially rejecting the idea, Charles R. Walgreen finally accepted his first job in the drug store business.

Quit before he was fired

The job paid $4 a week, and he liked the work. One day, after working there for a year and a half, Horton told Walgreen to shovel the snow off the front sidewalk while Horton went to lunch. But Charles got busy talking with some friends and forgot about clearing the sidewalk.

When Horton returned from lunch, Charles saw the angry look on the boss’ face. Realizing his impending doom, Charles blurted out, “I quit!” But Horton said he couldn’t quit; he was fired!

The Telegraph recorded the event, not realizing its long-term significance. On Nov. 26, 1892, the newspaper simply reported, “Charles Walgreen resigned his position in Horton’s Drug Store to go to school.”

The 19-year-old may have said he was going to go to school, but he didn’t. In early 1893, he borrowed $20 from his sister Clementine to move to Chicago for a fresh start.

Off to the big city

On the train, he studied the Help Wanted column in the newspaper and found an opening for a drug store clerk. When the train arrived in Chicago, he went directly to the drug store at Wells Street and Quincy and applied. The owner, Samuel Rosenfeld, hired Charles at $5 a week and told him to report to work Monday morning.

Through his experiences in Dixon and Chicago, Walgreen had finally found his career field. But for the next five years the restless young man bounced from one Chicago drug store job to another, experiencing some efficient and profitable operations and some bad ones.

Finally, in 1897, he decided to get serious about his career. Trimming away some of his youthful pursuits, he buckled down and studied to become a registered pharmacist. In late 1897, at age 24, he passed the Illinois State Board of Pharmacy exam and earned his R.Ph.

But in 1898 his life would be upended again. He would go off to war. He would be declared dead. He would buy his first drug store, and he would find the love of his life.

But one hurdle stood in the way. He was engaged to a girl from Dixon.

The story of Dixon’s most successful resident continues Nov. 15.

• Dixon native Tom Wadsworth is a writer, speaker and occasional historian. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament.