A Piece of Dixon History: Charles Walgreen opens his Dixon store in 1904

Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a six-part series about Charles Walgreen. Part 1, which was published Nov. 1, focused on Charles Walgreen’s early life in Dixon, up until he moved to Chicago in 1893.

DIXON – After working in various Chicago drugstores for five years and becoming a registered pharmacist, 25-year-old Charles R. Walgreen got a call that dramatically changed his life.

In April 1898, the U.S. declared war on Spain, and President McKinley promptly issued a call for volunteers. Charles, who was single, joined the thousands who followed Lt. Col. Teddy Roosevelt to Cuba for the Spanish-American War.

“Charles was intensely patriotic, convinced that a man should contribute to his country’s well-being in every way he could,” said his future wife, Myrtle.

Filling prescriptions in Cuba

He was stationed at Siboney, Cuba, only 9 miles from where Roosevelt’s famous Rough Riders fought the Battle of San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898. This “splendid little war,” as it was called, ended with the Spanish surrender July 16.

On July 23, Charles wrote from Cuba to his sister Esther Walgreen in Dixon, and his letter was reported in the Telegraph. He told Esther that he was in “excellent health” serving in the hospital corps in Siboney, “where I fill prescriptions, dispense medicines, write records, etc.”

Walgreen never saw combat. But the battle that he fought was deadlier. Yellow fever, malaria, typhoid, and dysentery killed far more soldiers than did bullets and bombs. Yellow fever also struck down Charles when Siboney became the center of a massive outbreak.

A deadly battle

He actually was declared dead. Walgreen even experienced himself floating above and looking down at his body. But he suddenly came back to life, frightening a doctor standing nearby.

“After that experience,” said Myrtle, “he knew that immortality was not just a theory and that the soul was not bound to the life of the body.”

After months of recovery in a Chicago hospital, Charles Walgreen renewed his career in health care. He found a new job as a pharmacist at Isaac Blood’s neighborhood drugstore on the south side at Cottage Grove and Bowen Avenue.

1901: The first Walgreen store

By 1901, Charles was armed with a registered pharmacist degree and with 10 years of witnessing many different drugstore management styles, he was ready to start his own business. Mr. Blood said he would sell the store for $4,000 (about $150,000 in today’s money), but Walgreen didn’t have enough money. So, Charles thought he would improve his position by working diligently to make the business more profitable.

His months of effort were remarkably effective. But his efforts only made Blood demand even more for the store, upping his price to $6,000.

So, Charles borrowed $2,000 from his father back in Dixon and made the downpayment in June 1901. That Blood-Walgreen store at Cottage Grove and Bowen then became the world’s first drugstore with “Walgreen” on the sign.

“I’ve fallen in love”

At that time, 28-year-old Charles Walgreen lived at 260 Bowen Ave. Just down the street, at 71 Bowen Ave., a 22-year-old named Myrtle Norton lived with her widowed mother and her brother, Paul, a druggist. Through Paul, Myrtle Norton first met Charles R. Walgreen in the summer of 1900.

In August 1901, Charles and Myrtle developed a closer relationship while on a two-week group camping trip to Wisconsin. On the final night, he nervously told Myrtle that he had two confessions that he needed to make.

The first was, “I’ve fallen in love with you.” The second confession was even more shocking.

He was engaged to another girl.

An honest man

“This other girl lives in Dixon,” he said. “She’s my sister’s best friend.” Worse yet, the girl was “excitable;” her friends had been giving her engagement parties, and Charles was concerned that she might commit suicide.

But Charles told Myrtle that he would not break off the engagement by letter; he was going to Dixon to break it off in person. And he did.

“I knew then he was an honest man,” reflected Myrtle. “Circumstances pinch honest men and women sometimes, and it is a temptation to bend to circumstances to get out of the pinch.”

Charles and Myrtle Walgreen married one year later, on Aug. 18, 1902. Ironically, Dixon would play a role in keeping them together for the rest of his life. Dixon would become even more important to Myrtle after Charles was gone.

An ending and a beginning

But sadly, they were brought back to Dixon in 1904 by the death of Charles’ father, who died unexpectedly at age 74. He had been sitting in his chair and talking to his daughter, Esther (Mrs. F. X. Newcomer), when the old Swede’s head dropped back without warning. The funeral was at the family home at 401 S. Galena Ave.

But this momentous ending in Dixon also brought a momentous beginning in Dixon. Only four days after the father died, son Charles bought his second drugstore.

It was not in Chicago. It was in Dixon.

On April 16, 1904, Charles partnered with Ross Davis, a Dixon pharmacist, to purchase the C.C. Kelly drugstore at 115 W. First St., next to today’s Midland States Bank. That same store had previously been Horton’s Drug Store, where Charles Walgreen got his start in the pharmacy business in 1891.

That summer, the Telegraph reported, “Walgreen and Davis are fitting up their store in the most up to date manner.” Their improvements included a large 10-foot electric sign in front of the store, a modern innovation for that time.

On Nov. 29, in our next episode about Dixon’s most successful resident, we’ll chronicle the massive growth of the Walgreen empire and his extensive investment in his beloved Dixon.

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