| Colonel Eli Lilly |
Article Index for Colonel |
Website Links For Colonel |
Information AboutColonel Eli Lilly |
|
Born in Baltimore, Maryland , Lilly became a chemist and pharmacist, opening a drug store in Indianapolis , Indiana in 1860 . He fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War , recruiting and organizing the 18th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery and serving as its captain from August 1862 until the winter of 1863 . Lilly's only prior military experience was in a Militia unit in Lafayette, Indiana , and several of his artillerymen considered him too young and intemperate to command. Despite his initial inexperience, he became a competent artillery officer and his battery was instrumental in several important battles, including Chickamauga . Lilly resigned from the battery to become a Colonel of Cavalry , and was captured by Nathan B. Forrest in Alabama in 1864 . He was paroled and returned home to his pharmacy business. He attempted two other business ventures, including a Mississippi Plantation , before trying his hand at pharmaceuticals. Influenced by his wife's premature death from malaria, Lilly founded a pharmceutical company at 15 W. Pearl St., Indianapolis, in May of 1876 . He had only 3 employees (including his 14-year-old son Josiah) and $1400 in working capital. His first products were gelatin-coated pills and capsules. Following on his experience of medicines used in the Civil War, Lilly committed to producing only high quality prescription drugs, in contrast to the common Patent Medicines of the day. By the time Colonel Lilly died, his company had 2,005 products and annual sales topping $300,000. |
|
|