Ed. C. Des Rochers

07 Oct 2021, last revised 29 May 2024

Only one bottle is known for Ed. C. Des Rochers, yet his drug store in Houghton existed for 23 or 24 years. He clearly used mostly unembossed bottles, which was typical of pharmacies. His business was a continuation of John P. Mason's drug store.

Edward C. Des Rochers was born in Houghton on 31 Dec 1866 (12). His father was born in Canada of French descent and his mother was born in Detroit, which is where they started a large family before moving to Houghton in 1862 (1). Edward completed his studies at the National Pharmacy Institute at Chicago in 1886 (1). He started in the druggist business by working as a pharmacist for Dr. John P. Mason from about the start of Mason's drug store (1,2,3). He then resigned and planned to work for A. J. Scott in Hancock from about 01 May 1890 (15), although it is unknown if he actually did. The 1895 and 1897 Polk directories listed him as a clerk for Mason (4,5).

Newspaper ad - Dec 1899

Newspaper ad - May 1906

After managing Mason's drug store for a number of years, Edward purchased the store in Apr 1899 (7), marking the start of his own business. The 1899 directory described the location as being on the north side of Shelden Ave., five units east of Isle Royale St. (5). From the 1905 directory, the address was listed as 60 Shelden Ave. (13). The 1908 Sanborn map shows that this was the same location but the street addresses were re-numbered. The 1912 directory specified a new location, 85 Shelden Ave. (14), which was on the south side of the street, west of Isle Royale St. The 1917 Sanborn map labeled this building as a drug store.

Sanborn map - Jun 1900

Sanborn map - Feb 1908

Sanborn map - Nov 1917

Polk directories listed his business up until 1912 (14). The 1916 directory placed Houghton Pharmacy with L. A. Lundahl as proprietor at the 85 Shelden St. location, but it still listed Edward Des Rochers as a druggist (6). The U.S. Federal Census of 1920 listed Des Rochers' occupation as "druggist bookkeeper" and industry as "candy factory" (9), so it seems he was still working in a drug store. He was then listed as a salesman for a paint company in 1930 (10) and retired in 1940 (11). Edward died on 13 Nov 1941 in Houghton at the age of 74 and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Houghton (12).

Given the long history of Des Rochers' drug store, a collector may wonder, how old is his one bottle? Luckily, it bears the mark of SHELDON on its base, which signifies a proprietary bottle shape produced by Sheldon-Foster Glass Co. (8). Lockhart et al. (8) dates this mark to c.1900-c.1907.

Citations

1. anonymous. 1903. Biographical Record: Houghton, Baraga and Marquette Counties, Michigan. Biographical Publishing Company. Chicago, IL.
2. Holland, A. H. 1887. Hand-book and Guide to Houghton, Mich. Mining Journal Book and Job Print. Marquette, MI.
3. anonymous. (1910, Jul 05). Deaths and funerals. Star-Gazette (Elmira, NY). p. 16.
4. R. L. Polk & Co. 1895. Houghton County Directory 1895-96. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. 1899. Houghton County Directory 1899-1900. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
6. R. L. Polk & Co. 1916. Houghton County Directory 1916-17. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
7. anonymous. (1899, Apr 07). Portage Lake news. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
8. Lockhart, B., B. Schriever, B. Lindsey, and C. Serr. 2019. The Sheldon-Foster Glass Co. and related companies. In: Encyclopedia of Manufacturer's Marks on Historic Bottles. posted on Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website. https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/Sheldon-FosterGlass.pdf
9. U.S. Census Bureau. 1920 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
10. U.S. Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
11. U.S. Census Bureau. 1940 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
12. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records (accessed on ancestry.com)
13. R. L. Polk & Co. 1905. Houghton County Directory 1905-06. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
14. R. L. Polk & Co. 1912. 1912 Calumet, Hancock, Houghton and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
15. anonymous. (1890, Apr 24). About Portage Lake. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.