Collection Overview
Title: Duxbury Pharmacy Collection
Dates: 1897-1921
Creator: Nelson Stetson
Repository: Drew Archival Library
Call Number: DAL.MSS.085
Accession Number:
Location: Fogg Archives Room
Quantity: 1 box
Language: English

Administrative Information
Access Restriction: Collection is open to researchers
Acquisition Information: Donation, Edwin Noyes
Preferred Citation: DAL.MSS.085, Duxbury Pharmacy Collection, Duxbury Rural & Historical Society
Finding Aid Prepared by Carolyn Ravenscroft, 2019

Scope and Content:
The Duxbury Pharmacy Collection consists of five ledgers of prescriptions filled by the pharmacists Nelson M. Stetson and Paul C. Peterson, owners of the Duxbury Pharmacy on Washington Street, Duxbury, MA, which operated from 1897-1950. The ledgers are only a portion of the ones kept at the Duxbury Pharmacy. They are numbered 1 (June 1897-Sept. 1898), 2 (Sept. 1898-May 1900), 7 (Oct. 1906-Aug. 1909), IX (July 1913-Aug 1918), and X (Aug. 1918-Aug 1921).

Of note are the prescriptions for Fanny Davenport, the famous stage actress who summered in Duxbury (Ledger 1, page 195).

Biographical Note:
The Duxbury Pharmacy was established in 1897 by Nelson M. Stetson. It was located at 590 Washington Street, opposite the post office at the time. The Stetson family lived on the second floor of the building. In addition to filling prescriptions, the pharmacy also sold toiletries, cigars, and souvenirs and had a counter for ice cream, etc. Shortly after opening, Stetson took on an employee, Paul C. Peterson, who became the owner in 1907.

Nelson Mitchell Stetson (1855-1930) was born in Scituate, MA, to Samuel D. Stetson and Hannah Mitchell. He attended school in Hanover and became a carriage-maker. His uncle, also named Nelson Stetson, was a carriage maker in Duxbury, which is likely why he moved to town. He passed the Massachusetts State Board to become a pharmacist shortly before opening the Duxbury Pharmacy in 1897. Stetson married Nellie J. Silsby in 1896. They had one daughter, Clara Silsby Stetson (1901-1987). The Stetsons lived above the pharmacy until 1907, when they moved to Abington. In his later years, Stetson was an avid photographer.

Paul Chester Peterson (1883-1950) was born in Duxbury, the son of Alonzo F. Peterson and Huldah A. Watons. He grew up on St. George Street. In 1907, the same year he took over the Duxbury Pharmacy, he married Elizabeth Sampson (1882-1977) of Duxbury. The Petersons had no children. Paul C. Peterson was an entrepreneur – he initiated mail delivery for his customers and also produced his own souvenir postcards and maps of Duxbury.