Story #21
Dr. Wright's Rapid Relief - Wright's Hatchery - Part 1
Do you suffer from pain, soreness or swelling? Are you trying to deal with a bout of quinsy, rheumatism or nasal catarrh? Has diphtheria, morbus, cholera, brain fag or frost bite invaded your healthy life? Are your animals: the cows, the pigs, the sheep, the horses and particularly the poultry, acting sickly and failing to meet your production expectations? You know the answer and you certainly know the cure! If one bottle of the amazing Dr. Wright's Rapid Relief fails to prove its value in your home, your money will be returned! That's what Dr. John L. Wright would say.
As a young man in Cherry Fork, J. L. had chosen a career in education. He became a school teacher there and later shifted to the position of school treasurer and school examiner. When his interests turned to the medical profession he attended medical college and advanced to graduate at the head of his class. He was offered a faculty position at the college, which he declined.
Instead, he joined the general practice of a Dr. Clark from 1865 to 1872 and then decided to open his own office in Locust Grove.
There was no organized health care system in the latter 1800's and early 1900's. There were no emergency rooms or hospital facilities nearby. Illnesses were treated at home, or, when serious enough, the patient was taken several miles to the nearest country doctor. In many instances, the doctor was asked to travel a far distance to make a home visit. At that time there was another treatment that was becoming more favored by the public. A “patent medicine” offered the general public the ability to acquire a remedy without a doctor's visit or written prescription. It was fashionable and very available. The offer of a guaranteed cure-all was almost impossible to pass up.
As Dr. Wright began his first year of taking care of patients in the village of Locust Grove and the surrounding country-side, he worked to develop his own unique medicinal formula. It would be a secret combination of readily available components. Once it was refined and patented in 1873, “Dr. Wright's Rapid Relief” was offered to the public and the suffering was relieved, rapidly.
At the same time, Dr. Wright had been working on another project. He married Anna Belle Patterson in 1870 and the couple had their first son, Burr in 1872 and their second son, Wylie in 1873.
As the potion's popularity increased, Dr. Wright looked for opportunities to expand. He needed a larger manufacturing facility and a larger market. He became among the first to build in the boom town of Peebles near the railroad. He also began an extensive, and very successful advertising campaign. As the word spread about the doctor and his cure-all, it was not unusual for patients to arrive by train and walk the short distance to his office for a diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Wright also became known for his medical outreach method, traveling extensively by horse and buggy, and later by automobile, throughout the southern Ohio countryside to dispense his remedy.
Watch for Part 2
coming soon!