The town’s oldest business establishment can trace its way by horse and wagon to the dusty shadows of the county’s pioneer settlers who have long since faded away.
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Wayne Culver is pictured behind the counter at the D.H. Davis Drug Store. Wayne says the store’s present employees are “Some of the finest people on the planet.” Those employees include his wife, Janel, Betty Peters, Lucille Bruce, Sonja Backer and Laurie Roll. Tammy Rogers is the pharmacy’s part-time/relief pharmacist.
For 150 years the D.H. Davis Drug Co. has been a part of the Gallatin community. The town’s oldest business establishment can trace its way by horse and wagon to the dusty shadows of the county’s pioneer settlers who have long since faded away.
The first apothecary shop was in the back of a two-room log cabin, opened by Baalis Davis in 1855. Gallatin hadn’t even been incorporated as a town at that early date. The population was around 100 and what new business buildings existed were rough cabins with only the barest of interior fittings. The town was surrounded by heavy timber, wild game was in abundance, and the Grand River was a primary source of food.
Representing the first of five generations of hardy survivors to own and operate the D.H. Davis Drug Company was Baalis Davis. Baalis was a merchant in Virginia who headed west to build a new life. He had his mind set on St. Joseph where he planned to open an apothecary shop. But ambition suddenly turned to trepidation when aboard a Mississippi River steamboat, his 17-year-old son, D. Harfield became very ill.
Historical accounts don’t say why Dr. John Cravens happened to be aboard the same boat, but we do know that the good doctor treated D. Harfield.
Dr. Cravens, a native of Rockingham County, Va., came to Daviess County in 1837, settling first at Diamon, or Cravensville, as the town was later called. Some years afterward he moved to Gallatin.
Dr. Cravens feared young D. Harfield had cholera and the physician disembarked with the Davises at St. Louis. Harfield recovered satisfactorily.
In the meantime a strong friendship had developed and Dr. Cravens told Baalis that if he would come to Gallatin he could take over the apothecary which Dr. Cravens had been running, and in addition the doctor would teach him pharmacy.
So the Davises began the trip to Gallatin, getting off a Missouri River boat at Waverly, coming the rest of the way by horse and wagon.
In 1855, the pharmacy shop was separated from the remainder of the store by an old iron grill and rows of herbs and drugs. Large glass apothecary jars and compounding equipment composed the bulk of the druggist’s equipment.
During the chilly winters, there was a perpetual domino game or checker game being played near the warm glow of the pot-bellied stove which stood in the center of the store. The stove and the open peanut container made this store the news and social center of the community.
A new building to house the drug store was constructed in 1871. In the early days the building had a dirt floor in the rear and it was in this section that the whiskey barrel was kept prior to prohibition. And, since most everything came in bulk, barrels of horehound candy and loaf sugar stood near the counters.
In addition to the duties of running the store, second generation owner D. Harfield Davis found time to teach school in a rustic lean-to built against the cabin. He was also postmaster, county treasurer and president of the old Farmers Exchange Bank. At one time he owned a local newspaper, the Gallatin Torchlight, changing its name to The Democrat.
During the Civil War, while he was county treasurer he had more than $40,000 in his possession which belonged to the county. A report reached him that bushwhackers were in the vicinity and might raid Gallatin at any time. Harfield feared the money would be lost. In a stroke of ingenuity, he hid the potential loot in the county jail until the danger had passed.
D. Harfield married America Osborn, daughter of another pioneer Daviess Countian. She died in 1905, 13 years before her husband. Their children were Medora, Frank M. Davis, who later took over the store; Virginia and Robert.
Robert T. Davis wed Miss Eldora Feurt and their two sons were H. Harfield and Robert Davis. Robert T. passed away when his oldest son was only 10, and Robert and Harfield were reared by their mother with financial assistance from their Uncle Frank M. Davis, who remained as the third generation in charge of the store.
Uncle Frank was a well-known figure throughout this area. During the depression he displayed a benevolent heart on many occasions supplying needed drugs and baby formula to those who found themselves hard-pressed by the times.
Frank was a stalwart Democrat and participated in local politics and served as chairman of the Democrat Committee for years. He found time to serve on the city council and was a member of the school board.
Frank married the former Josephine A. Bottom of Breckenridge. Their only child was Leora M., the wife of retired naval physician, Admiral W. Dalton Davis. They made their home in San Francisco.
When the fourth generation of H. Harfield and Robert were ready to take over, “Uncle Frank” sold the store to them. Frank passed away in 1954 at the age of 90.
Robert was the firm’s public relations expert while older brother Harfield tended to the more exacting details of the business. They could hardly remember when they weren’t working in the store. As lads they delivered paint and wallpaper, riding their sorrel pony, Nellie. The old heating stove in the store ate up many a back-breaking load of wood and coal. Robert and Harfield were both graduates of the old Kansas City School of Pharmacy which was later integrated into the University of Kansas City.
H. Harfield married Mary Frances Osborn. Their daughter was Susan Ann. Susan Ann married Robert Aulgur, the fifth generation of store owners.
Robert “Bob” Morris Aulgur, son of Irvin and Maudie Wickliff Aulgur, was born in Marshall on Jan. 27, 1928. He grew up on a farm with his parents and a brother and rode his pony named Topsy to the one-room Stonewall School for eight years.
Bob graduated from Marshall High School and went on to receive a Bachelor of Music degree from Missouri Valley College. His minor was in English.
Bob traveled to Gallatin at the prompting of the District Superintendent Ralph Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan was also the music instructor for the district. He wanted to get a vocal program started in Gallatin and talked Bob into applying for the position.
Bob accepted the job teaching music, 1st through 12th grades, and a few English courses.
Susan Ann, daughter of Harfield and Mary Frances Osborn Davis, was born Aug. 7, 1930. She attended all 12 years of school in Gallatin and two years at Central Methodist College in Fayette. She was an education student, majoring in history and English.
Bob and Susan Ann were married on Sept. 17, 1950. When Susan Ann decided on a career as a housewife and mother, the D.H. Davis Drug Store appeared for a time to end at four generations.
Realizing the drug store was going to end if someone didn’t prepare to take it over, Bob made the decision to change professions. He entered the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Pharmacy in June of ‘53. The couple resided in Kansas City while Bob went to school.
Bob graduated in May of ‘56. He took his place as a registered pharmacist at the Davis Drug Store that June.
Bob worked 37 years in the drug store.
Thus ended ownership and operation of the drug store by the same family. Besides being consulted by thousands of people for drug and health care advice, the Davis-Aulgur Family Foundation has benefitted a host of school and community projects, including donations to the Gallatin, Winston and Tri-County schools; the Methodist, Baptist and Christian Churches in Gallatin; the Daviess County Care Center; the Daviess County Health Department; the Pattonsburg and Gallatin Senior Citizens Center; the Historical Society; the Daviess County Fine Arts Council; Daviess County Extension; the park board; Access II; and many, many more.
The D.H. Davis Drug store never closed, of course, it was simply superseded by Wayne Culver and continues on today.
Wayne started at D.H. Davis Drug Co. in 1962, at the age of 12, for one year. He returned as a pharmacy intern in 1971 and pharmacist in 1973.
He received his B.S. degree in pharmacy from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. He has been the majority shareholder since 1983, and the sole shareholder since 1993.
Through the passage of the years, the store has changed, renovated and improved to keep step with the march of progress. Progress has brought about changes in transportation; communication and merchandising.
“Managed care (pharmacy benefit managers) with their contract demands and accompanying prescription cards have changed the way we do business,” said Wayne. “The technological advances allow us to transmit prescription claims over the Internet to the Pharmacy Benefit Managers in seconds for their approval or denial and pricing.”
There are certain time honored principals and a few modern-day strategies which have enabled the small drug store to last through the invasion of the mega-retail discount chains.
“Convenience, efficient service and less emphasis on price due to the ‘same price anywhere’ function of prescription cards allow us to compete effectively as a small, independent pharmacy against the big pharmaceutical chains,” said Wayne.
The drug store’s customer base is mostly Daviess County and some surrounding communities, usually within 15 miles.
“Most of the maintenance medications for our residents are supplied by mail order and Veterans Administration pharmacies,” said Wayne. “But our community needs a pharmacy, especially for acute needs.”
After 150 years the D.H. Davis Drug Company remains a fixture in Gallatin. It’s an amazing record of longevity that didn’t happen overnight.
“The Davis, Aulgur and Culver families feel fortunate to have filled our community’s pharmacy needs for 150 years,” said Wayne. “Thanks to all our loyal friends, neighbors and patrons for their support through the years, and to the physicians who have sacrificed to provide medical care to our community. A special thanks to our loyal, valued employees, past and present.”