Dr. Robert Lee Marchant
- Title
- Dr. Robert Lee Marchant
- Description
- Dr. Marchant was one of the earliest doctors in Greer, and the builder of the Greer Drug Company ("Rexall Drug") on the corner of Trade and Victoria streets.
- birthday
- 11 February 1866
- Birthplace
- Batesville, Greenville County, S.C.
- Death Date
- 8 September 1933
- Occupation
- Medical doctor
- Biographical Text
-
Robert Lee Marchant was born in the Batesville community and went to school in Batesville and in Greer. He graduated from the Kentucky School of Medicine with an M.D. He moved back to live with his mother in the family home near Pelham and began work as a "country doctor" (primarily making house calls around the agricultural communities), and did this for five years. He then moved to Greer about 1898, opened a general practice, and remained there until his unexpected death in 1933. He married Emma Wham about 1893. A Mr. Wham came to Greer in 1900 to work for the Westmoreland-Marchant Drug Co., likely her father John Wham; her mother Elvira Wham was living with them in 1910.
Westmoreland-Marchant Drug Co. reflects that Dr. Marchant partnered with Dr. Henry Varias Westmoreland, who had been practicing in the Greer area for many years prior to the town's formation. At that time, there were no hospitals or doctor’s clinics in the area. Doctors either did house visits, had an office in their home, or ran a pharmacy and saw patients there. In October 1902 the company moved to 220 Trade Street, a narrow building just to the right of Smith & James (we are not certain of the prior location). There's an interesting ad for the company placed in the November 10, 1903 edition of Greenville News, promoting a miraculous blood-purifying elixer called "V. V. V." The pharmacy was soon known only as "Marchant's Pharmacy," but the relationship with Dr. Westmoreland continued. A 1905 article notes that Dr. Westmoreland was lengthening his Marchant Pharmacy building and adding another floor on top, intended to be the new Masonic lodge. The relationship appears to have lasted another five years.
The October 20, 1910 issue of Manufacturer's Record shows that Robert Marchant awarded a building contract to J.C. Cunningham of Greer for the construction of a 3-story business building: 28x90 feet, ordinary construction; cost $8,500; plans by Thomas Keating, Greer. This building, on the corner of Trade and Victoria Streets, was the only 3-story building in downtown Greer until 2022, when the Hampton Inn opened. It was called the "Marchant Building" and housed the Greer Drug Company, of which he was a founding partner. The building came to be commonly known as the Rexall Drug. The first floor held Marchant's pharmacy; the second floor was doctor and dentist offices (there was not yet a hospital or medical clinic in Greer); the third floor was used by Bailey's Masonic Lodge.
Robert also served as a vice president of the Bank of Greer. The Marchants lived in a large home on Trade Street for several years, before moving to their final home on Church Street.
Robert and Emma Marchant had four children:
• Hortense Marchant, 1893-1971 (William Stallworth)
• Mary Lucille Marchant, 1894-1975 (William Sheib)
• John Luther Marchant, 1896-1938 (Mildred Thompson)
• Fitzhugh Lee Marchant, 1898-1943 (Gertrude Thompson: Mildred and Gertrude were sisters)
- Item sets
- GREER: people
Linked resources
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