John Stith Pemberton (July 8, 1831 – August 16, 1888) was an American pharmacist and

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

veteran who is best known as the inventor of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

. In May 1886, he developed an early version of a beverage that would later become Coca-Cola, but sold his rights to the drink shortly before his death. He suffered from a sabre wound sustained in April 1865, during the Battle of Columbus. His efforts to control his chronic pain led to

morphine addiction Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. There ...

. He began to experiment with various painkillers and toxins. In the end, after development of an earlier beverage blending alcohol and cocaine, this led to the recipe that later was adapted to make Coca-Cola.

Background

Pemberton was born on July 8, 1831, in

Knoxville, Georgia Knoxville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Crawford County, Georgia, United States. It is the Crawford County seat. The community is part of the Macon Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Knoxville h ...

, and spent most of his childhood in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statisti ...

. His parents were James C. Pemberton and Martha L. Gant. The Pembertons were of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

lineage, the direct paternal ancestor Phineas Pemberton and his family from

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, traveled aboard the ship ''Submission'' about 1682 from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

to the

Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...

, eventually settling in

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

, Pennsylvania. There he built a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

in 1687 and had served as

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

's chief administrator. Pemberton entered the Reform Medical College of Georgia in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

, and in 1850, at the age of nineteen, he earned his medical degree. His main talent was chemistry. After initially practicing some medicine and surgery, Pemberton opened a drug store in Columbus. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Pemberton served in the Third Cavalry Battalion of the Georgia State Guard, which was at that time a component of the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. He achieved the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. His uncle, John Clifford Pemberton, attained the rank of lieutenant general in the Confederate Army, and famously conducted the doomed defense of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Personal life

He met Ann Eliza Clifford Lewis of

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, known to her friends as "Cliff", who had been a student at

Wesleyan College Wesleyan College is a private, liberal arts women's college in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1836, Wesleyan was the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women. History The school was chartered on December 23, 1836, as the Geo ...

in Macon. They were married in Columbus in 1853. Their only child, Charles Nay Pemberton, was born in 1854. They lived in a Victorian cottage, the Pemberton House in Columbus, a home of historic significance which was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on September 28, 1971.George B. Griffenhagen, ''A Guide to Pharmacy Museums and Historical Collections in the United States and Canada'', Amer. Inst. History of Pharmacy, 1999, pp. 23–24
/ref>Alice Cromie, ''Restored America: A Tour Guide: the Preserved Towns, Villages, and Historic City Districts of the United States and Canada'', American Legacy Press, 1979, p. 13
Alice Cromie, ''Restored towns and historic districts of America: a tour guide'', Dutton, 1979, p. 135
/ref>

Founding Coca-Cola

In April 1865, Pemberton sustained a saber wound to the chest during the Battle of Columbus. He soon became addicted to the

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...

used to ease his pain. In 1866, seeking a cure for his addiction, he began to experiment with painkillers that would serve as

-free alternatives to morphine. His first recipe was "Dr. Tuggle's Compound Syrup of Globe Flower", in which the active ingredient was derived from the buttonbush (''

Cephalanthus occidentalis ''Cephalanthus occidentalis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae that is native to eastern and southern North America. Common names include buttonbush, common buttonbush, button-willow, buck brush, and honey-bells. Descripti ...

''), a

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

plant. He next began experimenting with

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, Al ...

and

coca wine Coca wine is an alcoholic beverage combining wine with cocaine. One popular brand was ''Vin Mariani'', developed in 1863 by French-Corsican chemist and entrepreneur Angelo Mariani. At the end of the 19th century, the fear of drug abuse made coc ...

s, eventually creating a recipe that contained extracts of

kola nut The term kola nut usually refers to the seeds of certain species of plant of the genus ''Cola'', placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae (as subfamily Sterculioideae). These cola ...

and

damiana ''Turnera diffusa'', known as damiana, is a shrub native to southern Texas in the United States, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean. It belongs to the family Passifloraceae. Damiana is a relatively small, woody shrub tha ...

, which he called

Pemberton's French Wine Coca Pemberton's French Wine Coca was a coca wine created by the druggist John Pemberton, the inventor of Coca-Cola. It was an alcoholic beverage, mixed with coca, kola nut, and damiana. The original recipe contained the ingredient cocaethylene (co ...

. According to Coca-Cola historian Phil Mooney, Pemberton's world-famous soda was created in Columbus, Georgia and carried to Atlanta. With public concern about drug addiction, depression, and

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

among war veterans, and "

neurasthenia Neurasthenia (from the Ancient Greek νεῦρον ''neuron'' "nerve" and ἀσθενής ''asthenés'' "weak") is a term that was first used at least as early as 1829 for a mechanical weakness of the nerves and became a major diagnosis in North A ...

" among "highly-strung" Southern women, Pemberton's "medicine" was advertised as particularly beneficial for "ladies, and all those whose sedentary employment causes nervous prostration". In 1886, when

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and

Fulton County Fulton County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. Most are named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the first practical steamboat: *Fulton County, Arkansas, named after Governor William Savin Fulton *Fulton County, Georgia *F ...

enacted

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

legislation, Pemberton had to produce a non-alcoholic alternative to his French Wine Coca. Pemberton relied on Atlanta drugstore owner-proprietor Willis E. Venable to test, and help him perfect, the recipe for the beverage, which he formulated by trial and error. With Venable's assistance, Pemberton worked out a set of directions for its preparation. 1888AsaGCandlerCoLIPACKownER

He blended the base syrup with

carbonated water Carbonated water (also known as soda water, sparkling water, fizzy water, club soda, water with gas, in many places as mineral water, or especially in the United States as seltzer or seltzer water) is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, ...

by accident when trying to make another glassful of the beverage. Pemberton decided then to sell this as a fountain drink rather than a medicine.

Frank Mason Robinson Frank Mason Robinson (September 12, 1845 – July 8, 1923) was an important early marketer and advertiser of what became known as Coca-Cola. Career During the winter of 1885, Robinson and his business partner, David Doe, came to the South i ...

came up with the name "Coca-Cola" for the

alliterative Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

sound, which was popular among other wine medicines of the time. Although the name refers to the two main ingredients, because of controversy over its

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

content,

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...

later said that the name was "meaningless but fanciful". Robinson hand wrote the

Spencerian script Spencerian script is a script style based on Copperplate script that was used in the United States from approximately 1850 to 1925, and was considered the American ''de facto'' standard writing style for business correspondence prior to the wide ...

on the bottles and ads. Pemberton made many health claims for his product, touting it as a "valuable brain tonic" that would cure headaches, relieve exhaustion, and calm nerves, and marketed it as "delicious, refreshing, pure joy, exhilarating", and "invigorating".

Pemberton sells the business

Soon after Coca-Cola hit the market, Pemberton fell ill and nearly bankrupt. Sick and desperate, he began selling rights to his formula to his business partners in Atlanta. Part of his motivation to sell was that he still suffered from expensive continuing morphine addiction. Pemberton had a hunch that his formula "someday will be a national drink", so he attempted to retain a share of the ownership to leave to his son. However, Pemberton's son wanted the money, so in 1888, Pemberton and his son sold the remaining portion of the patent to a fellow Atlanta pharmacist,

Asa Griggs Candler Asa Griggs Candler (December 30, 1851 – March 12, 1929) was an American business tycoon and politician who in 1888 purchased the Coca-Cola recipe for $238.98 from chemist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. Candler founded The Coca-C ...

, for , which in 2022 purchasing power is equal to .U.S. Inflation Rate, $300 in 1888 to 2022
/ref>

Death

Pemberton died from

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

at age 57 in August 1888. At the time of his death, he also suffered from poverty and his worsening addiction to morphine. His body was returned to Columbus, Georgia, where he was buried at Linwood Cemetery. His grave marker is engraved with symbols showing his service in the

and his membership as a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. His son Charles continued to sell his father's formula, but six years later Charles Pemberton died, having succumbed to

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

addiction.

References

External links

*
''The Chronicle Of Coca-Cola: Birth of a Refreshing Idea''
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pemberton, John 1831 births 1888 deaths 19th-century American inventors American pharmacists Coca-Cola people Confederate States Army officers Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths from stomach cancer People from Crawford County, Georgia People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War American Freemasons American people of English descent Inventors from Georgia (U.S. state)