Marcellus Gilmore Edson (February 7, 1849 – March 6, 1940) was a Canadian chemist and

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

. In 1884, he patented a way to make peanut paste, an early version of

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Peanut butter is consumed in many countri ...

Biography

Marcellus Gilmore Edson was born at

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. Edson promoted the idea of peanut paste as a delicious and nutritious foodstuff for people who could hardly chew solid food, a common state in those days. In 1884 Edson was awarded United States Patent No. 306727 for the invention. His cooled product had "a consistency like that of butter, lard, or ointment", according to his patent application. He included the mixing of sugar into the paste to harden its consistency. The patent describes a process of milling roasted

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s until the peanuts reached "a fluid or semi-fluid state".Invented Peanut Butter?

References

1849 births 1940 deaths Anglophone Quebec people People from Montérégie Canadian pharmacists {{Canada-med-bio-stub