Joseph Fortier

I had not intended giving Joseph Fortier his own article, in some ways he belongs in my "everyone else" category that you'll see in a week or so.  But I found his story interesting.

His ads tend to be smaller and less decorative than some of his competitors.  But they contain some useful information.  As it says, he started his store in 1875.  In fact there is mention of his building an addition for this in July of that year.  But by November he moved off of Central street and over to Spring as it says into "Hinckley's Old Stand".  Or technically Goddard's although he'd only owned it a short time.  1875 was a confusing year in the tale of Chippewa Falls pharmacies.

He did not stay in the drug store trade very long.  By February of 1877 a firm called H. Bosworth and Sons took possession of the establishment.  These guys were not local, being instead a wholesale drug company based in Milwaukee.  Perhaps Fortier ran up too big a bill with them?  Or perhaps they were backing him as we have seen in the O.C. Thomas story.

Both before and after his few years as a druggist Fortier was an interesting guy.  He was a physician who came to town in 1871.  In 1874 he was one of the five founding members of the Chippewa Falls Medical Society.   In 1878 be briefly moved to the rough and tumble town of Deadwood, Dakota Territory.  By the early 1880's he was back and confining himself to medical duties.

The story of early hospitals in Chippewa Falls is a bit out of the scope of my survey of early druggists but it is worth noting that in 1888 he and another physician named Dr. J. Hund started the Chippewa Falls Hospital and Benefit Society.  This was a subscription service - think of it being like an HMO - where members had to buy a ticket.  It was based in the building of St. Luke's Hospital.

In 1893 Fortier moved to Chicago.  Sometime later he moved again, to practice medicine in West Superior Wisconsin.  He died there of "apoplexy".  His obituary says he was born in Montreal, got his MD at age 21 and practiced continuously unit his death at age 62.  He was said to have been a Civil War Army surgeon and to have left a 9 year old son.