Sterry A. Weaver's Canker & Salt Rheum Syrup, from RI or CT?

One of the more commanding RI medicine bottles is boldly embossed "Dr. S.A. Weaver's Canker & Salt Rheum Syrup".  There are close to a dozen known variants, ranging from open pontil to smooth-based.  The earliest known examples are also embossed Providence, RI, which makes most collectors assume that all of the Weaver bottles are from Rhode Island.  

As a passionate RI bottle collector and research nut, I decided to see what I could find out about the bottles that didn't have Providence, RI embossed on them.  My final conclusion was rather disappointing for me (as a RI collector), as I am now almost certain most Weavers bottles are actually from Connecticut.

the Providence marked Weavers

First, let's take a look at the originator of this quack medicine.

Sterry Arnold Weaver (1816-1857) was a doctor in Providence. He went to Brown University in 1842, but was listed as a non-graduate.  It appears that the Albany College of Medicine was more to his liking.  He graduated that college in 1844. He is listed in the 1848 Providence tax book as a doctor. He was listed as a clerk on Eddy St. in 1837. He was listed as a physician at 105 High St. in 1849.  He advertised his popular Canker & Salt Rheum Syrup, as well as a Cerate and Canker Cure. Canker Cure from 1849-1851.  One ad claimed his Salt Rheum Syrup was:

“For the Effectual and Speedy Removal of Canker, Salt Rheum, Erysipelas, Scrofula, and All Other Diseases Arising from an Impure State of the Blood; Also, Liver Complaints, Catarrhal Afflictions, Such as Soreness Or Tightness about the Chest, Bronchitis, a Hoarseness and Tickling of the Throat, Dyspepsia, Female Weakness and Debility”

1850 ad from Troy, NY newspaper

excerpt from "Genealogy of the Stone Family Originating in RI", published in 1866

Despite being a doctor, he died of consumption in 1857.  This was the first red flag that came up in my research.  If he died that early, the all of the smooth based Weaver bottles were being sold by another company.  In fact, it was likely a lot of the pontiled examples were too.  I could not find any ads mentioning Providence after 1851, which seems to indicate that he sold the rights to produce the medicine to someone else.  Sure enough, I found a reference to a S.A. Weaver & Co. in New London, Conn. dating to 1854.  A few more minutes produced a letterhead from the same company dating to 1851.  In 1857 a J.N. Harris of New London was the proprietor of Dr. S.A. Weaver’s Canker & Salt Rheum Syrup.

 

The 1851 letter

iron pontiled example

 The more I searched, the more newspaper ads I found confirming that S.A. Weaver & Co. was the sole manufacturer of the Canker & Salt Rheum Syrup, Cerate, and Canker Cure from 1851 onwards.

 

Typical 1850-60s ad for Weaver's medicines

Sometime in the late 1800s, Davis & Lawrence of New York and Montreal bought out the company, and were selling Weaver's Cerate as late as 1907.

Weaver's Cerate box

So in conclusion, it appears that almost all of the Weaver bottles actually come from New London, CT and later New York.  The only thing that could upset this argument would be a pontiled Weaver bottle with a label.  I saw an iron pontiled one on ebay a few years back, but the picture was grainy and the label in rough condition.  If you happen to have a labeled example, please contact me!  I would love to see what it says.