Dr. C. C. Johnson's Drugstore
(1904-1984)
A Family Affair
By
Free Mason Johnson, Jr.

Dr. Johnson and His Legacy

Dr. C. C. Johnson's Drugstore was founded at the beginning of the twentieth century, and was one of the earliest and longest lived "colored" businesses, not only in the city of Aiken, South Carolina but of the surrounding area as well. In order to better understand how this regional institution came about, it is helpful to look at who Dr. Johnson was, and how he came to establish the pharmacy in Aiken which bore his name.

His is a complicated story. Charles Catlett Johnson, Sr. was born in Orange County, Virginia on December 24, 1860. His mother, Mary Jane Reed, was of Scotch parentage, and his father, Louis Johnson, was an Irish immigrant.

After his father died in 1865, his mother married Nicholas Poindexter, a black man, and Charles and his two sisters grew up in Washington, DC, along with children his mother birthed for Poindexter. Throughout his life, he remained a "voluntary" black man, though his blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin never failed to raise eyebrows.

According to family tradition, young Charles was an ambitious lad who sold newspapers on the streets of Washington to help with his early educational expenses, while his mother ran a boarding house to keep financial ends together. With what must have been a tremendous will to succeed, the young man somehow found the means to continue his education and eventually graduate from the Medical School of Howard University in 1888.

Few accounts survive of those early days, when my grandfather was a struggling young physician, but we have one, passed down by my grandmother, Cecelia Ladeveze Johnson. She told me that immediately after he finished medicine in Washington, Dr. Johnson had few patients, but he thought it important to always appear busy. He consequently developed the habit of walking briskly wherever he went. One day a man asked him, "You seem to be in such a hurry, doctor; is somebody sick?" to which my grandfather answered in his usual businesslike and serious tone of voice, "Somebody is always sick!" and continued on. My grandmother said this story was passed on to her by someone who knew him at the time in Washington, DC.

Likewise, there are few facts known about the early days in Columbia, South Carolina, where the young doctor began his practice at 1103 Plain Street. We know from published biographical records that he was the first physician of color to practice in that city, and that he was the first doctor ever to administer smallpox vaccine there. He was also the first physician of any race to use the x-ray machine in surgical practice in Columbia. In addition, he taught chemistry at Benedict College for a time there in Columbia. We also know that he married Harriet Elizabeth (Hattie) Pearson, and that his first daughter, Annie Pearson Johnson, was born there in Columbia in 1895. Harriet died at 38 years old in 1902.

While he was in Columbia, Dr. Johnson became actively involved in the Masonic Lodge, Prince Hall Affiliation, and, in time, was elected Grand Master of the State of South Carolina, a position he held for 27 years. He had many contacts and friendships in the Lodge over the years, one of whom may have been responsible for his eventual move to Aiken. Family accounts indicate that there was a Dr. George Stoney who encouraged Dr. Johnson to come to Aiken and purchase a drugstore business left vacant at the death of its owner, a Dr. Williams. Doubtless, Dr. Johnson was intrigued by the invitation because there were no physicians of color in turn of the century Aiken, and he may have felt this was a good business move. He could continue his medical practice and also operate a drugstore.

At about the same time, in 1903, Dr. Johnson heard about my grandmother, Cecelia Elizabeth Ladeveze, and was introduced to her and her family in Augusta, Georgia. The two were married on June 22, 1904 and took up residence in a one story home he purchased on the corner of Richland Avenue and Kershaw Street. He also bought the pharmacy, located at the time on Richland Avenue, and opened his medical office in the rear of that small building, near the current location of the Holley Inn.

By 1915, the business had begun to prosper sufficiently to warrant transferring to larger quarters, and Dr. Johnson moved the drugstore and his medical practice to the Commercial Hotel building, where the store's entrance was on Richland Avenue. Family members recall that one of the unique features of this new location was a "new and modern" soda fountain, which afforded customers the opportunity to sit and be served.

The business relocated again in 1920, this time to a new building on Richland Avenue, which had been built by local black contractors, McGhee & McGhee. The new store was located at the southwest corner of Richland Avenue and Newberry Street. Adjacent to it, between the drugstore and what is currently the parking lot behind Palmetto Federal Savings Bank, was the city's "whites only" swimming pool. Children using that pool were among Dr. Johnson's most loyal customers, according to family remembrances.

Dr. Johnson was very much a facilitator in the community, sharing correspondence in 1921 with President Warren Harding on ways to improve community relations in the South. He was also instrumental in getting Aiken Graded Elementary School built in 1926, which brought much-needed relief to the public school system for black children. Dr. Johnson was a supporter of the local public schools and of education in general. Family members recall the day in about 1923 when George Washington Carver lectured at the Aiken County Courthouse and Dr. Johnson took his children out of school so they could hear the famous man speak.

Over the years, Dr. Johnson developed his own talent for oratory, and became a much sought after speaker around the state, at Masonic meetings and other occasions. An imposing character, not so much in statue as in mien, he commanded respect by his bearing. He was very well educated, and it showed. In 1924, he took a trip to Glasgow, Scotland to attend the Ninth Annual World Sunday School Convention, and he used that opportunity to visit many points of interest to one as erudite as he, including the birthplaces of Shakespeare, Robert Burns, and other literary giants, as well as sites that were important in the history of Masonry in Scotland. He saw and sat in some of the largest and oldest cathedrals in Scotland and England, and visited Holland and France. He was particularly impressed by the grandeur that was Paris in 1924.

Dr. Johnson suffered a fatal heart attack in June of 1928 after running up a flight of stairs at home. His oldest child, Mary Jane, known to family and friends as Mamie, who had recently graduated from Howard University in pharmacy, took over the operation of the drugstore while her brothers Free Mason and Charles were off in school at Howard. According to his wishes, Dr. Johnson was buried in Columbia, beside his first wife.

The drug store made another major move in 1940, relocating in the family-owned building on the corner of Park Avenue and Fairfield Street. And finally, in the '50s, it moved for the last time--next door--to the actual corner of the building. I was a part of that move. From this location, at Park and Fairfield, Charles, Mason and Ladeveze operated the business together until Ladeveze's death in 1968; from that point until they closed the doors in the summer of 1984, Charles and Mason ran it alone.

From its earliest days, Dr. C. C. Johnson's Pharmacy was recognized as a unique institution, providing opportunities for young (and not so young) black medical professionals to practice their skills. The family remembers that Inez Raiford, Alvin Lindsey, and Charles Johnson (unrelated) worked there as pharmacists. Among the physicians who had offices over the pharmacy at various times were David M. Scott, Lexius H. Harper, Dr. Johnson's youngest son, Reed Poindexter Johnson, and Ramsey S. Weston.

Dr. Harper deserves a special mention here because he was a cousin of my grandmother, and because he was a very special person to me. I have a copy of an article taken from a publication entitled "The Voice of the Negro," copyrighted by Hertel, Jenkins & Company, Atlanta, Georgia and dated May, 1906. In a rather lengthy article by an S. P. Wadsworth entitled "The Burruss Sanitariam " (sic), the Augusta, Georgia hospital founded and operated by black physician and pharmacist, Dr. George Sanford Burruss, is discussed. From the article, it appears Dr. Burruss was quite an important black physician in Augusta in 1906. One of the first graduates of Atlanta Baptist Seminary (today Morehouse College in Atlanta), he went on to finish Meharry Medical College in Nashville in 1891 and, according to the article, stood "at the head of his profession among colored physicians of Augusta," having amassed considerable money and property. But especially noteworthy in this article is the following mention of Dr. Harper:

Dr. Burruss has been especially fortunate in securing the services and active hearty co-operation of all the colored physicians of Augusta, some twelve in number, although Dr. Lexius H. Harper, of Augusta, a graduate of the Medical Department of Boston University, is his regular assistant and has his office in the same building with Dr. Burruss.

When I first became aware of Dr. Harper, he was practicing in Aiken and had his office over the drugstore. This was in the 1940s. He was born September 24, 1875, In Augusta. Early on, I realized Dr. Harper was a special person. I suspect that feeling arose because he and Mrs. Harper lived next door to us for several years before moving into what we later called the Harper House, and also because Mama Cele, my grandmother, Cecelia, always, even in later years, spoke so highly of him. In addition, Dr. Harper delivered me, as he did my sister Ethel.

Also, from my earliest years, I had known Dr. Harper was related to us, although I did not understand the true nature of that relationship until much later. But on a more immediate and personal level, I felt a certain closeness to him because of his friendliness toward me. I have no recollection of anything specific he ever said, but his easy-going disposition and soft-spoken manner remain the way I define his personality today.

I have a very vivid mental picture of Dr. Harper from my very early years. It was his habit to come down to the drug store from his office upstairs every day to have a Coke, and during those visits he would often engage my father and Uncle Charles in friendly conversation. This particular scene, frozen in time like a color photographic slide, shows a very light brown skinned man, perhaps no taller than my own 5'5". He stands in the drug store beside the soda box, nattily dressed in a dark three piece suit, a gold watch chain draped across his vest, rearing back and drinking a glass bottled Coca Cola. His neatly trimmed graying hair and mustache, together with his slightly pronounced stomach give him an air of importance indicative of his station in life. Why that particular scene stands out in my mind's eye is a mystery to this day.

But the last memory I have of Dr. Harper alive was on an early December evening in 1947, when my father took me to the Harper home. Dr. Harper was failing fast, and my father was taking me to see him for what would be the last time alive. My memory of the visit begins with us climbing the outside staircase leading to the upstairs bedroom in which Dr. Harper lay. We went inside, and I saw him in bed. I do not remember who else was there, but I seem to recall there was a physician in attendance (possibly Dr. Albert Bostic Miles), along with one or two others in the room, all of whom spoke in hushed tones. He recognized us, but I could tell he was very weak, and I remember feeling so uncomfortable being there. I did not know how to greet this man whom I had been accustomed to seeing so vibrant and healthy before. There were no oxygen tubes, IVs or any other type of medical equipment visible in the room. After my father spoke to him, we remained a few minutes more, and we left. That is substantially all I remember about the last time I saw Dr. Harper alive. By morning he had passed. I distinctly recollect returning to the Harper home a few days later and seeing Dr. Harper's casket open for viewing in what I assume was the living room.

Although Dr. Harper was sorely missed, the drugstore continued to attract black physicians. One of the more colorful physicians who practiced over the store was Dr. David M. Scott. I do not know much about him--only that he was a graduate of Tufts Medical College in Boston and was known as a brilliant doctor. Dark brown-skinned and tall, he smoked cigars and walked with a cane when I knew him in the '40s. My father said he was so brilliant that when he was in medical school he would read a page in Gray's Anatomy once, then tear it from the book and throw it away. Since he could remember everything he read verbatim, he would never have to read a page twice. My father also told me he had a habit in those days of studying while lying in the bathtub.

Then there was Dr. George Thomas Cherry, a dentist who practiced over the drugstore for many years. He was a WWI veteran who obtained his professional education via the GI Bill of that era. Dr. Cherry was our family dentist for many years, and was probably the longest running tenant of the building. He was a light brown-skinned man with pattern baldness and a pronounced stomach who drove Buicks during the 40s, but switched to Cadillacs in his last years. All I know of his origins is that he was born in the rural community known as Old Ellenton (to differentiate it from New Ellenton) in Aiken County, a town which no longer exists because it was swallowed up by the Federal Government when the Savannah River Nuclear Facility came into existence during the 1950s. He was a mainstay in Aiken's Gun Club, a social gathering attended by Aiken's black elite and held once yearly, highlighted by a barbecue and clay pigeon shoot.

 Dr. Lewis S. Porter was a Charleston podiatrist who also had an office over the store, and who managed to keep a loyal patient following in the Aiken and Augusta area throughout the time he made bi-monthly trips to Aiken. He was also a WWI veteran who was schooled under the GI Bill. A brown-skinned man, small in size, Dr. Porter drove Lincolns during the time I knew him in the late '50s, early '60s.

And although the structure is no longer in family hands today, my boyhood friend and Martha Schofield High School classmate, Attorney George A. Anderson, who finished law at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg, remains in his office on the second floor of the building even as I write.

Each of these varied professions left his mark on the store's personality in his own way. Each made the drugstore a distinctly rich environment, different by far from any other in our community.

In addition to the black professionals who found employment and gained experience at the drugstore over the years, untold numbers of local high school and college students also found summer work at Dr. C.C. Johnson's Drug Store, as the sons continued the tradition started by their father of encouraging young people and helping the community.

Yet, the store remained very much a family operation throughout its history. Dr. Johnson's two eldest sons, Charles Jr. and Free Mason, spent time growing up helping in the business by washing medicine bottles, delivering packages and emptying cuspidors. Like their father, both would continue the proud family tradition of attending Howard University, though they would finish in pharmacy, rather than medicine. And they would become vital elements of the future of the business.

For more of my experiences growing up in the pharmacy, check out On a More Personal Note: Remembering the Drugstore.

Note: Some of the historical information dealing with the founding of the drugstore was garnered from an article entitled "Aiken's Golden Years," written by Roddie Burris and published in the Aiken Standard and Review (newspaper) on February 20, 1994. All of the information that formed the substance of that article, however, was furnished by Johnson family members and documents in their possession.

Home ||The Photographer's Corner ||The Writer's Corner

Family History

News ||About Me ||My Résumé

Tribute To My Father ||My Family Tree Maker Page (With Family Tree)

Email: mason.johnson@cox.net