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Main milestones

Birth in Knoxville, Georgia
July 8, 1831
John Stith Pemberton was born in Knoxville, Crawford County, Georgia. His early life was spent in a rural environment, which likely fostered an appreciation for the natural world and traditional remedies – a foundation for his later pursuits in pharmacy.
Graduation from the Reform Medical College of Georgia
1850
Pemberton obtained a degree in pharmacy from the Reform Medical College of Georgia in Macon. This formal education provided him with the essential knowledge of chemistry and pharmacology that would guide his experimentation with various medicinal compounds throughout his career.
Establishment as a Pharmacist and Family Life
1850s
After graduating, Pemberton established himself as a pharmacist, opening drugstores in Columbus, Georgia, and later in Atlanta. He married Ann Eliza Clifford Lewis and they had one son, Charles Ney Pemberton. This period represents a time of building a career and establishing a family life.
Confederate States Army Service and Injury
1861-1865
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Pemberton served in the Confederate States Army. He served as a lieutenant colonel within the Third Georgia Cavalry. Pemberton was wounded during the Battle of Columbus in April 1865. This injury, and subsequent pain management, may have played a role in his later experimentation with morphine and ultimately, the creation of Coca-Cola.
Seeking Pain Relief and Experimenting with Medicinal Beverages
Post-Civil War Era
Following his war injury, Pemberton became addicted to morphine, a common pain reliever at the time. He began experimenting with various concoctions in an attempt to find a suitable and non-addictive painkiller. This experimentation led him to create various tonics and medicinal beverages, including French Wine Coca, an alcoholic beverage inspired by the popular Vin Mariani.
The Creation of Coca-Cola
1886
In 1886, with prohibition legislation being introduced in Atlanta, Pemberton was forced to create a non-alcoholic version of his French Wine Coca. With the assistance of Willis Venable, he developed a syrup that, when mixed with carbonated water, became known as Coca-Cola. The beverage was initially marketed as a medicinal tonic, sold at Jacob's Pharmacy for five cents a glass.
Sale of Coca-Cola Rights
1887
Plagued by failing health and increasing financial difficulties, Pemberton began selling portions of his Coca-Cola rights to various partners, including Asa Griggs Candler. He was likely unaware of the immense potential the beverage held, focusing instead on immediate financial relief.
Death in Atlanta, Georgia
August 16, 1888
John Stith Pemberton died in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 57. At the time of his death, he believed Coca-Cola would never be successful. He died relatively impoverished and failed to fully capitalize on his invention, but he inadvertently left behind a global legacy.

Business Dealings and Sale of Coca-Cola Formula Timeline

Partial Sale of Coca-Cola Ownership
1887
Beset by illness and financial difficulties, Pemberton began selling portions of his Coca-Cola ownership to various business partners and investors. This fragmented the control of the burgeoning enterprise.
Sale to Asa Griggs Candler
1888
Shortly before his death, Pemberton sold the remaining portions of his Coca-Cola rights to Asa Griggs Candler, a shrewd businessman. Candler recognized the drink's potential and purchased the full rights, paving the way for Coca-Cola's national and global expansion.
Continued Sales by Pemberton's Son
Later Sales
After John Pemberton's death, his son, Charles Pemberton, continued to sell portions of what he claimed was his father's Coca-Cola formula, leading to legal disputes and further confusion regarding the ownership of the brand and its secret ingredients.

Death and Legacy Timeline

Death in Atlanta, Georgia
August 16, 1888
John Stith Pemberton died in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 57. He passed away impoverished and still addicted to morphine.
Burial
August 1888
Pemberton was buried at Linwood Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia. His grave remained unmarked for many years.
Posthumous Recognition
20th Century and Beyond
Over time, Coca-Cola became one of the most recognizable and valuable brands in the world. Pemberton's role as its inventor was increasingly recognized, solidifying his legacy as a pioneering pharmacist and entrepreneur.
Commemoration and Historical Significance
Modern Era
Pemberton is now recognized as a significant figure in American history. Museums, historical markers, and biographies celebrate his contribution to the creation of Coca-Cola, immortalizing his place in popular culture and business history.

Post-War Career and Pharmaceutical Ventures Timeline

Establishing a Pharmacy in Columbus, Georgia
Post-Civil War
Following the Civil War, Pemberton re-established himself as a pharmacist, opening a drugstore in Columbus, Georgia. This business served as a base for his pharmaceutical experiments and formulations.
Experimentation with Medicinal Formulations
1860s-1870s
Pemberton dedicated his time to creating various medicinal and tonic formulations. He developed a range of products, including medicinal extracts, elixirs, and tonics, sold through his pharmacy. He was always looking for innovative remedies.
Move to Atlanta, Georgia
1870
Pemberton relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, recognizing the city's growing economic opportunities. This move proved pivotal in his career, leading to the development and marketing of Coca-Cola.
Development of French Wine Coca
Early 1880s
Pemberton created 'Pemberton's French Wine Coca,' a nerve tonic and patent medicine containing coca leaves and kola nuts mixed with wine. This product was marketed as a remedy for nervous affections, headaches, and other ailments, and predated his more famous creation.

Military Service in the Confederate Army Timeline

Enlistment in the Confederate Army
1861
With the outbreak of the Civil War, John Pemberton enlisted in the Confederate States Army. He joined the 12th Regiment Georgia Volunteer Cavalry, reflecting his commitment to the Confederate cause.
Wounded in Battle of Columbus, Georgia
April 1865
Pemberton was severely wounded in April 1865 during the Battle of Columbus, Georgia, one of the last battles of the Civil War. He was struck in the chest by a saber, an injury that caused him chronic pain and eventually led to his morphine addiction.
Recovery and Aftermath
Post-War Period
The severe wound Pemberton sustained during the war had lasting effects on his health. The chronic pain he experienced led to his dependence on morphine, a common painkiller at the time, which played a crucial role in his later experiments and eventual creation of Coca-Cola as a morphine alternative.

Personal Life and Relationships Timeline

Marriage to Ann Eliza Clifford Lewis
1853
John Pemberton married Ann Eliza Clifford Lewis. This union was a central part of his life and provided him with domestic stability.
Birth of Son, Charles Pemberton
1854
John and Ann Pemberton welcomed their son, Charles Pemberton, into the world. Charles later played a role in the Coca-Cola story, selling portions of what he claimed was his father's formula after John's death.
Relationship with Family
Throughout his life
While specific details are limited, it is evident that Pemberton maintained relationships with his extended family. His father, James Clifford Pemberton, and mother, Martha Patsy Gay Pemberton, influenced his early life, and he likely maintained contact with them and other relatives throughout his adult years.
Impact of Morphine Addiction
1865 Onward
Following his war wound, Pemberton's dependence on morphine heavily impacted his personal life. It likely strained his relationships and contributed to his financial and health struggles in his later years.

Early Life and Education Timeline

Birth in Knoxville, Georgia
July 8, 1831
John Stith Pemberton was born in Knoxville, Crawford County, Georgia, to James Clifford Pemberton and Martha Patsy Gay. His early life was steeped in the agrarian society of the antebellum South.
Childhood and Early Education
1830s-1840s
Pemberton's childhood involved fundamental education typical for the time, likely receiving instruction at home or in local schools. Details of his early schooling are scarce, but it laid the groundwork for his later pursuit of knowledge in medicine and chemistry.
Medical Studies and Pharmacy Training
Late 1840s - Early 1850s
Pemberton pursued education focused on medicine and pharmacy, showing a strong aptitude for chemistry and related sciences. Precise details and institutions of his medical education are somewhat limited, but historical evidence suggests he received a formal education related to medicine and apothecary studies.
Licensed as a Pharmacist
1850
Pemberton earned his license to practice pharmacy. This marked a significant step in his career, equipping him with the credentials and skills necessary to operate a pharmacy and compound medications.

The Creation of Coca-Cola Timeline

Atlanta and Fulton County Prohibition
1885
With prohibition laws enacted in Atlanta and Fulton County, Pemberton was compelled to reformulate French Wine Coca into a non-alcoholic beverage.
Invention of Coca-Cola
May 8, 1886
Pemberton created a non-alcoholic version of his French Wine Coca, mixing coca extract, kola nut extract, sugar, and other ingredients. He brought it to Jacobs' Pharmacy where it was mixed with carbonated water and sold for five cents a glass.
Early Marketing Efforts
1886
Pemberton, with the assistance of Frank Robinson, began marketing Coca-Cola as a valuable brain tonic and refreshing drink. Robinson also created the Coca-Cola name and the distinctive Spencerian script logo.
Initial Sales and Revenue
First Year Sales
During its first year, Coca-Cola sales were modest, averaging around nine drinks per day. Despite its initial appeal, the cost of ingredients and advertising resulted in limited profits for Pemberton.
Articles
0
Notes collections
0
Notes
0
Days in Chronicle
7
28 September, 1971
The Pemberton House in Columbus, Georgia, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 28, 1971. This recognition highlights the historical and architectural significance of the house, where John Pemberton lived with his family.
16 August, 1888
John Stith Pemberton died at the age of 57 in Atlanta, Georgia, from stomach cancer. At the time of his death, he was poor and addicted to morphine, having sold off much of his interest in Coca-Cola. His body was returned to Columbus, Georgia, for burial.
Brief
Known For
Inventor of Coca-Cola.
Key Dates and Places
  • Born Date: July 8, 1831.
  • Born Place: Knoxville, Georgia.
  • Death Date: August 16, 1888.
  • Death Place: Atlanta, Georgia.
Career
  • Current occupation: Pharmacist.
  • Past occupations: Confederate States Army Veteran, Physician.
  • Current Place of Work: Pemberton Chemical Company (Atlanta, Georgia).
Education
Reform Medical College of Georgia, earned a degree in pharmacy in 1850.
Main Milestones
Birth in Knoxville, Georgia
July 8, 1831
John Stith Pemberton was born in Knoxville, Crawford County, Georgia. His early life was spent in a rural environment, which likely fostered an appreciation for the natural world and traditional remedies – a foundation for his later pursuits in pharmacy.
Graduation from the Reform Medical College of Georgia
1850
Pemberton obtained a degree in pharmacy from the Reform Medical College of Georgia in Macon. This formal education provided him with the essential knowledge of chemistry and pharmacology that would guide his experimentation with various medicinal compounds throughout his career.
Establishment as a Pharmacist and Family Life
1850s
After graduating, Pemberton established himself as a pharmacist, opening drugstores in Columbus, Georgia, and later in Atlanta. He married Ann Eliza Clifford Lewis and they had one son, Charles Ney Pemberton. This period represents a time of building a career and establishing a family life.
Confederate States Army Service and Injury
1861-1865
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Pemberton served in the Confederate States Army. He served as a lieutenant colonel within the Third Georgia Cavalry. Pemberton was wounded during the Battle of Columbus in April 1865. This injury, and subsequent pain management, may have played a role in his later experimentation with morphine and ultimately, the creation of Coca-Cola.
Seeking Pain Relief and Experimenting with Medicinal Beverages
Post-Civil War Era
Following his war injury, Pemberton became addicted to morphine, a common pain reliever at the time. He began experimenting with various concoctions in an attempt to find a suitable and non-addictive painkiller. This experimentation led him to create various tonics and medicinal beverages, including French Wine Coca, an alcoholic beverage inspired by the popular Vin Mariani.
The Creation of Coca-Cola
1886
In 1886, with prohibition legislation being introduced in Atlanta, Pemberton was forced to create a non-alcoholic version of his French Wine Coca. With the assistance of Willis Venable, he developed a syrup that, when mixed with carbonated water, became known as Coca-Cola. The beverage was initially marketed as a medicinal tonic, sold at Jacob's Pharmacy for five cents a glass.
Sale of Coca-Cola Rights
1887
Plagued by failing health and increasing financial difficulties, Pemberton began selling portions of his Coca-Cola rights to various partners, including Asa Griggs Candler. He was likely unaware of the immense potential the beverage held, focusing instead on immediate financial relief.
Death in Atlanta, Georgia
August 16, 1888
John Stith Pemberton died in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 57. At the time of his death, he believed Coca-Cola would never be successful. He died relatively impoverished and failed to fully capitalize on his invention, but he inadvertently left behind a global legacy.
John Stith Pemberton

John Stith Pemberton (July 8, 1831 – August 16, 1888) was an American pharmacist and Confederate States Army veteran who is best known as the inventor of Coca-Cola. On May 8, 1886, he developed an early version of a beverage that would later become Coca-Cola, but sold the rights to the drink shortly before his death in 1888.

Key Information

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. In an attempt to curb his addiction he began to experiment with various painkillers and toxins. The development of an earlier beverage blending alcohol and cocaine led to the recipe that later was adapted to make Coca-Cola.

Background

[edit]

Pemberton was born on July 8, 1831, in Knoxville, Georgia, and spent most of his childhood in Rome, Georgia. His parents were James C. Pemberton and Martha L. Gant.[1]

Pemberton entered the Reform Medical College of Georgia in Macon, Georgia, and in 1850, at the age of nineteen, he earned his medical degree.[2] His main talent was chemistry.[3] After initially practicing some medicine and surgery, Pemberton opened a drug store in Columbus.[2]

During the American Civil War, Pemberton served in the Third Cavalry Battalion of the Georgia State Guard, which was at that time a component of the Confederate Army. He achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel.[2]

Personal life

[edit]

He met Ann Eliza Clifford "Cliff" Lewis of Columbus, Georgia, known to her friends as "Cliff", who had been a student at Wesleyan College 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 on September 28, 1971.[4][5][6]

Founding Coca-Cola

[edit]

In April 1865, Pemberton sustained a sabre wound to the chest during the Battle of Columbus. He soon became addicted to the morphine used to ease his pain.[7][8][9]

In 1866, seeking a cure for his addiction, he began to experiment with painkillers that would serve as morphine-free alternatives.[10][11][12] His first recipe was "Dr. Tuggle's Compound Syrup of Globe Flower", in which the active ingredient was derived from the buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), a toxic plant.[13] He next began experimenting with coca and coca wines, eventually creating a recipe that contained extracts of kola nut and damiana, which he called Pemberton's French Wine Coca.[14][15]

According to Coca-Cola historian Phil Mooney, Pemberton's world-famous soda was created in Columbus, Georgia and carried to Atlanta.[16] With public concern about drug addiction, depression, and alcoholism among war veterans, and "neurasthenia" among "highly-strung" Southern women,[17] Pemberton's "medicine" was advertised as particularly beneficial for "ladies, and all those whose sedentary employment causes nervous prostration".[18]

In 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County enacted temperance legislation, Pemberton had to produce a non-alcoholic alternative to his French Wine Coca.[19] 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.

Standing in the open doorway to the pharmacy, atop the stoop, is John Pemberton in April 1888 at 47 Peachtree Street, Atlanta.[20]

He blended the base syrup with carbonated water 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 came up with the name "Coca-Cola" for the alliterative 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 content, the Coca-Cola Company later said that the name was "meaningless but fanciful". Robinson handwrote the Spencerian script 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".[21]

Pemberton sells the business

[edit]
A sign in Knoxville, Georgia, commemorating John Pemberton

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.[22] 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.[22] 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, for $300 (USD),[2] which in 2022 purchasing power is equal to $9,372.88 (USD).[23]

Death

[edit]
The grave of John Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia

Pemberton died from stomach cancer at the age of 57 on 16 August 1888. At the time of his death, he was poor and had become increasingly addicted 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 Confederate Army and his membership as a Freemason. His son Charles continued to sell his father's formula, but six years later Charles Pemberton himself died, having succumbed to opium addiction.[24]

References

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Further reading

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