Augustin Thompson
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Augustin Thompson (November 25, 1835 – June 8, 1903) was a physician, businessman and philanthropist who created the
Moxie Moxie is a brand of carbonated beverage that is among the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It was created around 1876 by Augustin Thompson as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food" and was produced in Lowell, Massa ...
soft drink and the company that manufactured it (now part of
the Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...
).


Early life and Civil War service

Thompson was born in Union, Maine on November 25, 1835. On October 1, 1862 he enlisted in the Union Army and, nine days later, was commissioned as
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
of Company G, 28th Maine Volunteer Infantry. He saw action in the
Siege of Port Hudson The siege of Port Hudson (May 22 – July 9, 1863) was the final engagement in the Union (American Civil War), Union campaign to recapture the Mississippi River in the American Civil War. While Union General Ulysses S. Grant, Ulysses Grant was S ...
in
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as well as minor action at Fort Pickens in
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. He was wounded in action and developed tuberculosis which led to his discharge on August 31, 1863. On October 27, 1864, Thompson rejoined the Union Army as commander of the 7th Company Unassigned Maine Infantry Volunteers. The company was organized at Augusta and served from November 2, 1864 at Fort Popham in Phippsburg, Maine guarding the approaches to the key shipbuilding city of
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. After the defeat of the Confederacy, Thompson was, along with his company, mustered out of service on July 6, 1865. Later he was granted, through an act of Congress, brevet (i.e. honorary) promotions to major and lieutenant colonel in recognition of his distinguished service during the Civil War.


Post war

After the war ended, he went on to attend Hahnemann Homeopathia College and graduated with honors at the head of his class. Upon graduation he settled in
Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...
where he set up his medical practice in 1867. By 1885, Dr. Thompson's practice had become highly successful and he was said to have one of the largest patient lists in
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.


Moxie

That same year, Thompson invested his $15,000 (over $350,000 by 2009 standards) to begin the marketing and sale of his
Moxie Moxie is a brand of carbonated beverage that is among the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It was created around 1876 by Augustin Thompson as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food" and was produced in Lowell, Massa ...
nerve tonic. The tonic, based upon his original
patent medicine A patent medicine (sometimes called a proprietary medicine) is a non-prescription medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name, and claimed to be effective against minor disorders a ...
"Nerve Food" created in 1876, was first released as a syrup in 1884. Aside from profit motive, it was Thompson's intent to produce a medicine which did not contain harmful substances such as cocaine or alcohol. In 1885, he received a trade mark for the term "Moxie" and released it as a carbonated beverage. Moxie proved to be a commercial success but, about 1889, Thompson decided to resume his medical practice. He entered into an agreement with William Taylor, a Moxie agent in upstate New York, whereby Taylor became the Moxie lessee in Massachusetts and established The Moxie Nerve Food Company with Thompson as general manager with a salary of $5,000 per year. This annual income was sufficient to provide Thompson with the financial independence needed to pursue his other interests.


Later life

Thompson spent the rest of his life as a playwright, developing marketing campaigns for Moxie, as well as writing letters to newspaper editors reflecting his diverse interests including geography, economics, legal issues, and politics. He was an advocate for the Free Silver movement, which was the major issue in the presidential campaign of 1896. Thompson supported the
Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
, and saw the importance of the United States expanding its sphere of influence to include the annexation of the
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and other territories. In 1902, Thompson sought a copyright for his book,''The Origin and Continuance of Life: Together with the Development of a System of Medical Administration on the Law of the Similars, from a Discovery of its Principles in the Law of Natural Affinities''. The book contained an illustration of his latest invention, the Thompson Vitalizer, which was a device consisting of tanks of compressed gases, tubes, and other components. Thompson desired to establish a number of parlors, along the east coast to allow the public to benefit from his invention. Thompson died in 1903. He is buried at the Lowell Cemetery in
Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...
.


References


Bibliography

* Bowers, Q. David, ''The Moxie Encyclopedia'', Vestal Press, 1985. * Grace, Roger M.
"Is Hires the Longest Marketed Soft Drink? Or Moxie? Or...?"
''Metropolitan News-Enterprise'' newspaper, Los Angeles, Thursday, November 17, 2005, p. 15 * Potter, Frank N., ''The Book Of Moxie'', Paducah, KY : Collector Books, 1987. .


External links



{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Augustin 1835 births 1903 deaths Union army soldiers 19th-century American inventors Drexel University alumni People from Union, Maine People from Lowell, Massachusetts People of Maine in the American Civil War Philanthropists from Massachusetts 19th-century American philanthropists Burials at Lowell Cemetery (Lowell, Massachusetts)