Charles Browne Fleet (September 18, 1843 – May 12, 1916) was an American

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

and inventor of the

laxative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

and chapstick. His company, C.B. Fleet, was founded in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

, and still operates producing

douche A douche is a term for a device used to introduce a stream of water into the body for medical or hygienic reasons, or for the stream of water itself. Douche usually refers to vaginal irrigation, the rinsing of the vagina, but it can also refer ...

s, micro-enemas, and other products of the sort. A native of

King and Queen County, Virginia King and Queen County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia, located in the state's Middle Peninsula on the eastern edge of the Richmond, VA, metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,608. Its county seat is King a ...

, Fleet studied at

Columbian College The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress and is the first un ...

until the advent of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, at which point he enlisted in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

. He then moved to

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

, living there for a time before moving to Lynchburg. He served as Secretary of the

Virginia Pharmaceutical Association Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The state's capital is Richmond and its most populou ...

for twenty-three years.

References

1843 births 1916 deaths 19th-century American pharmacists 19th-century American inventors 20th-century American inventors People from King and Queen County, Virginia People from Lynchburg, Virginia Businesspeople from Virginia 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople George Washington University alumni People of Virginia in the American Civil War {{US-med-bio-stub