Edwin Wiley Grove (1850–1927) was a self-made millionaire and entrepreneur. He founded the Paris Medicine Company, creating and producing its most well-known patent medicine products, Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic and Laxative Bromo Quinine tablets. He later invested in and developed properties in cities in the U.S. South, including

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

, and Asheville, North Carolina. Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic, which was first sold in 1885, was a fever-remedy made from

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to '' Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg ...

suspended in a flavored syrup to eliminate the bitter taste. The tasteless chill tonic, which some claimed was not all that tasteless, was an improvement over taking straight quinine for fevers and chills caused by

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

. It contained

cinchonine Cinchonine is an alkaloid found in ''Cinchona officinalis''. It is used in asymmetric synthesis in organic chemistry. It is a stereoisomer and pseudo-enantiomer In chemistry, an enantiomer ( /ɪˈnænti.əmər, ɛ-, -oʊ-/ ''ih-NAN-tee-ə ...

cinchonidine Cinchonidine is an alkaloid found in '' Cinchona officinalis'' and ''Gongronema latifolium''. It is used in asymmetric synthesis Enantioselective synthesis, also called asymmetric synthesis, is a form of chemical synthesis. It is defined by IU ...

, reduced iron, with sweet syrup and lemon flavor in a suspension that required shaking before use. Some sources claim that by 1890 more bottles of Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic were sold than bottles of Coca-Cola.

“I had a little drug business in Paris, Tennessee, just barely making a living, when I got up a real invention, tasteless quinine. As a poor man and a poor boy, I conceived the idea that whoever could produce a tasteless chill tonic, his fortune was made.” — E.W. Grove

Grove’s Laxative Bromo Quinine, which was first produced in 1896, was an early cold tablet that combined

with other ingredients thought to relieve cold symptoms, including

bromide A bromide ion is the negatively charged form (Br−) of the element bromine, a member of the halogens group on the periodic table. Most bromides are colorless. Bromides have many practical roles, being found in anticonvulsants, flame-retardan ...

(a sedative) and a laxative. Although complete contents of the original tablets were not revealed, later formulations contained (in addition to quinine and bromide)

phenolphthalein Phenolphthalein ( ) is a chemical compound with the formula C20 H14 O4 and is often written as "HIn", "HPh", "phph" or simply "Ph" in shorthand notation. Phenolphthalein is often used as an indicator in acid–base titrations. For this applic ...

as the laxative, an analgesic such as

acetanilide Acetanilide is an odourless solid chemical of leaf or flake-like appearance. It is also known as ''N''-phenylacetamide, acetanil, or acetanilid, and was formerly known by the trade name Antifebrin. Preparation and properties Acetanilide can be ...

phenacetin Phenacetin (acetophenetidin, ''N''-(4-ethoxyphenyl)acetamide) is a pain-relieving and fever-reducing drug, which was widely used following its introduction in 1887. It was withdrawn from medicinal use as dangerous from the 1970s (e.g., withdrawn ...

, and medicinal plant extracts. The success of Grove’s products can be partly attributed to his talent for advertising. The Bromo Quinine cold tablets were sold in a package that bore the signature of E W Grove, thereby ensuring the buyer of the authenticity (and implied quality) of the product. Between 1902 and 1905, Grove bought land in Atlanta which he developed in 1912 as the

streetcar suburb A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...

Atkins Park Atkins Park is an intown neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, nestled against the southeast corner of the neighborhood of Virginia-Highland, west of Briarcliff Avenue and north of Ponce de Leon Avenue ("Ponce"). It consists of just three streets - ...

, named after family friend and mentor Colonel

John DeWitt Clinton Atkins John DeWitt Clinton Atkins (June 4, 1825 – June 2, 1908) was an American slave owner, politician and a member of both the United States House of Representatives and Confederate Congress from Tennessee. Biography Johnathan Atkins was born ...

. Later he developed the Fortified Hills suburb in Atlanta, now the Grove Park neighborhood of Atlanta. In Paris, Tennessee, Grove endowed a public high school, the

E.W. Grove Henry County High School The E.W. Grove Henry County High School building, also known as Grove Tower, is a historic building located on Grove Boulevard in Paris, Henry County, Tennessee. It is a "two story and basement building of gray pressed brick," the first of a few ...

, which opened in 1906. After visiting Asheville, NC, in 1897 Grove built a summer home there and later moved there permanently. He developed the Grove Park residential area and built the

Grove Park Inn The Omni Grove Park is a historical resort hotel on the western-facing slope of Sunset Mountain within the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Asheville, North Carolina. It has been visited by various presidents of the United States and many other notable ...

with his son-in-law

Fred Loring Seely Fred Loring Seely (December 22, 1871 – March 14, 1942) was an American newspaperman, chemist, inventor and philanthropist. Born to Uriah and Nancy Hopping Seely, in Monmouth, New Jersey, Fred Seely first worked for the Parke-Davis pharmaceut ...

in 1913. He later built the new

Battery Park Hotel The Battery Park Hotel is the name given to two hotels in Asheville, North Carolina. The one standing today is 14 stories tall and was built in 1924 by Edwin W. Grove, during a time of increased tourism in the North Carolina mountains. It replace ...

in downtown Asheville (on the site of the former hotel of the same name) and began construction of the

Grove Arcade The Grove Arcade, also known as the Arcade Building or the Asheville Federal Building, is a historic commercial and residential building in Asheville, North Carolina, in its downtown historic district. It was built from 1926 to 1929, and is a Tud ...

, a new kind of indoor retail center, which was completed in 1929 after his death. Grove died at the Battery Park Hotel in 1927.

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Further reading