Colonel Eli Lilly
Encyclopedia
Eli Lilly was an American soldier
, pharmaceutical chemist
, industrialist, entrepreneur
, and founder of the Eli Lilly and Company
pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army
during the American Civil War
; he recruited a company of men to serve with him in an artillery battery, was later promoted to colonel
, and was given command of a cavalry
unit. He was captured near the end of the war and held as a prisoner of war
until its conclusion. After the war, he attempted to run a plantation
in Mississippi
, but failed and returned to his pharmacy profession after the death of his wife. Lilly remarried and worked in several pharmacies with partners before opening his own business in 1876 with plans to manufacture drugs and market them wholesale
to pharmacies.
His company was successful and he soon became wealthy after making numerous advances in medicinal drug manufacturing. Two of the early advances he pioneered were creating gelatin capsules to hold medicine and fruit flavoring for liquid medicines. Eli Lilly & Company was one of the first pharmaceutical firms of its kind; it staffed a dedicated research department and put in place numerous quality-assurance measures.
Using his wealth, Lilly engaged in numerous philanthropic
pursuits. He turned over the management of the company to his son in 1890 allowing himself to continue his engagement in charity and civic advancement in his primary focus. He helped found the organization that became the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
, was the primary patron of Indiana's branch of the Charity Organization Society
, and personally funded the creation of the city's children's hospital which was later expanded by the state to become the Riley Children's Hospital. He continued his active involvement with many organizations until his death from cancer
in 1898.
Lilly was an advocate of federal regulation of the pharmaceutical industry, and many of his suggested reforms were enacted into law in 1906, resulting in the creation of the Food and Drug Administration
. He was also among the pioneers of the concept of prescriptions, and helped form what became the common practice of giving addictive or dangerous medicines only to people who had first seen a physician. The company he founded has since grown into one of the largest and most influential pharmaceutical corporations in the world, and the largest corporation in Indiana
. Using the wealth generated by the company, his son and grandsons created the Lilly Endowment
to continue Lilly's legacy of philanthropy. The endowment remains one of the largest charitable benefactors in the world.
descent and had moved to the low country of France
before his great-grandparents immigrated to Maryland
in 1789. The Lilly family moved to Kentucky
, where Lilly first enrolled in public school. His family moved again in 1852 to Indiana
, where he apprenticed to become a printer
. Lilly grew up in a Methodist household, and his family was prohibition
ist and anti-slavery; their beliefs served as part of their motivation for moving to Indiana
. He and his family were members of the Democratic party during his early life, but they became Republicans during the years leading up to the Civil War.
Lilly became interested in chemicals at an early age. While on a trip visiting his aunt and uncle, he was taken to visit an apothecary
, where he first witnessed the creation of drugs. In 1854, he served an apprenticeship to become a chemist and pharmacist under Henry Lawrence at the Good Samaritan Drug Store in Lafayette
. In addition to learning to mix chemicals, Lawrence taught Lilly how to manage funds and operate a business. His parents enrolled him
in pharmacology
studies at DePauw University
, then known as Indiana Asbury University, and he graduated after two years. In 1859, he took a position at Perkin's and Coon's Pharmacy in Indianapolis
. Lilly became acquainted with Emily Lemen, the daughter of a local merchant, and the couple married in 1860. The couple returned to Greencastle
, where Lilly opened his own drug store in 1861.
Lilly enlisted in the Union Army
at the start of the American Civil War
, and his first child, Josiah
, was born in 1861 while he was away. Lilly actively recruited among his classmates, friends, local merchants and farmers, asking them to join him in forming a unit. He had recruitment posters created and posted them around Indianapolis, promising to form the "crack battery of Indiana". His unit, the 18th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
, was known as the Lilly Battery and consisted of six ten-pound Parrott guns
and 150 men. He mustered in at Indianapolis and spent a brief time drilling. His unit was assigned to the Lightning Brigade commanded by Colonel John T. Wilder
in 1862 and Lilly was elected to serve as the commanding officer of his battery from August until the winter of 1863, when his three-year enlistment expired. His only prior military experience had been in a Lafayette Indiana Legion unit, and several of his artillerymen considered him too young and intemperate to command. Despite his initial inexperience, he became a competent artillery officer and his battery was instrumental in several important battles. He first saw action in the 1863 Battle of Hoover's Gap
, and he was later in the Second Battle of Chattanooga
and the Battle of Chickamauga
.
When Lilly's term of enlistment ended, he reenlisted and was promoted to become a Major
of cavalry
and given command of the 9th Indiana Cavalry. During a mission in Alabama
in the December 1864, he was captured by Major General Nathan B. Forrest and held in a Confederate
prisoner-of-war camp until the end of the war in the spring of 1865, when he was paroled and returned home. He was granted the brevetted
rank of Colonel before being mustered out of the army. In his later life he obtained a large atlas and marked the path of his movements in the war and the location of battles and skirmishes. He often used the atlas when telling war stories. His Colonel's title stayed with him for the rest of his life, and his friends and family used it as a nickname for him. Lilly served as chairman of the Grand Army of the Republic
, a brotherhood of Civil War veterans, in 1893. During his term he helped organize an event that brought tens of thousands of war veterans, including Lilly's battery, together in Indianapolis for a reunion and a large parade.
. Shortly after moving to their new home, the entire family was stricken with mosquito-borne malaria
, a disease common in the region at that time. Although Lilly and his son recovered, his wife Emily died on August 20, 1866. She was eight months pregnant with the couple’s second child; their unborn son could not be saved and was stillborn. The death devastated Lilly; he wrote to his family, “I can hardly tell you how it glares at me ...it’s a bitter, bitter truth ... Emily is indeed dead.” She was initially buried on the plantation, but later that year her body was disinterred and moved to Indiana to be reburied. Lilly’s return to Indiana following her death allowed the plantation to fall into disrepair and his crop to fail. His partner was unable to maintain the plantation because of a drought and then disappeared with the business's remaining money. Lilly was forced to file bankruptcy
in 1868. Josiah was sent to live with Lilly's parents in Greencastle while he worked to resolve the situation on the plantation. He remarried in 1869, this time to Maria Cynthia Sloan, and began working for Pattison, Moore & Talbott, a medicinal wholesale company. The business was purchased by H. Daly and Company during his employment there.
In 1869, Lilly left Indiana and, with a partner, opened a successful drug store, Binford and Lilly, in Paris, Illinois
. He soon sent for his son. The business was profitable and allowed Lilly to save money, but he was more interested in medicinal manufacturing than running a pharmacy. He formulated a plan to create a medicinal wholesale company of his own. In 1873, Lilly left the partnership and returned to Indianapolis, where he opened a drug store, Johnson and Lilly, with a new partner. Three years later, Lilly dissolved the partnership; his share of the assets amounted to several pieces of equipment, a few gallons of unmixed chemicals, and a small amount of money. He had previously approached a family friend, Augustus Keifer, to create a new partnership. Keifer and two associated drug stores agreed to purchase all their drugs from Lilly at a cost lower than they were currently paying. On May 10, 1876, Lilly opened a laboratory to manufacture drugs. The sign for the business said “Eli Lilly, Chemist”.
Lilly's manufacturing venture began with three employees, including his 14-year-old son Josiah, who had quit school to work with his father. The elder Lilly had $1,400 ($ in 2011 chained dollars
) in working capital
. His first innovation was gelatin-coating for pills and capsules. Other early innovations included fruit flavoring for medicines and sugarcoated pills, making the medicines easier to take. Following his experience with the low-quality medicines used in the Civil War, Lilly committed himself to producing only high-quality prescription drugs, in contrast to the common and often ineffective patent medicine
s of the day. One of the first medicines he began to produce was quinine
, a drug used to treat malaria, which became his best-selling medicine. His products gained a reputation for quality and became popular in the city. In his first year of business, sales reached $4,470 ($ in 2009 chained dollars), and by 1879 they had grown to $48,000 ($ in 2009 chained dollars). Sales expanded rapidly and he began to acquire customers outside of Indiana. Lilly hired his brother, James, as his first full-time salesman in 1878. James, and the subsequent sales team that developed, marketed the company's drugs nationally. Other family members were also employed by the growing company; Lilly's cousin Evan Lilly was hired as a bookkeeper and his grandsons, Eli and Josiah, were hired to run errands and perform other odd jobs. In 1881, he formally incorporated the company, naming it Eli Lilly and Company. By the late 1880s, he was one of the Indianapolis area's leading businessmen with over one hundred employees and $200,000 ($ in 2009 chained dollars) in annual sales.
To accommodate his growing business, Lilly acquired additional facilities for research and production. He purchased a complex of buildings on McCarty Street in south Indianapolis; other businesses followed, and the area began to develop into a major business section of the city. Believing that it would be an advantage for his son to gain a greater technical knowledge, Lilly sent Josiah to attend Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1880. Upon returning to the business in 1882, Josiah was named superintendent of the laboratory. In 1890, Lilly turned over the management his business to Josiah, who ran the company for several decades. The company flourished despite the tumultuous economic conditions in the 1890s. In 1894, Lilly purchased a manufacturing plant to be used solely for creating capsules. Several technological advances were made by the company, and the capsule creation was automated. Over the next few years, they annually created tens of millions of capsules and pills.
Although there were many other small pharmaceutical companies in the United States, Eli Lilly and Company distinguished itself from the others by having a permanent research staff, inventing superior techniques for the mass production of medicinal drugs, and its strong focus on quality. At first, Lilly was the company’s only researcher, but as his business grew, he created a laboratory and employed a department dedicated to creating new drugs, hiring his first research scientist in 1886. The department's methods of research were based on Lilly’s. He insisted on quality assurance, and instituted mechanisms to ensure that the drugs being produced worked as advertised, had the correct combination of ingredients, and that only the correct dosages of medicines were contained in each pill. He was aware of the addictive and dangerous nature of some of his drugs, and pioneered the concept of giving such drugs only to people who had first seen a physician to determine if they needed the medicine.
, granting funds to charitable groups in the city. Working with a group of twenty-five other businessmen, he had begun sponsoring the Charity Organization Society
in the late 1870s and soon became the primary patron of its Indiana chapter. The society was the forerunner of the United Way and worked to organize charitable groups under a central leadership. It allowed the many organizations to easily interact and better help people in need by coordinating their efforts and identifying areas with the greatest need.
Lilly wished to encourage economic growth and general development in Indianapolis. He attempted to achieve those goals by supporting local commercial organizations financially and through his personal advocacy and promotion. He first became active in local civics in 1879. As a result of his proposal for a public water supply company to meet the needs of the city, the Indianapolis Water Company was created. In 1890, Lilly founded the Commercial Club and was elected as its first president. The club was the primary vehicle for his city development goals and was a precursor to the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
. The group was instrumental in making numerous advances for the city, including city-wide paved streets, elevated railways to allow vehicles and people to pass beneath them, and a city sewage system. The companies were created through private and public investments and operated at low-cost; in practice they belonged to customers of the company who slowly bought each company back from its initial investors. The model was later followed in most parts of the state to provide water and electricity. The group also helped fund the creation of parks, monuments, and memorials, and successfully attracted investment from other businessmen and organizations to expand the city's growing industries.
After the Gas Boom
began to sweep the state in the 1880s, Lilly and his Commercial Club advocated the creation of a public corporation to pump the natural gas from the ground, pipe it to the city from the Trenton Gas Field
, and provide it at low cost to businesses and homes. The project led to the creation of the Consumer Gas Trust Company, which was named by Lilly. The company provided low-cost heating fuel that made urban living much more desirable. The gas was further used to create electricity to run the city’s first public transportation venture, a streetcar system.
During the Panic of 1893
, Lilly created a commission to help provide food and shelter to the poor people who were adversely affected. His work with the commission led him to personally donate enough funds to create a children's hospital in Indianapolis to care for the many children of families who had no money to pay for routine medical care.
Lilly's friends often urged him to seek public office, and they attempted to nominate him to run for Governor of Indiana
as a Republican in 1896, but he refused. He shunned public office and instead wanted to focus his attention on his philanthropic organizations. He did regularly endorse candidates, and made substantial donations to politicians who advanced his causes. Lilly became friends with former Governor Oliver P. Morton, who suggested that Lilly use his Commercial Club to advocate for the creation of a memorial to Indiana’s many veterans of the Civil War. Accepting the suggestion, Lilly began raising funds to build the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
. Construction began in 1888, but the monument was not completed until 1901. The interior of the monument houses a civil war museum that was later named in honor of Lilly.
Lilly was an avid fisherman and built a family cottage on Lake Wawasee
in 1887, where he had enjoyed regular vacations and recreation since 1880. In 1892, he built the Wawasee Inn on the lake. The site became a haven for the family, and his grandson later expanded the estate. He also owned a large home on Tennessee Street in Indianapolis, where he spent most of his time. Lilly developed cancer in 1897 and died in his Indianapolis home on June 6, 1898. His bier
was held on June 9 and attended by thousands before he was moved to his burial site, a large sepulcher in Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery
.
By 1898, Lilly's namesake company had a product line of 2,005 items and annual sales over $300,000 ($ in 2009 chained dollars). Josiah Lilly inherited the company following his father's death, and continued to build the company before passing it on to his own sons, Eli Lilly
and Josiah K. Lilly Jr.
Josiah and his two sons continued the philanthropy practiced by Lilly and later established the Lilly Endowment
that in 1998 became the largest philanthropic endowment in the world in terms of assets and charitable giving; it has since been surpassed but still remains in the top ten. The company played an important role in delivering medicine to the victims of the devastating 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
. Lilly's company has since grown into one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, and under Lilly’s grandson's leadership developed many new innovations, including the pioneering and development of insulin
during the 1920s, the mass production of penicillin
during the 1940s, and the promotion of advancements in the mass production of medicines. Innovation continued at the company after it was made a publicly traded corporation
in 1952, and it developed Humulin
, Merthiolate, Prozac, and many other medicines. According to Forbes
, Eli Lilly & Co. was the 229th largest company in the world and 152nd in the United States in 2007, with a worth of $17 billion (USD
). It is the largest corporation and the largest charitable benefactor in Indiana.
Lilly's greatest contributions were his standardized and methodical creation of drugs, his dedication to research and development, and the actual value of the drugs he created. He pioneered the modern pharmaceutical industry, and many of his innovations later became standard practice. His ethical reforms, in a trade that was marked by outlandish claims of miracle medicines, began a period of rapid advancement in the development of medicinal drugs. During his lifetime, Lilly had advocated for federal regulation on medicines, and his son continued that advocacy after his father's death.
The Colonel Eli Lilly Civil War Museum, located below the Sailors' and Soldiers' Monument in Indianapolis, is named in Lilly's honor. It opened in October 1999 and features exhibits about Indiana during the war period
and the war in general.
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
, pharmaceutical chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
, industrialist, entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, and founder of the Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...
pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
; he recruited a company of men to serve with him in an artillery battery, was later promoted to colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, and was given command of a cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
unit. He was captured near the end of the war and held as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
until its conclusion. After the war, he attempted to run a plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, but failed and returned to his pharmacy profession after the death of his wife. Lilly remarried and worked in several pharmacies with partners before opening his own business in 1876 with plans to manufacture drugs and market them wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
to pharmacies.
His company was successful and he soon became wealthy after making numerous advances in medicinal drug manufacturing. Two of the early advances he pioneered were creating gelatin capsules to hold medicine and fruit flavoring for liquid medicines. Eli Lilly & Company was one of the first pharmaceutical firms of its kind; it staffed a dedicated research department and put in place numerous quality-assurance measures.
Using his wealth, Lilly engaged in numerous philanthropic
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
pursuits. He turned over the management of the company to his son in 1890 allowing himself to continue his engagement in charity and civic advancement in his primary focus. He helped found the organization that became the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
, was the primary patron of Indiana's branch of the Charity Organization Society
Charity Organization Society
The Charity Organization Societies also called the Associated Charities was a private charity that existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a clearing house for information on the poor. The society was mainly concerned with distinction between the deserving poor and undeserving poor...
, and personally funded the creation of the city's children's hospital which was later expanded by the state to become the Riley Children's Hospital. He continued his active involvement with many organizations until his death from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 1898.
Lilly was an advocate of federal regulation of the pharmaceutical industry, and many of his suggested reforms were enacted into law in 1906, resulting in the creation of the Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
. He was also among the pioneers of the concept of prescriptions, and helped form what became the common practice of giving addictive or dangerous medicines only to people who had first seen a physician. The company he founded has since grown into one of the largest and most influential pharmaceutical corporations in the world, and the largest corporation in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. Using the wealth generated by the company, his son and grandsons created the Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and is among the ten largest such endowments in the United States....
to continue Lilly's legacy of philanthropy. The endowment remains one of the largest charitable benefactors in the world.
Family and background
Eli Lilly was born the son of Gustavus and Esther Lilly in Baltimore, Maryland on July 8, 1838. His family was of SwedishSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
descent and had moved to the low country of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
before his great-grandparents immigrated to Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
in 1789. The Lilly family moved to Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, where Lilly first enrolled in public school. His family moved again in 1852 to Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, where he apprenticed to become a printer
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
. Lilly grew up in a Methodist household, and his family was prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
ist and anti-slavery; their beliefs served as part of their motivation for moving to Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. He and his family were members of the Democratic party during his early life, but they became Republicans during the years leading up to the Civil War.
Lilly became interested in chemicals at an early age. While on a trip visiting his aunt and uncle, he was taken to visit an apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
, where he first witnessed the creation of drugs. In 1854, he served an apprenticeship to become a chemist and pharmacist under Henry Lawrence at the Good Samaritan Drug Store in Lafayette
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...
. In addition to learning to mix chemicals, Lawrence taught Lilly how to manage funds and operate a business. His parents enrolled him
in pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
studies at DePauw University
DePauw University
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...
, then known as Indiana Asbury University, and he graduated after two years. In 1859, he took a position at Perkin's and Coon's Pharmacy in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. Lilly became acquainted with Emily Lemen, the daughter of a local merchant, and the couple married in 1860. The couple returned to Greencastle
Greencastle, Indiana
Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It was founded in 1821 by Scots-Irish American Ephraim Dukes on a land grant. He named the settlement for his hometown of Greencastle, Pennsylvania...
, where Lilly opened his own drug store in 1861.
American Civil War
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
at the start of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and his first child, Josiah
Josiah K. Lilly Sr.
Josiah Kirby Lilly, Sr. was a pharmaceutical industrialist, philanthropist, and President of Eli Lilly and Company.-Life:...
, was born in 1861 while he was away. Lilly actively recruited among his classmates, friends, local merchants and farmers, asking them to join him in forming a unit. He had recruitment posters created and posted them around Indianapolis, promising to form the "crack battery of Indiana". His unit, the 18th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
18th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery
The 18th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery also known as Lilly's Hoosier Battery and Lilly's battery, was a civil war regiment formed in Indiana during the American Civil War. The regiment was formed at the end of 1860 by 22-year-old Eli Lilly, an Indianapolis pharmacist...
, was known as the Lilly Battery and consisted of six ten-pound Parrott guns
Parrott rifle
The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War.-Parrott Rifle:The gun was invented by Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He resigned from the service in 1836 and became the superintendent of the West Point Foundry in Cold...
and 150 men. He mustered in at Indianapolis and spent a brief time drilling. His unit was assigned to the Lightning Brigade commanded by Colonel John T. Wilder
John T. Wilder
John Thomas Wilder was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. As an industrialist, he was instrumental in developing the natural resources of the State of Tennessee.-Early life and career:...
in 1862 and Lilly was elected to serve as the commanding officer of his battery from August until the winter of 1863, when his three-year enlistment expired. His only prior military experience had been in a Lafayette Indiana Legion unit, and several of his artillerymen considered him too young and intemperate to command. Despite his initial inexperience, he became a competent artillery officer and his battery was instrumental in several important battles. He first saw action in the 1863 Battle of Hoover's Gap
Battle of Hoover's Gap
The Battle of Hoover's Gap was the principal battle fought in the Tullahoma Campaign of the American Civil War.-Background:...
, and he was later in the Second Battle of Chattanooga
Second Battle of Chattanooga
The Second Battle of Chattanooga was a battle in the American Civil War, beginning on August 21, 1863, as the opening battle in the Chickamauga Campaign. The larger and more famous battles were the Battles for Chattanooga in November 1863.-Background:On August 16, 1863, Maj. Gen. William S...
and the Battle of Chickamauga
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...
.
When Lilly's term of enlistment ended, he reenlisted and was promoted to become a Major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
of cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
and given command of the 9th Indiana Cavalry. During a mission in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
in the December 1864, he was captured by Major General Nathan B. Forrest and held in a Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
prisoner-of-war camp until the end of the war in the spring of 1865, when he was paroled and returned home. He was granted the brevetted
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
rank of Colonel before being mustered out of the army. In his later life he obtained a large atlas and marked the path of his movements in the war and the location of battles and skirmishes. He often used the atlas when telling war stories. His Colonel's title stayed with him for the rest of his life, and his friends and family used it as a nickname for him. Lilly served as chairman of the Grand Army of the Republic
Grand Army of the Republic
The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, US Marines and US Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died...
, a brotherhood of Civil War veterans, in 1893. During his term he helped organize an event that brought tens of thousands of war veterans, including Lilly's battery, together in Indianapolis for a reunion and a large parade.
Business ventures
After the war, Lilly attempted a new business venture and purchased a 1200 acres (485.6 ha) cotton plantation in MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. Shortly after moving to their new home, the entire family was stricken with mosquito-borne malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, a disease common in the region at that time. Although Lilly and his son recovered, his wife Emily died on August 20, 1866. She was eight months pregnant with the couple’s second child; their unborn son could not be saved and was stillborn. The death devastated Lilly; he wrote to his family, “I can hardly tell you how it glares at me ...it’s a bitter, bitter truth ... Emily is indeed dead.” She was initially buried on the plantation, but later that year her body was disinterred and moved to Indiana to be reburied. Lilly’s return to Indiana following her death allowed the plantation to fall into disrepair and his crop to fail. His partner was unable to maintain the plantation because of a drought and then disappeared with the business's remaining money. Lilly was forced to file bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
in 1868. Josiah was sent to live with Lilly's parents in Greencastle while he worked to resolve the situation on the plantation. He remarried in 1869, this time to Maria Cynthia Sloan, and began working for Pattison, Moore & Talbott, a medicinal wholesale company. The business was purchased by H. Daly and Company during his employment there.
In 1869, Lilly left Indiana and, with a partner, opened a successful drug store, Binford and Lilly, in Paris, Illinois
Paris, Illinois
Paris is a city in Paris Township, Edgar County, Illinois, USA, south of Chicago, and west of Indianapolis. In 1900, 6,105 people lived in Paris, Illinois; in 1910, 7,664; and in 1940, 9,281. The population was 8,837 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Edgar County.-Geography:Paris is...
. He soon sent for his son. The business was profitable and allowed Lilly to save money, but he was more interested in medicinal manufacturing than running a pharmacy. He formulated a plan to create a medicinal wholesale company of his own. In 1873, Lilly left the partnership and returned to Indianapolis, where he opened a drug store, Johnson and Lilly, with a new partner. Three years later, Lilly dissolved the partnership; his share of the assets amounted to several pieces of equipment, a few gallons of unmixed chemicals, and a small amount of money. He had previously approached a family friend, Augustus Keifer, to create a new partnership. Keifer and two associated drug stores agreed to purchase all their drugs from Lilly at a cost lower than they were currently paying. On May 10, 1876, Lilly opened a laboratory to manufacture drugs. The sign for the business said “Eli Lilly, Chemist”.
Eli Lilly & Company
Chained dollars
Chained dollars is a method of adjusting real dollar amounts for inflation over time, so as to allow comparison of figures from different years. The U.S. Department of Commerce introduced the chained-dollar measure in 1996...
) in working capital
Working capital
Working capital is a financial metric which represents operating liquidity available to a business, organization or other entity, including governmental entity. Along with fixed assets such as plant and equipment, working capital is considered a part of operating capital. Net working capital is...
. His first innovation was gelatin-coating for pills and capsules. Other early innovations included fruit flavoring for medicines and sugarcoated pills, making the medicines easier to take. Following his experience with the low-quality medicines used in the Civil War, Lilly committed himself to producing only high-quality prescription drugs, in contrast to the common and often ineffective patent medicine
Patent medicine
Patent medicine refers to medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels. The term "patent medicine" is somewhat of a misnomer because, in most cases, although many of the products were trademarked, they were never patented...
s of the day. One of the first medicines he began to produce was quinine
Quinine
Quinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...
, a drug used to treat malaria, which became his best-selling medicine. His products gained a reputation for quality and became popular in the city. In his first year of business, sales reached $4,470 ($ in 2009 chained dollars), and by 1879 they had grown to $48,000 ($ in 2009 chained dollars). Sales expanded rapidly and he began to acquire customers outside of Indiana. Lilly hired his brother, James, as his first full-time salesman in 1878. James, and the subsequent sales team that developed, marketed the company's drugs nationally. Other family members were also employed by the growing company; Lilly's cousin Evan Lilly was hired as a bookkeeper and his grandsons, Eli and Josiah, were hired to run errands and perform other odd jobs. In 1881, he formally incorporated the company, naming it Eli Lilly and Company. By the late 1880s, he was one of the Indianapolis area's leading businessmen with over one hundred employees and $200,000 ($ in 2009 chained dollars) in annual sales.
Although there were many other small pharmaceutical companies in the United States, Eli Lilly and Company distinguished itself from the others by having a permanent research staff, inventing superior techniques for the mass production of medicinal drugs, and its strong focus on quality. At first, Lilly was the company’s only researcher, but as his business grew, he created a laboratory and employed a department dedicated to creating new drugs, hiring his first research scientist in 1886. The department's methods of research were based on Lilly’s. He insisted on quality assurance, and instituted mechanisms to ensure that the drugs being produced worked as advertised, had the correct combination of ingredients, and that only the correct dosages of medicines were contained in each pill. He was aware of the addictive and dangerous nature of some of his drugs, and pioneered the concept of giving such drugs only to people who had first seen a physician to determine if they needed the medicine.
Philanthropy
By the time of his partial retirement from his business, Lilly was a millionaire. He had been involved in civic affairs for several years and became increasingly philanthropicPhilanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
, granting funds to charitable groups in the city. Working with a group of twenty-five other businessmen, he had begun sponsoring the Charity Organization Society
Charity Organization Society
The Charity Organization Societies also called the Associated Charities was a private charity that existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a clearing house for information on the poor. The society was mainly concerned with distinction between the deserving poor and undeserving poor...
in the late 1870s and soon became the primary patron of its Indiana chapter. The society was the forerunner of the United Way and worked to organize charitable groups under a central leadership. It allowed the many organizations to easily interact and better help people in need by coordinating their efforts and identifying areas with the greatest need.
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
. The group was instrumental in making numerous advances for the city, including city-wide paved streets, elevated railways to allow vehicles and people to pass beneath them, and a city sewage system. The companies were created through private and public investments and operated at low-cost; in practice they belonged to customers of the company who slowly bought each company back from its initial investors. The model was later followed in most parts of the state to provide water and electricity. The group also helped fund the creation of parks, monuments, and memorials, and successfully attracted investment from other businessmen and organizations to expand the city's growing industries.
After the Gas Boom
Indiana Gas Boom
The Indiana Gas Boom was a period of active drilling and production of natural gas in the Trenton Gas Field, in the US state of Indiana and the adjacent northwest part of Ohio The boom began in the early 1880s and lasted into the early twentieth century....
began to sweep the state in the 1880s, Lilly and his Commercial Club advocated the creation of a public corporation to pump the natural gas from the ground, pipe it to the city from the Trenton Gas Field
Trenton Gas Field
The Trenton Gas Field is located in east central Indiana and the most western portion of west central Ohio. The field was discovered in 1876, but the size and magnitude of the field was not known until the 1880s. The field was the largest natural gas discovery up to that time, containing over of...
, and provide it at low cost to businesses and homes. The project led to the creation of the Consumer Gas Trust Company, which was named by Lilly. The company provided low-cost heating fuel that made urban living much more desirable. The gas was further used to create electricity to run the city’s first public transportation venture, a streetcar system.
During the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
, Lilly created a commission to help provide food and shelter to the poor people who were adversely affected. His work with the commission led him to personally donate enough funds to create a children's hospital in Indianapolis to care for the many children of families who had no money to pay for routine medical care.
Lilly's friends often urged him to seek public office, and they attempted to nominate him to run for Governor of Indiana
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
as a Republican in 1896, but he refused. He shunned public office and instead wanted to focus his attention on his philanthropic organizations. He did regularly endorse candidates, and made substantial donations to politicians who advanced his causes. Lilly became friends with former Governor Oliver P. Morton, who suggested that Lilly use his Commercial Club to advocate for the creation of a memorial to Indiana’s many veterans of the Civil War. Accepting the suggestion, Lilly began raising funds to build the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (Indianapolis)
The Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument is a tall neoclassical monument in the center of Indianapolis, Indiana that was designed by German architect Bruno Schmitz and completed in 1901....
. Construction began in 1888, but the monument was not completed until 1901. The interior of the monument houses a civil war museum that was later named in honor of Lilly.
Lilly was an avid fisherman and built a family cottage on Lake Wawasee
Lake Wawasee
Lake Wawasee, formerly Turkey Lake, is a natural lake southeast of Syracuse in Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States. It is the largest natural lake in Indiana. It is located just east of Indiana State Road 13.-History:...
in 1887, where he had enjoyed regular vacations and recreation since 1880. In 1892, he built the Wawasee Inn on the lake. The site became a haven for the family, and his grandson later expanded the estate. He also owned a large home on Tennessee Street in Indianapolis, where he spent most of his time. Lilly developed cancer in 1897 and died in his Indianapolis home on June 6, 1898. His bier
Bier
A bier is a stand on which a corpse, coffin or casket containing a corpse, is placed to lie in state or to be carried to the grave.In Christian burial, the bier is often placed in the centre of the nave with candles surrounding it, and remains in place during the funeral.The bier is a flat frame,...
was held on June 9 and attended by thousands before he was moved to his burial site, a large sepulcher in Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery
Crown Hill Cemetery
Crown Hill Cemetery, located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, is the third largest non-governmental cemetery in the United States at . It contains of paved road, over 150 species of trees and plants, over 185,000 graves, and services roughly 1,500 burials per year. It sits on the highest...
.
Legacy
Eli Lilly (industrialist)
Eli Lilly was a pharmaceutical industrialist and philanthropist from Indiana, United States.- Business :Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Eli Lilly was President of Eli Lilly and Company. He was named for his grandfather, Colonel Eli Lilly, who founded the family business...
and Josiah K. Lilly Jr.
Josiah K. Lilly Jr.
Josiah Kirby Lilly, Jr. was a pharmaceutical industrialist and President of Eli Lilly and Company from 1948 to 1953. Lilly, a 1914 graduate of the school of pharmacy at the University of Michigan, was the last family member to run the company. He was named for his father, Josiah K. Lilly, Sr.,...
Josiah and his two sons continued the philanthropy practiced by Lilly and later established the Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and is among the ten largest such endowments in the United States....
that in 1998 became the largest philanthropic endowment in the world in terms of assets and charitable giving; it has since been surpassed but still remains in the top ten. The company played an important role in delivering medicine to the victims of the devastating 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
. Lilly's company has since grown into one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, and under Lilly’s grandson's leadership developed many new innovations, including the pioneering and development of insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
during the 1920s, the mass production of penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
during the 1940s, and the promotion of advancements in the mass production of medicines. Innovation continued at the company after it was made a publicly traded corporation
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
in 1952, and it developed Humulin
Humulin
Humulin is the brand name for a group of biosynthetic human insulin products, originally developed by Genentech in 1978 and later acquired by Eli Lilly and Company, the company who arguably facilitated...
, Merthiolate, Prozac, and many other medicines. According to Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, Eli Lilly & Co. was the 229th largest company in the world and 152nd in the United States in 2007, with a worth of $17 billion (USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
). It is the largest corporation and the largest charitable benefactor in Indiana.
Lilly's greatest contributions were his standardized and methodical creation of drugs, his dedication to research and development, and the actual value of the drugs he created. He pioneered the modern pharmaceutical industry, and many of his innovations later became standard practice. His ethical reforms, in a trade that was marked by outlandish claims of miracle medicines, began a period of rapid advancement in the development of medicinal drugs. During his lifetime, Lilly had advocated for federal regulation on medicines, and his son continued that advocacy after his father's death.
The Colonel Eli Lilly Civil War Museum, located below the Sailors' and Soldiers' Monument in Indianapolis, is named in Lilly's honor. It opened in October 1999 and features exhibits about Indiana during the war period
Indiana in the American Civil War
Indiana, a state in the Midwestern United States, played an important role during the American Civil War. Despite significant anti-war activity in the state and southern Indiana's ancestral ties to the Southern United States, it did not secede from the Union...
and the war in general.
See also
- Eli Lilly & co.Eli Lilly and CompanyEli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...
- History of IndianaHistory of IndianaThe history of human activity in Indiana, a US state in the Midwest, began with migratory tribes of Native Americans who inhabited Indiana as early as 8000 BC. Tribes succeeded one another in dominance for several thousand years and reached their peak of development during the period of...
- Indiana in the American Civil WarIndiana in the American Civil WarIndiana, a state in the Midwestern United States, played an important role during the American Civil War. Despite significant anti-war activity in the state and southern Indiana's ancestral ties to the Southern United States, it did not secede from the Union...
- Lilly EndowmentLilly EndowmentLilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and is among the ten largest such endowments in the United States....