Captured once, wounded twice, Isaac Luria Lyons fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War virtually from its outset until the surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse. Returning to New Orleans a war hero, Lyons, shown here, became a hugely prosperous druggist among whose products was an alcohol-laced “medicine.” recommended for children. The nostrum would bring him into conflict with the national government he earlier had fought to overthrow. Would he surrender again or fight on?
Lyons in War: This post has documented the Civil War activities of many future “whiskey men” but none equal the lengthy military career of Isaac Lyons during that conflict. Born in 1837 in South Carolina, the son of Jacob and Elizabeth Hart Lyons, he was 24 when the conflict erupted. By that time Lyons had migrated further south to New Orleans where in June 1861 he joined the 10th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. As the unit assembled, Lyons’ leadership qualities were recognized and he was elected second lieutenant of Company A, later raised to first lieutenant.
When the 10th Louisiana was moved into Virginia, Lyons found himself engaged in some of the earliest hot combat of the Civil War. During the retreat from Yorktown, he commanded troops at Williamsburg, shown above, Lee’s Mills and Seven Pines. Leading a charge at Malvern Hills, he was captured and eventually made a prisoner of war at Governor’s Island Prison in New York.
Lyon’s capture brought to the fore his sister, Rachel Lyons, popularly known as “La La.” and hailed as a beauty of the Confederacy. Living in Columbia, South Carolina, La La, shown here, made headlines in Southern newspapers during her search in Richmond for news of her prisoner brother. A chronicler of Civil War women wrote: ”Miss Lyons had already been a marked woman in Columbia society and her quick wit and sinuous grace at once attracted attention at the capital.”
During early phases of the war when prisoner exchanges were common, Lyons was released, returned to his company, and promoted to its captain. In that capacity, he fought at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. At the subsequent Battle of the Wilderness, he was seriously wounded and hospitalized for months. Returning to combat just in time to take part in the October 1864 Battle of Cedar Creek, Lyons was hit again, receiving a flesh wound in the hip.
Although this setback might have discouraged a lesser man from further fighting, Lyons returned a third time to his regiment on the Petersburg lines. From there he was part of the retreat to Appomattox where he surrendered with Lee’s remaining Army. The 10th Louisiana was only a shadow of what it had been. The regiment had taken serious losses at Malvern Hills, Antietam, and Chancellorsville. It then lost 45 percent of its remaining force at Gettysburg. At Appomattox of the 10th Louisiana only four officers, Lyons among them, and thirteen men remained to surrender.
Meanwhile, La La Lyons had done her own surrendering. During a visit to Mobile, she met a prominent young surgeon attached to Bragg’s army, Dr. James F. Heustis. Heustis quit the military, the couple married, and settled down in Mobile to raise a family. The chronicler gushed about La La: “The mother has ever been a remarkable conversationalist and her hospitality has been perennial.”
Lyons in Business. Meanwhile Isaac, returning to New Orleans, was being hailed as a major war hero. He may have seen the adulation as a springboard to business success and chose pharmaceuticals. Some sources record him as owning a wholesale and retail drug business as early as 1866. More likely Lyons had gone to work for Dr. William Ball, a pharmacist doing business at the corner of Camp and Gravier Streets. By the 1890s, he had been made a partner in the enterprise and the company became Ball & Lyons.
In January 1874, Dr. Ball retired, selling his share of the business to the war hero and hailing his successor as “being eminently worthy of the patronage liberally bestowed on the house of Ball & Lyons.” Isaac immediately announced that he would change the name of the enterprise to his own. He subsequently advertised his business as “I.L. Lyons, Druggists, Importers, and Manufacturing Chemists.”
Lyons vastly expanded the customer base for his pharmacy. In time he would open two more stores, 109-117 Gravier, and 94 Common. The main company building is shown right. He emphasized the mail order trade, selling to drugstores not only in New Orleans but throughout Louisiana and elsewhere in the Deep South. The 1917 photo below is described as the Lyon’s “secretarial office” deeply involved in facilitating that trade. Notice that the employees are predominantly men.
By the 1880s Lyons was advertising in city directories as a dealer in wines and liquors. Although he apparently did not feature any proprietary brands, Lyons was apparently selling whiskey blended in his facilities and sold in ceramic jugs of gallon and two gallon sizes. Those subsequently likely would have been have been decanted into pint and quart sized bottles for retail sales.
Although Lyons sold liquor, his more lucrative use of alcohol were in the many “medicinal” nostrums and cures he manufactured and sold. Lyons advertised “Adams Chill Tonic,” Brodies’ Cordial,” “Garryowens Bitters,” “Lococks’ Cough Elixir,” and other Lyons “preparations” virtually all of them containing significant amounts of alcohol.
Lyons in Court. Among the nostrums listed above, a Lyons bestseller was Brodie’s Astringent Cordial. As advertised on trade cards, this medicinal was sold with an emphasis on children, from youngster to tiny babes. The messages on the flip side were essentially the same: “Brodie’s Astringent Cordial, Guaranteed Safe and Sure. Cholera, Cholera Morbus, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Cholera lnfantum and all affections of the bowels are promptly relieved and quickly cured by its use…Perfectly harmless to babies and children. Contains no narcotics, so Mothers may feel secure in its administration. For Teething Children it is invaluable to ameliorate their sufferings. Indorsed by numerous physicians.”
For those not up on their diseases, Cholera Infantum is defined as an often fatal form of gastroenteritis occurring in infants, not of the same cause as cholera but having somewhat similar characteristics. Cholera morbus refers to acute gastroenteritis occurring in summer or autumn; it is characterized by severe cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. The cause of these diseases was not well understood in the 19th Century. That did not deter nostrum peddlers like Lyons from claiming cures.
Lyons advertised Brodie’s Cordial incessantly, including testimony from customers who allegedly had been cured of their “affection of the bowels” by its use. Typical was an endorsement from someone signing as “your most obedient servant” and initials “I.W.” This person claimed to be so riven by stomach problems that “I became a mere skeleton.” Reading about Brodie’s elixir, the individual tried some, and as a result, “I am now, thank Heaven, perfectly recovered, and as well as I ever was in my life.” Not everyone, however, was impressed.
The passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, allowed the Federal Government through the Agriculture Department to report misbranding of patent medicines and trigger action in the federal courts. In June 1921, Lyons’ company was hauled before a judge, charged with shipping a quantity of Brodie’s Cordial into Mississippi that “falsely and fraudulently represented it to be effective as a treatment, remedy, and cure for cholera and other human stomach ailments.” Amazingly, the tonic also was advertised by Lyons as a remedy for “bowel disorders of chickens, ducks, turkeys and pigeons.” The federal indictment concluded: “In fact, it was not.”
Analysis in Department’s Bureau of Chemistry found that Brodie’s Cordial was a syrupy mix of water and alcohol containing an extract of acacia trees, tannin (a chemical contained in tea), oil of peppermint and oil of cinnamon. Contrary to Lyon’s advertised assurance of “no narcotics,” the nostrum also was found to contain small amounts of morphine. None of the ingredients are known to be effective against cholera.
In the early days of Federal scrutiny of food and drugs unfortunately the penalties for such blatantly misleading branding were light. As virtually all accused under the law did, Lyons plead guilty and paid a fine of $20, the maximum imposed for a first offense. Although in today’s dollars, the fine would be closer to $500, it still was just a small fraction of Lyon’s profits. In short, although his guilty plea might seem another surrender, in fact this former Johnny Reb had emerged on top.
Lyons En Famille: Throughout his career as druggist, Isaac Lyons also maintained a family life. Not long after returning from war, in 1867 he married Eva J. Sepans in New Orleans. Over ten years they had seven children. In time Lyons was able to house his family in a spacious New Orleans mansion at 2644 South Charles Avenue, shown above. As he aged, he brought members of his family into the company. Two years after government action on Brodies’s Cordial, Lyons died at the age of 85. He was buried in New Orleans’ Metairie Cemetery. His family carried on without him. A 1927 notice indicates Lyons sons and other relatives occupying management positions in I. L. Lyons & Co., Limited.
Note: This post was devised from a wide number of sources. The principal source for Lyons’ Civil War service was “The Jewish Confederates” by Robert N. Rosen, 2000. Several of the photos are through the courtesy of Ferd Meyer and his Peachridge website.
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