Frank William Bucknam
Bucknam around 1900
BornDecember 7, 1869
Yarmouth, Maine, U.S.
DiedApril 30, 1942(1942-04-30) (aged 72)
Skowhegan, Maine, U.S.
Resting placeSouthside Cemetery, Skowhegan, Maine, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPharmacist
Years active1890–1942
Known forMaine's Commissioner of Pharmacy
Spouse(s)Gertrude F. Whitcomb (1896–1925; her death)
Eva Lillian Knowlton (1926–1942; his death)

Frank William Bucknam (December 7, 1869 – April 30, 1942)[1][2] was an American pharmacist from Yarmouth, Maine. He was appointed Maine's Commissioner of Pharmacy in 1906, and was a delegate to the United States Pharmacopeial Convention in Washington, D.C., on several occasions.

Early life

Bucknam was born on December 7, 1869, in Yarmouth, Maine, to William and Katie.[2] He was educated in the public schools. After graduating high school, he attended business college in Portland, Maine, graduating around the time of his 21st birthday in 1890.[1]

Career

Leone R. Cook's apothecary was in the unit now occupied by Royal River Books
108 Main Street, Yarmouth, in which Bucknam operated a pharmacy between 1894 and 1900

Bucknam entered the drug business as an apprentice with Leone R. Cook in Yarmouth's Upper Village. While there, in 1894 he received a certificate as a registered pharmacist.[1]

In March 1894, he began running his own store at today's 108 Main Street[3] in Yarmouth's Lower Falls. His stock included toilet articles, patent medicines, paints, oils, wallpaper, leading brands of cigars and confectionary.[4] After six years in business, and while also balancing a role as a Yarmouth town clerk,[5] in 1900 he purchased a store in Skowhegan, living with his wife, Gertrude, on Madison Avenue.[1][6] His new business was destroyed by fire in December 1904, but he was back in business in a temporary store within 36 hours. He eventually found a new home beneath the Oxford Hotel at 78 Water Street. This building too burned down, in 1908.[1][7]

In 1906, Bucknam was appointed Maine's Commissioner of Pharmacy by Governor of Maine William T. Cobb, beating five other candidates. He had received written recommendations from three-quarters of the druggists in the state.[1]

Bucknam was a delegate to the United States Pharmacopeial Convention in Washington, D.C., on multiple occasions, including in May 1920.[8][9]

Personal life

Bucknam was married twice: firstly to Gertrude F. Whitcomb, a native of Laurel, Indiana,[10] from September 2, 1896, until her death on March 11, 1925,[11] then Eva Lillian Knowlton from April 6, 1926, until his own death.[11] He had one known child, Alvan William, with Gertrude. Alvan died in the Battle of Chateau-Thierry, France, during the latter stages of the First World War.[2]

Death

Bucknam died on April 30, 1942, aged 72, in Skowhegan.[2][12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Bulletin of Pharmacy, Volume 20 (1906), p. 33
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ancient North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine 1636-1936: A History, William Hutchinson Rowe (1937)
  3. ↑ Maine Register Or State Year-book and Legislative Manual (1899), p. 431
  4. ↑ Chamber of Commerce Journal of Maine, Volume 13 (1901), p. 18
  5. ↑ Engineering Record, Building Record and Sanitary Engineer, Volume 31 (1895), p. 357
  6. ↑ General Catalogue of Mount Holyoke College, 1837–1924, Mount Holyoke College (1924), p. 204
  7. ↑ "Item 20925 - Oxford Hotel fire, Skowhegan, 1908" - Vintage Maine Images
  8. ↑ The Pharmaceutical Era, Volume 52, 1919
  9. ↑ Druggists' Circular, Volume 60 (1916), p. 502
  10. ↑ Lineage Book, Volume 66 (1923), p. 69
  11. 1 2 Marriage Certificate, Maine State Archives, Augusta, Maine
  12. ↑ Biddeford Daily Journal Archives, April 30, 1942, p. 4
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