| Notes |
- Josephine A. Drollinger was in the vanguard of her time. She took advantage of the shift that was taking place with regard to women's rights. Not only did she divorce, she resumed her maiden name, received alimony, and became well-versed in buying and selling land. Josephine married a very colorful figure, Samuel B. Collins, who was a brick-layer when she married him 4 September 1859. Samuel evidently had a very different vision for himself because in 1870 he was a doctor. From mason to doctor in ten years is a large leap, but part of the story is told in Jasper Packard's History of LaPorte County, Indiana. The charismatic and clever Samuel Collins "discovered" a cure for opium addition. Lurid prose describe Collins' gift to the world: "There seemed absolutely nothing to open the labyrinth of woes in which these poor victims wandered it fell upon Dr. Samuel B. Collins to pioneer the way to freedom and happiness for this wretched portion of humanity. Another hidden secret of nature was given up, this time to a humble mechanic " Packard goes on to say that the cure was met with incredulity until a prominent early settler of LaPorte "a large property holder, and an eminently respectable and upright citizen" who was "rapidly going down to the grave" tried the remedy for five months in 1868 and was magically cured. Following this paean to "Dr." Collins are several purported testimonials. "They abundantly show that Dr. Collins' discovery is no quack nostrum, but a veritable remedial agent" Strange that not one of the individuals who wrote the letters can be found in anywhere in the 1870 census.
Collins saw opportunity in something that was becoming an increasing social problem. Dozens of patent medicines contained a form of opium and were touted as a remedy for everything from teething and dysentery to "women's troubles" and consumption. Laudanum, paregoric, or sulphate of morphia would be mixed with a sweetener such as molasses or honey and then given a name such as Godfrey's Cordial, McMunn's Elixir, or Dover's Powder. Individuals purchased the syrups for relief from their symptoms and unknowingly became addicted. Although the general public had yet to raise a hue and cry, the medical profession here and abroad was concerned. English lawmakers passed the Pharmacy Act of 1878 which required that opium be dispensed only by licensed pharmacists. (However, anyone could buy opium; prescriptions were not required.)The Massachusetts Board of Health in its 1872 report told of a limited and unscientific survey among doctors that supported the claim that a bigger problem was brewing. Druggists were reporting regular purchasers, some daily. "Among the most dangerous preparations of morphia are those now prescribed and sold by uneducated or villainous individuals as so called 'cures' for persons afflicted with the uncontrollable appetite for opium - 'Relief for the Opium Eater' - and the very existence of such nostrums certainly indicates the extent of the disease."
Collins' 1868 "discovery" was one of these preparations with enough opiate in it to sate the addicted on a regular basis. Either those being treated didn't realize it or they overlooked the sham to feed their addiction. Someone must have known because product samples were sent to laboratories to be analyzed. The Cumberland Medical Society of Maine reported that a specimen "manufactured by Mrs. J. A. Drollinger of LaPorte, Indiana [was] glycerin colored with anilin red, and to contain in solution 1.383 per cent by weight of the sulphate of morphia - about seven grains to the ounce. The second was the preparation of 'Dr. S. B. Collins, the great Narcologist of the Age,' ? and differed ? only in the amount of the sulphate of morphia shown to be present, namely 3.2 per cent." The recommended dosage of 1 teaspoon was nearly twelve times a medicinal dose! Samuel was an entrepreneur, but it is a surprise to find "Mrs. J. A. Drollinger" as a manufacturer. Did Samuel make different strengths and put Josephine's name on the bottle? Note that the label used her maiden name.
It wasn't enough just to create this "cure;" it had to be marketed and Collins proved to be a superior flack. An illustration in the 1874 LaPorte Atlas was presumably paid for by Collins. One half of the page is taken up by one of the engraved sketches found in so many nineteenth century atlases and the other half with stylized printing saying "Dr. S. B. Collins. Painless Opium Antidote Discovered in 1868." The sketch is of a three-story building with his name carved large in decorative molding above the second floor and the side of the building painted thus:
THERIAKI
AND
THEIR LAST
DOSE
S. B. COLLINS
PAINLESS
Opium Antidote
Discovered in 1868
THE ONLY
Painless and Certain
Remedy For The
Opium Habit Ever
Discovered
It Cures Without
Necessitating Any
Interruption of Ordinary
Business During
Treatment and
Without Causing the
Slightest Inconvenience
To the Patient
Medicine
Shipped
To All Parts
Of the
World.
The caption for the sketch notes "Business House & Laboratory of Dr. S. B. Collins, LaPorte City." Collins put up this edifice in 1871and ingratiated himself to the community by allowing the library to use the third floor of the building for six months in 1872. But business boomed and by July he needed more office space, so he paid the library $100 per month rent for the rest of the year to enable them to find and move to other quarters.
The facing page in the atlas is another lovely engraving labeled "Private Residence of Dr. S. B. Collins, LaPorte City, LaPorte Co., Ind." Pictured is a large house with a wraparound porch connected to a gazebo. Directly in front of the gazebo on what is probably the south or west lawn, is a fountain, an accoutrement favored by the well-to-do of the period. Roads leading up to the house are bordered by marshy areas so common in this county of small lakes.
The sketched scene conjures quiet gentility with no hint to the turmoil inside the house. Josephine filed for divorce in November 1873 after 14 years of marriage. Her complaint was that throughout the marriage "he has abused her at various times, by calling her all kinds of hard names and heaping approbrious [sic] epithets upon her; and by his sullen and morose temper, and violent disposition has rendered her life disagreeable and perfectly unbearable."
Evidently the situation had worsened with Samuel's "temper and disposition ... gradually growing worse and more violent ... [his] moroseness finally culminated in September, 1873 with "Collins leaving their house without any just cause or reason That he has not returned, but still maintains a most dogged and sullen demeanor towards her, and utterly neglects and refuses to speak to, and associate with said plaintiff." No testimony is recorded for Samuel, but F. M. Chapman was a witness for the plaintiff. Josephine requested custody of her daughters and $15,00 in alimony. The court, finding "all material allegations true," on 6 December 1873 granted Josephine the divorce, $10,500 in alimony, and changed her name to Josephine A. Drollinger.
The court stipulated the alimony be paid in yearly increments of $2, 000 with interest on the whole amount beginning 8 December 1874 and in addition at the end of the first year she was to have $200 in cash as well as $300 credit at "furniture establishments of her choice in LaPorte." This suggests that Samuel kept his house and that Josephine was furnishing another dwelling. Although the court declared the children could remain with either parent with both parents having visiting rights, they were not to be removed from the county. Samuel did not appeal the court's decision.
Josephine spent some of her alimony money to buy a house on Main Street in LaPorte where she and her daughters Eva, an artist at 20, and Gussie, a 14 year old school girl, lived in 1880. Also in the household was a young boarder and her brother Schuyler. Josephine was listed as a widow rather than divorced, but her former husband was very much alive elsewhere in the county. He had remarried and produced 2 more girls. Josephine's mother moved in with her some time before she died. Mary Drollinger's obituary says that she died at her daughter Josephine's home, but there is no indication of how long she lived there. Perhaps she moved there after her husband Gabriel's death in 1887. Josephine began buying more property in LaPorte County in 1883 when she purchased six lots in LaPorte. She continued to buy both in town and in the rural area of the county.
Josephine lived with her daughter Eva's family in 1900. This time she was listed as divorced and her occupation was "anti opium cure." This is very interesting in light of the fact that she and Samuel had been divorced for 28 years. Was she an agent for him, selling his product? There is no record of a reconciliation of any kind. Perhaps, as is suggested by the 1878 article on fraud, Josephine was actually making and selling her own brand of "the cure." This is intriguing. LaPorte newspapers may have advertisements for Josephine's cure. What did Josephine's physician brothers think of her occupation? Unless descendants who have family papers or even rumors are found, Josephine's involvement may be forever a mystery.
Although her son-in-law is listed as the head of the household, it is Josephine who owns the mortgage-free house. Josephine probably lived in the same house at 1402 Main until she moved to Kansas to live with another daughter. Both the 1880 and 1900 censuses list her there as do directories between 1890 and 1902. According to her obituary, Josephine moved in with her daughter Gussie about 1907. Her 1927 death was caused by senility of four years duration. She was a member of the Christian Science church and Rebekah lodge and was buried in Sauktown Cemetery near her parents. Survivors were "one daughter, Mrs. S. W. Hanford [Gussie] of Fort Scott; three brothers, Quinby Drollinger of South Bend, Schuyler Drollinger of Los Angeles, Calif., George Drollinger of Chicago; one sister, Mrs. Polly Hostettler of this city [LaPorte]; three grandchildren, Frank A. Rogers of this city, Laura Mattix of Niles, Mich., Mrs. L. J. Brinkman of Detroit, Mich."
Kay Germain Ingalls 2003
1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Josephine Drollinger
Age: 79
Birth Year: abt 1841
Birthplace: Indiana
Home in 1920: Fort Scott Ward 4, Bourbon, Kansas
Street: South Holbrook Street
Residence Date: 1920
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Marital status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Connecticut
Able to Speak English: Yes
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Sam W Hanslord 54
Gussie M Hanslord 53
Clareta Hanslord 14
Josephine Drollinger 79
1900 United States Federal Census
Name: Josephine A Drollinger
Age: 60
Birth Date: Feb 1840
Birthplace: Indiana
Home in 1900: Center, La Porte, Indiana
Ward of City: 2nd
Street: Main
House Number: 1402
Sheet Number: 16
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation: 375
Family Number: 398
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Mother in Law
Marital status: Divorced
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: New York
Mother: Number of Living Children: 3
Mother: How Many Children: 3
Occupation: Autin Optician Care
Months Not Employed: 0
Can Read: Yes
Can Write: Yes
Can Speak English: Yes
House Owned or Rented: O
Home Free or Mortgaged: F
Farm or House: H
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
John W Rogers 41
Eva M Rogers 40
Frank A Rogers 18
Lottie M Rogers 16
Laura A Rogers 15
Josephine A Drollinger 60
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1840 - 1927 (87 years)
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