udson, Blakely,
the aggressive Canadian agent, had written to White, on September 1,
1859, that he had heard from "Mr. Allen Turner of Brockville" that the
Comstocks were already manufacturing Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills at
St. Catherines. Evidently the Comstocks thought of several possible
locations, for on July 2 of the following year Blakely advised his
principals that the Comstocks were now manufacturing their pills in
Brockville. Two years later, in November 1862, when Blakely sued William
H. Comstock for the forgery of a note, the defendant was then described
in the legal papers as "one Wm. Henry Comstock of the town of Brockville
Druggist." And in July 1865, Comstock was writing from Brockville to E.
Kingsland, the bookkeeper in New York City, telling him to put
Brenner--the bearer of the letter--"in the mill." Comstock had
apparently taken over an existing business in Brockville, as receipts
for medicines delivered by him describe him as "Successor to A.N.
M'Donald & Co." Dr. McKenzie's Worm Tablets also seem to have come into
the Comstock business with this acquisition.

This did not mean a final move to Brockville for William H. Comstock;
for several years he must have gone back and forth and was still active
in New York City as a partner of his brother and of Judson. We have seen
that he subsequently went into partnership with Judson in the purchase
of the coffee-roasting business. In December 1866, he was a defendant in
the lawsuit initiated by his brother George, when he was still
apparently active in the New York City business. Nevertheless, he
apparently shifted the center of his activities to the Brockville area
about 1860, relinquishing primary responsibility for affairs in New York
City to his brother and to Judson.

[Illustration: FIGURE 12.--Label for Victoria Hair Gloss, Comstock &
Brother, 1855.]

We now find the Comstock business established at Brockville. Exactly why
a second plant was built at Morristown, right across the river, is again
a matter for conjecture. It is a fair assumption, however, that customs
duties or other restraints may have interfered with the ability of the
Canadian plant to supply the United States market. Thus, facilities on
the other side of the border, but still close enough to be under common
management, must have become essential. In an era of water
transportation, Morristown was a convenient place from which to supply
the important middle western territory. Ogden