COMSTOCK BROTHERS, CIVIL WAR ALBION DRUGGISTS

As we all know, April marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. Yours truly has written many articles about that subject in this column through the years. They are reprinted on the www.albionmich.com website. Perhaps you have also seen my 2-panel display containing the photographs of many of Albion’s Civil War veterans.

During the Civil War there was a shortage of small change in circulation due to hoarding and speculation of precious metals. Local merchants would issue their own "cents" bearing an advertisement of their firm on one side, and a patriotic image with the date "1863" on the other.

Here in Albion there were two Civil War-era merchants that issued such tokens. One was the Comstock Brothers Druggists in existence here from 1863 to 1867. They were located at 200 S. Superior St. in a wooden building that was known as the Hannahs’ Block. The Comstock Brothers consisted of Dr. Isaac (1834-1905), Charles (1840-1930), and Addison Comstock, Jr. (1849-19??). Their father, Addison Comstock, Sr., was the founder of Adrian, and Addison, Michigan is named after him. The brothers attended the Albion Seminary here during their youth. Isaac served on the Albion Village Council in from 1864 to 1867. Brother Charles served as Albion Village Treasurer in 1865.

The Civil War token issued by the Comstock Brothers is bronze, and is the size of a cent. It was manufactured by the Childs Die Sinkers minters in Chicago. The token contains the head of Liberty with the date of "1863" on the obverse, surrounded by 13 stars. Another version has an eagle in the center. The reverse contains the text, "COMSTOCK & BRO. DRUGGISTS, ALBION, MICH. In the center is depicted a pharmacist’s mortar and pestle emblem.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com