In 1847, Henry Thayer M.D., opened a laboratory on Main Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts to produce his newly developed line of herbal extracts for sale to the medical profession. Born in 1828, into one of Massachusetts' founding families, he was trained in the medical arts of his day by his physician father. His method produced, for the first time, standardized strengths, enabling physicians to regulate dosages accurately. The company, named Henry Thayer & Company, prospered and broadened its line of products and has been described as the largest manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in America at the time of the Civil War.
