John Stith Permberton, the inventor of
Coca Cola, fought for the Confederacy during the War Between the States.
Pemberton rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the 3rd Georgia
Cavalry at the end of the war.
John Stith Permberton was born in Knoxville,
Georgia in 1831. He attended public school in Rome, Georgia where his
family resided for many years.
In 1850, he completed his medicine and pharmacy
training from the Reform Medical College of Georgia in Macon at age 19. In
1853, he came to Columbus, Georgia and married local woman Eliza Clifford
Lewis. The Pemberton's only child was Charles.
It is believed that Permberton's "French Wine of
Cocoa" was the forerunner of what is now Coca Cola. It was originally
dispensed as a head ache cure as well as serving as a "cure for whatever
ails you."
Permberton's product, that would become Coca Cola
was first sold in the Jaccob Pharmacy's of Atlanta. Doctor Pemberton died
in Atlanta, Georgia on August 16, 1888, at the age of fifty seven and it
was reported by the media of that time that all of Atlanta's pharmacys
were closed for his funeral. He is buried in Columbus' historic Linwood
Cemetery.
