Robert Ormsby Sweeny (1830-1902) arrived in St. Paul in 1852 as near the first documented Quaker to the territory. His mother Rachel Ormsby (1797-1841) was from a prominent Philadelphia Quaker family. His father, Frederick was an Irish immigrant who died in 1845 during the Mexican War. As a youth Robert supported himself as a clerk in a hotel and wholesale silk house as well as pharmacy where he learned the profession.
The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy was founded in 1821 as America’s First College of Pharmacy. It was established by 68 Philadelphia apothecaries; many were members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). While not an official “Quaker school” by church affiliation, every president of the college between 1821 and 1900 was a Quaker.
In 1852 Sweeny arrived in St. Paul and worked with W. S. Potts, a pioneer druggist. Sweeny opened his own apothecary shop on Third Street (now Kellogg Boulevard) at Bridge Square at St. Paul’s first bridge. He spoke both Dakota and Ojibwe and described himself as “Proprietor and Manafacturer [sic] of Sweeny’s Wild Cherry Cough Syrup, Cholera Mixture. Stewart’s Cough Syrup. Corn and Wart Cure. Dysmenorrhoea Drops. Neuralgiafuge. Toothache Drops. Indelible Ink. Pink of Pink Tooth Powder.”
He was also a prominent Mason of remarkable artistic talents. The 1856-57 city directory listed him as a “designer,” and the 1857 census as an “artist.” In 1858 the legislature approved his design of the Minnesota state seal, but it was rejected by Governor Henry Sibley since it portrayed harmony between Native Americans and settlers…