Call George Humphrey Tichenor a renaissance man, because that's exactly the kind of life he lived.
Businessman, policymaker, photographer, a potential h candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives — he was all of these things, not to mention the inventor of probably the best known antiseptic still used in the South.
Dr. George Humphrey Tichenor, inventor of Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic, which is still manufactured in New Orleans today.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
He created the in 1863, patented it in 1882, and it still fills discount store and pharmacy shelves today.
Come on, say it. You know the name: Dr. Tichenor's.
Was he a doctor?
But wait. Was Tichenor really a doctor? The salutation on the label sparked the curiosity of lifelong Dr. Tichenor's consumer Nelda Risher.
"Was he really a doctor?" the Olive Branch, Mississippi, reader asked. "And what is his connection to h?"
The original label for Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic.
PROVIDED PHOTO BY THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION
Answering the first part of the question is easy.
"He wasn't a snake oil salesman," said Michael Trotter, a retired vascular surgeon living in Houma. "He was a medical doctor, but he didn't get his training in medical school."
Trotter is the foremost expert on Tichenor, having written two extensively detailed articles on the doctor's life, both published in 2010 issues of the Mississippi Journal of Medicine. Tichenor is said to have perfected his antiseptic mixture while living in Liberty, Mississippi, in Amite County, which borders h at East Feliciana and St. Helena parishes.
George H. Tichenor's house in Liberty, Mississippi, where famous his antiseptic was invented.
FILE PHOTO
Trotter was also living in Mississippi, working in Greenville, when he wrote the articles. His interest in Tichenor was piqued during his medical training with John Ochsner in New Orleans.
"John was really interested in medical and surgical history, as am I," Trotter said. "One of his favorite subjects was Dr. Tichenor, and he was really good friends with the president of the Tichenor Antiseptic Co. at the time."
In 1993, Ochsner gave Trotter his notes from a previous presentation of Tichenor's life and work, to which Trotter returned 15 years later and started his own research.
A package line of mouthwash at the Dr. Tichenor plant in New Orleans.
FILE PHOTO BY ELIOT KAMENITZ
A h connection
Answering the second part of the question — about Tichenor's connection to h — starts at the end. Tichenor is buried in Baton Rouge.
Yes, Baton Rouge, where he's buried in Roselawn Cemetery next to his wife, in-laws, son and daughter-in-law in a family plot marked by a large monument marked "Tichenor."
To find the answer, Trotter backs up to the beginning.
Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic originally was manufactured at 230 Canal St. in New Orleans.
PROVIDED PHOTO BY THE CHARLES L. FRANCK STUDIO COLLECTION AT THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION
"When I started researching Tichenor, I wanted to find out how much of his story was true, how much was hype and how much was legend," Trotter said. "Was he a doctor? Was he a salesman?"
Trotter says it was evident early on that Tichenor didn't go to medical school, but he had practical training as a chemist — or what today people would think of as a pharmacist.
Tichenor was born April 17, 1837, in Ohio County in western Kentucky. He had harbored a great interest in chemistry and continued studying it after leaving home.
"By 1859, at age 22, he had moved to Franklin, Tennessee, and was involved in manufacturing explosive guncotton," Trotter wrote in his first article for the Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association. "At the outbreak of the Civil War, the business was commissioned by the Confederate government to manufacture gunpowder."
The stone marking the plot for George H. Tichenor's family in Roselawn Cemetery in Baton Rouge.
STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER
A year later, Tichenor ran a photography business in Nashville. He served with the 22nd Tennessee Cavalry, which fought in Mississippi.
"Reportedly, he spent two years studying during his time of active service and applied to take the Medical Board Appointment Examination," Trotter writes.
Passed the medical test
Tichenor apparently passed, because he was appointed an acting assistant surgeon in the Confederate States Army, making his "doctor" title legitimate.
George H. Tichenor, inventor of Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic, is buried in Roselawn Cemetery in Baton Rouge.
STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER
However, Tichenor's main interest was in developing an antiseptic liquid to facilitate wound healing.
He left Mississippi for Red River Landing in Pointe Coupee Parish, where, Trotter says, the good doctor first bottled and sold his antiseptic.
"Today, Red River Landing is a channel mile marker in the middle of the river," Trotter said. "There's no more Red River Landing. If you look it up, you'll get some GPS coordinates, and that's it. It's across the river from Wilkinson County in Mississippi and near Angola, both across the river."
A walk around the family plot of George H. Tichenor, inventor of Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic, in Roselawn Cemetery in Baton Rouge, h. Staff video by Robin Miller
In 1884, Tichenor moved his family to Baton Rouge, where he practiced medicine. The following year, he formed a partnership with the Sherrouse Medicine Co., to manufacture Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic. The Sherrouse side of the business, named for business leader William John Sherrouse, of Monroe, was in charge of selling the antiseptic while Tichenor was listed as the manufacturing chemist.
When Tichenor opened the Dr. G.H. Antiseptic Co. in New Orleans in 1905, his story of a gangrenous leg injury during the war that he treated and healed with his concoction proved to be a successful advertising ploy — though Trotter points out that there is no written proof of the injury.
Opened on Canal Street
Tichenor and Sherrouse opened a plant at 230 Canal St. in New Orleans in 1905. Today, that location is home to Harrah's Casino. However, Dr. Tichenor's is still bottled in New Orleans at 4200 W. Poche Court.
Sheet music for the 'Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic' Waltz.
PROVIDED PHOTO BY THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION
Tichenor not only was inventor of the concoction but a master marketer. He hired local musician Louis Blake to compose the "Dr. Tichenor's March" and "Dr. Tichenor's Waltz," the sheet music for both published in 1895.
In the end, Tichenor really didn't need gimmicks to sell his goods. The antiseptic sold itself. More than a century later, it still does — using the same ingredients as when it started: 70% alcohol and 1% peppermint oil, along with inactive ingredients arnica, Saccharum carbonate and purified water.
The ingredients combine to treat sore throats through gargling, sterilizing cuts, scrapes, minor wounds and, for some, it's a great topical for insect stings and bites.
"My son was 3 or 4 years old when he got into a hornet's nest," said Risher, who submitted this week's question. "The couple next-door told us to put some Dr. Tichenor's on his stings. It helped him so much. It's magic — almost instant relief."
Legend has it that George Tichenor survived the Civil War by treating his wounds with his antiseptic; Orleanians still manufacture the product, which has survived the test of time.
FILE PHOTO
Congress and flood control
Meanwhile, Tichenor was popular in h.
"He considered running for Congress, and he hit the nail on the head with his solutions for flood control," Trotter said. "He spoke to anyone who would give him a podium, but his ideas weren't put into place until after the flood of 1927, when the Federal Flood Control Act was passed in 1928."
That would be five years after Tichenor's death on Jan. 14, 1923. Trotter believes he's buried in Baton Rouge because he bought the family plot in Roselawn while living there.
"I would say that his advocacy for flood control was probably his greatest accomplishment," Trotter said. "He may not have had all the kinks worked out, but his solutions were exactly right."