Who was William Procter Jr.?

William Procter Jr. (May 3, 1817 - February 10, 1874) was an American pharmacist. He graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1837. He is known for his role in establishing the American Pharmacists Association and his work on the United States pharmacopeia. He was the author/editor of the first pharmacy textbook published in America. He is generally regarded as the Father of American Pharmacy.

Procter served in an era when the pharmacy was a wide-open, unregulated field. Anyone could sell drugs. Drug kits were supplied by jobbers. Drugs were sold by general stores, by physicians, or by almost anyone with no training required. In addition to drugs, drug stores sold a variety of materials including chemicals, dyes, poisons like arsenic, and even paints and oils. Most drugs came from botanicals, but importers had no way to assess quality.

Procter entered the field through an apprenticeship with Henry M. Zollick's offer in Philadelphia (1831). Elias Durand, a nearby pharmacist trained in France, encouraged Procter to pursue investigations.