In the fall of 1775 there must have been a reasonably good stock of drugs in the hands of private Philadelphia druggists, and until the end of summer there were still a number of ships from Jamaica, Bermuda, Antigua, and Barbados putting in at Philadelphia with supplies, much of which originally came from England. Philadelphia druggists included William Drewet Smith, "Chemist and Druggist at Hippocrates's Head in Second Street";[14] Dr. George Weed in Front Street;[15] Robert Bass, "Apothecary in Market-Street"; Dr. Anthony Yeldall "at his Medicinal Ware-House in Front-Street";[16] and the firm of Sharp Delaney and William Smith.[17] The largest pharmacy in Philadelphia was operated by the Marshall brothers--Christopher Jr. and Charles. This pharmacy had been established in 1729 at Front and Chestnut Streets by Christopher Marshall, Sr., a patriot who took an active part in the care of the sick and wounded in Philadelphia hospitals during the Revolution.[18] As the plans progressed for raising troops from New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, Congress called on the committee on medicines "to procure proper medicine chests for the battalions...."[19] The journal of the Continental Congress fails to indicate the source of these medicine chests, but the Marshall brothers' manuscript "waste book" (daily record) for the period February 21 to July 6, 1776,[20] indicates that the Marshall apothecary shop was the primary supplier. The records show that the Marshalls furnished 20 medicine chests to the following battalions from February to June:[21] February 1776: Pennsylvania 1st Battalion March 1776: Jersey 3d Battalion April 1776: Pennsylvania 2d, 3d, and 6th Battalions May 1776: Six Virginia battalions Jersey 1st Battalion Pennsylvania 4th Battalion June 1776: Six North Carolina battalions Virginia 9th Battalion The exact contents of each chest are indicated in the Marshalls' waste book. The chest furnished to the Pennsylvania 4th Battalion is an example of the ones supplied by Congress in the spring of 1776; its contents are listed on page 130.