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Started in 1841, Morris & Dickson Co., LLC is a 163 year old wholesale pharmaceutical distributor, with headquarters in Shreveport, Louisiana. It is a closely-held corporation owned and operated by the Dickson family for five generations. Known to friends as "M,, it is one of the countryolesaler organizations. quot,Morris & Dickson is different. We are first a family of Dicksons and employees and customers. But we realize that business success demands more than that. It requires commitment and enthusiastic energy, tempered with common sense to push technology one step further." COMPANY HISTORY: The history of Morris & Dickson is traced to the early 1800s, when apothecary shops were springing up everywhere in America. In 1837, two brothers--John W. Morris and Thomas Henry Morris--graduated with degrees in pharmacy and chemistry in Wales. These two men unbeknownst to them were destined to begin a legacy that remains to this day. After graduation, they booked passage and sailed across the Atlantic to New Orleans. After a brief stay in the big city, they chose to travel up the Mississippi River to the Red River and north to the inland rural township of Shreveport, Louisiana. Thus, the story begins ... In 1841, the brothers opened J. W. Morris & Company, an apothecary shop , in Shreveport. The business was successful almost from the start. Despite the civil war, reconstruction, and the yellow fever epidemic of 1873, the business thrived through the years as it was handed down from brother to brother to son. At the death of John W. Morris in 1854, it went to brother Thomas H. Morris and at his death in 1887 to son Allen D. Morris. Early ads indicate they sold firearms and ammunition. This industry continues today as Sports South, Inc. which is a sister company started in 1970. After John's death, Thomas Morris changed the name to T. H. Morris & Company. Up the river about twelve miles from Shreveport was the tiny farm community of Rush Point landing. The Dickson family lived at Rush Point Plantation and were substantial landowners and cotton planters. Two sons of this family, William Lipscomb (W. L.) Dickson and Samuel Augustus (S. A.) Dickson, studied medicine in college and eventually settled in Shreveport. In 1885, Dr. S. A. Dickson purchased an interest in T. H. Morris & Company. When Thomas Morris died in 1887, his son, Allen Morris, continued working in the business. The name was changed to Morris & Dickson Drug Company. The current name of the company, Morris & Dickson Co., Ltd. was adopted in 1896. In 1899, Allen Morris withdrew to form a new company in Fort Smith, Arkansas, named the Morris-Morton Drug Company. Morris & Dickson, since that time, has remained under Dickson family ownership and management. The office of President has been held by the Dickson family beginning with S. A. Dickson whose term ended with his death in 1916. Succeeding presidents include Mrs. R. E. Wilkinson (formerly Mrs. W. L. Dickson); S. A. Dickson (1920-24); Claudius Markham Dickson (1924-46); Markham Allen Dickson, Sr. (1952-1995); and Markham (Skipper) Allen Dickson, Jr. (1995 to present).