Hall-Benedict Drug Company logbooks and ledgers

Company History

The Hall-Benedict Drug Company was a pharmacy in New Haven, Connecticut that became one of the oldest independent drug stores in the state. The business was formed in 1909 when Alonzo Benton Hall, who already owned a pharmacy in New Haven, took on Edward N. Benedict as a junior partner. The two men opened the Hall-Benedict Drug Company at 767 Orange Street, a newly constructed three-story mixed-use building located in a residential neighborhood, and the business remained in operation at that location until 1998. The commercial space on the first floor of the building housed a pharmacy counter, soda fountain, work area, and an office. The other floors of the building were used as residential space first occupied by Hall and his family in 1909. A successful business, the Hall-Benedict Drug Company dispensed over one million prescriptions, and was well integrated with the East Rock neighborhood in which it was situated. They offered a delivery service for prescriptions and provided a message service for local physicians. Their soda fountain was also a popular feature, attracting children from nearby schools and visitors to East Rock Park.

During its operation, the Hall-Benedict Drug Company was owned and managed by the Hall, Benedict, and Formichella families. After Alonzo Benton Hall’s death in 1923, Edward N. Benedict purchased his share and became sole owner of the company and the Orange Street property. After Edward’s death in 1949, ownership of the business and property passed to his wife, M. Katherine Benedict, who managed the company until her death in 1960. Ownership of the business and property then passed to the Benedict’s children, Mary Benedict Killion, Frank D. Benedict, and Edward J. Benedict. In 1977 the three siblings sold the business and property to Vice President and Assistant Treasurer Thomas F. Formichella Jr., who had joined the company in 1953. Formichella ran the Hall-Benedict Drug Company until the business was closed in 1998.

After closing the Hall-Benedict Drug Company, the Formichella family retained ownership of the property at 767 Orange Street and leased the commercial portion of the property to two other pharmacy practices. In 1998 Thomas F. Formichella sold the name “Hall-Benedict Drug Company II” and leased the space to Jack Appelbaum, who ran the business until his death in 2010. Annette Appelbaum, Jack’s partner, maintained the business until June 2011, at which point Hall-Benedict Drug Company II was closed. In 2011 Scott Wolak leased the commercial space of the property and opened East Rock Pharmacy, which remained in operation at that location until 2018. There is no longer a pharmacy located at 767 Orange Street.

Business Partners and Employees

Alonzo Benton Hall (1844-1922) was the founder and senior partner of the Hall-Benedict Drug Company. Hall was a native of New Haven and completed a degree at Phillips Exeter Academy in 1856. In 1870 he opened a pharmacy at the corner of Chapel and Howe Streets, which remained in operation until the opening of the Hall-Benedict Drug Company in 1909. Hall was married four times: to Mary Lambert, Amelia Emeric, Julia Stevens, and Harriet Stevens and fathered two children: Mrs. M. G. Haviland and Alonzo Benton Hall, Jr. He was a member of the Knights Templar and a prominent member of the community. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven.

Edward N. Benedict (1879-1949) was the junior partner, then sole proprietor of the Hall-Benedict Drug Company. He worked as a druggist and clerk by 1900 and became a member of the Connecticut Pharmaceutical Association in 1911. Benedict married M. Katharine Benedict and fathered three children, Mary Benedict Killian, Frank D. Benedict, and Edward J. Benedict.

Thomas F. Formichella, Jr. (1922-2007) joined the Hall-Benedict Drug Company in 1953, eventually becoming Vice President and Assistant Treasurer, then sole proprietor of the company. Formichella was a native of New Haven and worked for the New Haven Railroad before joining the Hall-Benedict Drug Company. He married Helen Doolan Formichella and fathered three children, Karen F. Krowski, Diane F. Williams, and Elise F. LaRocco. He played baseball and softball on several teams in the New Haven City Wide League. Formichella is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Hamden, Connecticut.

Hall-Benedict Drug Company employees of note include Howard Embler, William F. Gilroy, Joseph F. Cantafio, and John H. Korn. Embler was a registered pharmacist, who started working at the Hall-Benedict Drug Company as a delivery boy in 1919. He was a member of first graduating class of the Connecticut College of Pharmacy 1928 and became a manager of the Hall-Benedict Drug Company in 1949. William F. Gilroy became a pharmacist in 1917, operated his own business from 1938-1948, and began working for the Hall-Benedict Drug Company in 1948. The pharmacy also employed Joseph H. Korn, who started working there in 1917, and pharmacist Joseph F. Cantafio. All four men remained employed by the Hall-Benedict Drug Company in 1960.