Lanman & Kemp.

Lanman & Kemp was a multi-generational family firm of wholesale druggists in New York City.

The firm was founded at 313 Pearl Street in 1808 by Robert J. Murray, a Quaker merchant and member of the family for which Murray Hill is named. He was succeeded by his brother Lindley Murray in the 1820s. In 1835, Lindley Murray took David T. Lanman. of a prominent Norwich, Conn., familiy, as a partner under the name of Murray & Lanman at 69 Water Street. Murray died in 1847, and the business was continued at the same address by Lanman alone until about 1853 when George Kemp, a young Irish immigrant, was admitted to the partnership under the style of David T. Lanman & Co. It became D.T. Lanman & Kemp in 1858 and Lanman & Kemp in 1861. Lanman died in 1866, but the business was continued by George Kemp and his family under the old name. It was incorporated as Lanman & Kemp, Inc., in 1920 and moved to suburban New Jersey in 1957. Several of Lanman & Kemp's traditional products are still produced and marketed by Lanman & Kemp-Barclay & Co., Inc. in 2006.

Lanman & Kemp engaged in the wholesale drug trade, buying and selling materia medica throughout the United States and worldwide. They sold their own patent medicines as well as those of other producers. Their most popular product was "Florida water," an all-purpose toilet water introduced on February 14, 1808 and still sold under its original brand. Lanman & Kemp also dealt in opiates, medical and culinary herbs, spices, liquors, flavorings and perfumery extracts, paint and pigments, medical apparatus and glassware. In addition, they acted as purchasing agents for overseas clients and traded in retail shop fixtures, books, guns, harness, and sewing machines.

Lanman & Kemp enjoyed a very large export and re-export business, particularly with Latin America, where David Lanman retained a wide circle of correspondents. The firm was also a large importer of raw materials from Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean, particularly opium bought through Turkish merchants

From the description of Lanman & Kemp records, 1840-1925 (bulk, 1852-1879) (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 650098540