for the forgery of a note, the defendant was then described in the legal papers as “one Wm. Henry Comstock of the town of Brockville Druggist.”  And in July 1865, Comstock was writing from Brockville to E. Kingsland, the bookkeeper in New York City, telling him to put Brenner—­the bearer of the letter—­“in the mill.”  Comstock had apparently taken over an existing business in Brockville, as receipts for medicines delivered by him describe him as “Successor to A.N.  M’Donald & Co.”  Dr. McKenzie’s Worm Tablets also seem to have come into the Comstock business with this acquisition.

This did not mean a final move to Brockville for William H. Comstock; for several years he must have gone back and forth and was still active in New York City as a partner of his brother and of Judson.  We have seen that he subsequently went into partnership with Judson in the purchase of the coffee-roasting business.  In December 1866, he was a defendant in the lawsuit initiated by his brother George, when he was still apparently active in the New York City business.  Nevertheless, he apparently shifted the center of his activities to the Brockville area about 1860, relinquishing primary responsibility for affairs in New York City to his brother and to Judson.

[Illustration:  FIGURE 12.—­Label for Victoria Hair Gloss, Comstock & Brother, 1855.]

We now find the Comstock business established at Brockville.  Exactly why a second plant was built at Morristown, right across the river, is again a matter for conjecture.  It is a fair assumption, however, that customs duties or other restraints may have interfered with the ability of the Canadian plant to supply the United States market.  Thus, facilities on the other side of the border, but still close enough to be under common management, must have become essential.  In an era of water transportation, Morristown was a convenient place from which to supply the important middle western territory.  Ogdensburg was the eastern terminus of lake boats, and several lines provided daily service between that point and Buffalo.  The railroad had already reached Ogdensburg (although not yet Morristown) so that rail transportation was also convenient.  And the farms of St. Lawrence County could certainly be counted upon to supply such labor as was necessary for the rather simple tasks of mixing pills and elixirs and packaging them.  Finally, the two plants were directly across the river from each other—­connection was made by a ferry which on the New York side docked almost on the Comstock property—­so that both could easily be supervised by a single manager.  In fact, if it had not been for the unusual circumstance that they were located in two different countries, they could really have been considered as no more than separate buildings constituting a single plant.