J.E. (Joseph Edgar) Applegate was born in Illinois in 1857. In 1881, looking for a place to move with his brother A.R., he heard about the new area opening in northwest Arkansas. Late in 1881 J.E. and A.R. purchased a former drugstore in Rogers and opened Applegate Drug; J.E. bought out A.R. a year later. In November of 1894 J.E. traveled back to Illinois where he married Anna Buchanan and returned to Rogers with her.
To Anna and J.E. Applegate were born eight children, whom Anna called her “jewels.” Two died in their teens from tuberculosis. The five sons who survived all followed in their father’s footsteps and became pharmacists. The family’s first home was a farm on North Eighth Street called “The Elms.” They later moved into town at 506 West Poplar, where Immanuel Baptist Church stands today. Many of Rogers church and social functions were hosted at their home.
The Applegate family, circa 1902. Top row,
left to right: Timothy, Charles, Walter, and
John. Bottom row, left to right: Edgara, J.E.,
Harold, Anna, and Annabel. The photo was taken
before son Fred’s birth. Courtesy John
Applegate. Neg. # N014295.
Applegate Drugstore moved two times, the final
move to an A.O. Clarke-designed building at
116 South First which opened in 1907, today
home to Poor Richard’s Gifts and
Confectionery. J.E. played a major part in
Rogers activities, including serving as the
second president of the Board of Trade
(predecessor to today’s chamber of commerce)
in 1904, president of the American National
Bank in 1915, and charter member of the
American Legion Post established in 1919. Both
J.E. and Anna were charter members of Rogers ’
Presbyterian church.
Anna died in 1921, and J.E. in 1937. History
claims that the old pendulum clock in the
Applegate Drugstore stopped ticking the day
J.E. died.