John W. Geibel was born in the Town of Henderson on the sixteenth day of
June, 1853. He was educated from the private schools of the town, and at
the age of fifteen, August, 1868, entered the drug store of W. S. Johnson &
Bro. as a clerk. Here he remained, applying himself with an assiduity and
intelligence that soon won for him the unqualified confidence of his
employers, until the winter of 1874 and '75, when he went to Philadelphia
and entered Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. He remained in this college
during the term of 1875, and then returned to Henderson. A short time after
his return home, he accepted a position in the drug house of Hon. T. C.
Bridwell, at Evansville, Ind. A few months thereafter he went to St. Louis,
and formed a co-partnership with Dr. King, of Madisonville, Ky., and opened
a drug store. For reasons best known to himself, one month after the
organization of the firm, he sold out his interest to his partner, and
accepted a clerkship in the drug house of Ed. N. Harris, St. Louis, where
he remained seven months. At the end of that time he returned to Henderson,
and a few weeks aftewards accepted a position with Dr. Kinkead, at Paducah,
Kentucky. He remained with Dr. Kinkead just one month and a half, and then
returned again to his home in Henderson. A short time after this return, he
re-entered the employ of W. S. Johnson & Bro., where he remained up to
June, 1884, when a co-partnership was formed between himself and Charles F.
Kleiderer, an experienced druggist, under the firm name of Kleiderer &
Geibel. This firm immediately opened the elegant "Post Office" Drug Store,
on Second Street, in Odd Fellow's building. These young men were
complimented by a large patronage from the first day their doors were
opened to the public, but so steadily, and surely did it increase, that in
August, 1886, in order to amplify the influence and patronage of the firm,
a lot was purchased on the corner of Green and Center Streets, opposite the
public school, and a very handsome two-story brick store house erected
thereon. This new house is, perhaps, the handsomest in its interior finish
to be found in Henderson. The subject of this sketch has charge of the new
store while his partner holds the reins over the parent stem, or Second
Street store. Mr. Geibel is the owner of several nice tenement houses in
addition to his drug store property, and is continually adding to his
already well earned little fortune. His life is a living example of what
can be accomplished by regular habits, prudent living, assiduous work and
thoughtful judgment. he is on the high road to prosperity undisputed, and
none deserves it more than he. It is not luck with him, but the outcome of
good, sound, native and acquired sense.
The History of Henderson County, Kentucky by Starling 1887 page 693-94;
