A. (Augustin) Thompson

Born in Union, Maine, in 1835, Augustin Thompson served in the Union Army during the Civil War before building a career as a physician. After the war he studied medicine, practiced in Massachusetts, and developed a strong interest in patent remedies and new commercial products.

He created a tonic called Moxie Nerve Food, first sold as a health remedy and later transformed into the carbonated drink that made his name famous. The brand became a major success in New England and helped secure his place in American business and advertising history.

Thompson died in 1903, but the drink he launched long outlived him. Today he is remembered less as a literary figure than as an inventive 19th-century doctor-entrepreneur whose most lasting idea became a cultural icon.