German-born chemist James Jacob Klein (1819–1879) was a man of many talents. He spoke seven languages and in his youth worked as an interpreter and played the violin. Settling on the outskirts of Walterboro, South Carolina, in 1845, he put up a small building in his yard, from which he dispensed drugs. Dr. Klein’s drugstore was the first pharmacy in Walterboro.

After the roof blew off Klein’s house during the hurricane of 1879, he moved the drugstore into town and added a second story as living quarters for his family. His son, Dr. John Marcus Klein, took over the business when his father died and had his name blown into the apothecary bottles.