The Knoxville drug firm Sanford, Chamberlain, and Albers was founded in 1872. Edward Jackson Sanford, who moved to Knoxville from Connecticut in 1853, worked as a carpenter, contractor, and partner in a lumber firm prior to the United States Civil War. When Confederates seized Knoxville, Sanford and his wife, Emma Chavannes fled to Kentucky to join the Union Army. Rejected from service due to an illness, Sanford and his wife spent a few years in Connecticut before returning to Knoxville after Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside had captured the city. In Knoxville, Sanford joined the Union Army and fought in the Battle of Fort Sanders. As a result of the war, Sanford extended his business interests and organized the drug firm of E. J. Sanford and Company in 1864. Sanford quickly became a wealthy and influential citizen of Knoxville. In 1872, he saw an opportunity to increase his business by merging his firm with the Albers and Chamberlain Drug Company. The new company changed its name to Sanford, Chamberlain, and Albers and became one of the leading drug companies in the industry. Sanford, Chamberlain, and Albers would serve as a vibrant part of Knoxville's business community for one hundred years. The company's name was shortened to Alber's Drug Company in 1926 and remained in the hands of the Albers family until 1994 when it was sold to the Walker Drug Company in Birmingham, Alabama.