Joseph Ernest Meyer was born in 1878 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and grew up in Milwaukee. He was the son of a photographer who especially enjoyed photographing plants. Joseph frequently accompanied his father on nature outings and was destined to love flora. Upon the death of his father, Joseph’s mother could not afford to keep the family together, so Joseph and his brother were reared in a Franciscan orphanage, while his sisters stayed with their mother. In the orphanage, Joseph was educated and taught the printing trade. He opened his own print shop, married, and started a family.
Meyer closed the business and moved his growing family to Chicago and then on to Hammond, Indiana, where he worked for the local newspaper. After purchasing an old printing press, he again went into business for himself. In1908 he wrote and printed Protection: The Sealed Book, a work exposing the various methods of deception, both human and mechanical, in the world of gambling. The book was quite successful, and with the book proceeds, Joseph began the mail-order business, Indiana Herb Gardens, in 1910.
In addition to gathering, packaging, and selling herbal products and remedies, he printed circulars and catalogs. After several lean years, the family business began to flourish, and the name was changed to Indiana Botanic Gardens. While nurturing the Indiana Botanic Gardens, Joseph Meyer published his 400-page work, The Herbalist, in 1918. Then in 1925, he began publishing the Herbalist Almanac, an annual publication, which continued to be popular throughout his lifetime and beyond.
During the Great Depression, Meyer turned his attentions to the world of banking. When the banks of Hammond failed, he took his deposits to Chicago banks. The herb business was very successful during the Depression because so many people were employing home remedies, and wanting a closer place to deposit checks and money orders from the herb company, Meyer reluctantly became a banker himself. His Calumet National Bank of Hammond thrived under his innovative leadership. As a banker, Joseph Meyer advocated many reforms, including insured deposits.
In his later years, this Renaissance man passed both the bank and gardens on to his sons, to pursue his many interests. In 1950, after a long, productive life, Joseph Meyer passed away at his winter home of Miami, Florida.
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