He name for the drink Dr. Pepper is supposedly named after a gentleman named after Dr. Charles T. Pepper of Rural Retreat, Virginia.

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It was formulated by Brooklyn-born pharmacist Charles Alderton in Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas. To test his new drink, he first offered it to store owner Wade Morrison, who also found it to his liking. After repeated sample testing by the two, Alderton was ready to offer his new drink to some of the fountain customers. Other patrons at Morrison's soda fountain soon learned of Alderton's new drink and began ordering a "Waco". Alderton gave the formula to Morrison who named it Dr. Pepper.

Popular opinion holds that the drink was named after Dr. Charles T. Pepper of Rural Retreat, Virginia. One story says it was in order for Morrison to obtain permission to marry the doctor's daughter, another story tells of the gratefulness of Morrison to Dr. Charles T. Pepper for giving him his first job. However, research seems to have revealed that Morrison lived nearly 50 miles from Rural Retreat, VA near a Dr. Pepper of Christiansburg, Virginia. This is reportedly supported by the U.S. census, showing a young Morrison working as a pharmacy clerk in Christiansburg, VA. One of the following pages of this census supposedly shows a Dr. Pepper and daughter Malinda or Malissa. Since census takers of the period were walking door to door, and their census entries were on following pages, it stands to reason that Morrison and the family of Dr. Pepper not only lived close to each other but most likely knew one another. If the marriage story holds true, it would also be more likely that Morrison would have asked for the hand of a 16 rather than an 8 year old girl, since that was the age of Dr. Charles T. Pepper's daughter at the time Morrisson relocated to Waco.
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Wow, I never knew!
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_pepper


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