A strange question, perhaps, but do you have a first aid kit handy? If you do, you may have a Lackawanna County native to thank. Robert Wood Johnson was born in Carbondale in 1845. He had two brothers, and among them, the trio had a leader, an inventor and a marketer. In 1886, they merged their talents and started a small family company in New Jersey called Johnson and Johnson.
According to its own website, the fledgling company had one building and 14 employees. They manufactured antiseptic bandages and dressings. But Robert Wood Johnson, in particular, came up with the idea for a first aid kit. After a chance conversation on a train, he learned that rail workers were often injured. And because they weren't close to cities with medical facilities, many of them died.
He created two first aid kits, one for general consumer use and one for the railroad, including sterile dressings, sutures and surgical tape. Johnson & Johnson is a brand that still lives on, thanks in part to a man from Lackawanna County.
