Part 1 of 7 - 1845 - 1895

Welcome to the Chiropractic Time Line. These pages will guide you through a complete history of Chiropractic with important dates in the evolution of the history of this profession.

The first recorded chiropractic adjustment was performed on September 18,1895, by Dr. Daniel David Palmer, a Canadian-born teacher and heater. Dr. Palmer was, at the time, studying the cause and effect of disease. His patient was Harvey Lillard, a janitor working in the same building as Dr. Palmer in Davenport, Iowa. Mr. Lillard, who had complained of hearing problems for over 17 years, allowed Dr. Palmer to examine his spine. Dr. Palmer discovered a "lump" on Mr. Lillard's back and suspected that a vertebra might be out of place. With an admittedly unrefined, even crude technique, Dr. Palmer repositioned the vertebra with a gentle thrust. After several such treatments, much of Mr. Lillard's hearing was restored.

This dramatic beginning caused much excitement, and soon exaggerated claims surfaced from activists and chiropractic zealots. Even Dr. Palmer himself thought at first that he had discovered a cure for deafness. As these "miracle" stories became common place, the controversy surrounding chiropractic began. Because chiropractic challenged the traditional medical concept of health at the time, a campaign was begun to discredit and eliminate the profession. This campaign is in some respects still active today.

One of Dr. Palmer's patients, a minister, is credited with attaching the name "chiropractic" to the art and science of manipulation. He took the Greek words for "hand" (cheiros) and "done by" (pracktos) and put them together to spell chiropractic, meaning "done by the hand."

Through the end of World War 11, chiropractic became truly controversial under the primary leadership of Bartlett J. Palmer (B.J. Palmer), the son of the profession's founder. He administrated the largest chiropractic college at that time, owned radio and TV stations, traveled extensively, and even hosted three U.S. Presidents - Coolidge, Hoover and Truman - at his home. Regardless of how history will judge B.J. Palmer, of this one can be certain - without B.J. Palmer, chiropractic would most certainly not have survived the early ruthless attempts to discredit its healing ability.

And survive it did. Chiropractic has rapidly grown to be second only to medicine as the largest primary health care provider in the western world. Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, grew from 24 students in 1906 to 3,100 in 1923. Today, there are more than 23 chiropractic institutions throughout the world, including colleges in the United States, Australia, Japan, England and Canada. Current enrollment at chiropractic institutions now exceeds 10,000 enthusiastic and dedicated students.

Since Dr. Palmer's first primitive chiropractic adjustment, the art and science of chiropractic has progressed significantly. Today, advanced diagnostic procedures, sophisticated equipment, scientific research, and the growing acceptance among other health care professionals makes chiropractic a popular health care choice.

Enjoy this chronology of events as we present you what is now the largest, drugless, natural health care field in existence . . .

DD Palmer says: I was born on March 7, 1845, a few miles east of Toronto, Canada. My ancestors were Scotch and Irish on my maternal and English and German on my paternal side. When my grandparents settled near the now beautiful city of Toronto, there was but one log house, the beginning of that great city. That region was then known as “away out west.”

From residents of Port Perry: We have learned that “Dan” was “a keen youth - a big, strong, husky country boy, popular with every one,” constantly seeking knowledge about anything and everything, but singularly interested in anatomy. That interest he showed in collecting bones of animals. All who knew him describe him as a hearty, merry boy who exhibited, even in childhood, evidences of an exceptional mind.

Daniel Palmer’s paternal ancestors came to this continent from England, and settled in New York State. His grandfather, Stephen Palmer, emigrated to what was then known as Canada West, now the Province of Ontario, where Daniel’s father, Thomas Palmer, was born in 1824.

Thomas Palmer was a shoemaker, later a grocer. Publicly, he served his community as a school director and as Postmaster. He and his wife, who had been Catherine McVay, had three sons and three daughters. The sons, besides Daniel, were Thomas J. and Bartlett D. Palmer. The daughters were Lucinda Mariah, Hanna Jane and Catherine.

The great Civil War in the United States caused hard times in Canada, when men fleeing from the army draft overran the Canadian labor market. When Daniel Palmer was twenty, he and his brother, Thomas J. decided to seek their fortunes south of the International line and so, with their belongings packed in a carpet bag, and with $2.00 borrowed from friends - according to Thomas J. Palmer’s Autobiography - they struck out on April 3, 1865. They walked 18 miles, to the town of Whitby.

There the trail is lost, temporarily. We are told by Thomas J., however, that they reached Buffalo in one month and there spent their last penny for passage to Detroit. On arrival, they slept on grain sacks on a pier, breakfasted on a persimmon which they found and went job hunting, which evidently brought prompt results. Their next stop was Chicago and there they contrived, in some way, to get permission from the commander of a military train to ride with his troops to Davenport, Iowa. There, as you know, Chiropractic was discovered and Chiropractic history was made...

According to DD (Palmer, 1908, p. 14): The rebellion in the United States made work scarce and wages low in Canada. In the spring of 1865 he and his brother T.J., now Post Master at Medford, Okla., worked their way west to the Mississippi River. The next 20 years were engaged in school teaching, raising fruit and honey, and the grocery business. About the age of 40 he commenced the practice of Magnetic healing, which he made a success. He was not content with any of the many explanations in regard to the cause of disease, and continually asked himself and others, why one person had a certain ailment, and another similarly situated did not.

Much of this information was obtained from Joseph C. Keating, Jr., Ph.D from the Chiropractic History Archives.