D. D. Palmer

Daniel David Palmer or D.D. Palmer (March 7, 1845 – October 20, 1913) was the founder of chiropractic. Palmer was born in Pickering, Canada West (now Ontario) and was raised in the southern Ontario area, where he received his education.

In 1865 Palmer moved to the United States, and around 1880 took up magnetic healing in Davenport, Iowa. After returning to Davenport, in 1895 Palmer met Harvey Lillard, a janitor whose hearing was impaired. Palmer claimed the man's hearing was restored after adjusting his spine.

Palmer developed the theory that misalignment of the bones in the body was the basic underlying cause of all "dis-ease" and the majority of these mis-alignments were in the spinal column. In 1897 he opened the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport and started teaching his techniques. Lawsuits followed, and after brief incarceration, Palmer sold the school to his son, B. J. Palmer. B. J. greatly expanded the school and the general knowledge of chiropractic. Palmer moved west, opening several new schools in Oklahoma, California, and Oregon. His relationship with his son was strained after this point.

Palmer died in Los Angeles in 1913 of typhoid fever. His death has remained controversial due to the relationship with his son and the school he founded.

Palmer was born in Port Perry, Ontario, to Thomas Palmer and his wife Katherine McVay. At age twenty he moved to the United States with his family. Palmer held various jobs such as a beekeeper, school teacher, and grocery store owner, and had an interest in the various health philosophies of his day, including magnetic healing, and spiritualism. Palmer practiced magnetic healing beginning in the mid-1880s in Burlington and Davenport, Iowa.

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