D.D. Palmer, Father of Chiropractic
Daniel David Palmer established the modern practice of spinal manipulation in the nineteenth century. He is known as the Father of Chiropractic. Palmer was born on March 7, 1845, in Pickering, Ontario, Canada, to Katherine McVay and Thomas Palmer. At twenty he moved with his family to the United States, where he worked as a beekeeper, farmer, schoolteacher, and grocery store owner. He also took a deep interest in health philosophies and spiritualism.
Magnetic Healing, Palmer’s Precursor to Chiropractic
In 1886 Palmer opened his first healing office in the South Putnam Building in Davenport, Iowa. He called the work magnetic healing. It blended hands-on methods with ideas that would today be compared with massage and meridian-style therapy. Reading widely in anatomy and physiology and following medical journals of the day, he focused on relieving irritation of nerves and developed practical remedies for his patients.
The Nervous System and Health
In his first decade of practice, Palmer pressed local MDs with a simple question. Why do people in the same home, breathing the same air and drinking the same water, end up with very different health outcomes. He concluded that external factors matter, but so does an internal factor: how well the nervous system is functioning. That idea would become the backbone of his later work.
Harvey Lillard and the First Adjustment
On September 18, 1895, Palmer examined Harvey Lillard, the building janitor, who had been deaf for seventeen years. He noted a prominent lump along the spine. Lillard explained that while working in a cramped, stooped position he had felt something “give” in his back, and his hearing faded soon after.
Palmer found a vertebra out of its normal position. He reasoned that the displaced segment was disturbing the spinal nerves related to the ear and that correcting the alignment could restore normal nerve flow. After explaining the plan, he applied a specific hand contact to the spinous process and delivered a firm, directed force. Soon after, Lillard reported improvement in his hearing.
Relief of a Heart Complaint
Following Lillard’s case, Palmer evaluated a patient with a heart problem. He identified a misaligned vertebra that appeared to be irritating the nerves serving the region. When the vertebra was corrected, the patient experienced relief. These cases supported Palmer’s theory that disturbed joint position and motion can interfere with nerve function, which in turn can influence health in many parts of the body. He concluded that partial dislocations of the vertebrae, later called subluxations, could account for most disease, with the remainder arising from misalignments in other joints. From this point the science, meaning knowledge, and the art, meaning adjusting by hand, of chiropractic took form.
There was nothing ‘accidental’ about this, as it was accomplished with an object in view, and the result expected was obtained. There was nothing ‘crude’ about this adjustment; it was specific, so much so that no chiropractor has equaled it.
– D. D. Palmer, in Chiropractic: History and Evolution of a New Profession by W. Wardwell
Chiropractic Is Born
The term chiropractic was coined by Rev. Samuel Weed, a Davenport friend and patient of Palmer. He combined the Greek words cheir (hand) and praktikos (practical, to do), giving the profession a clear meaning: “done by hand.”
The Palmer Infirmary and Chiropractic Institute
Palmer first considered keeping his discovery within the family. Within a year he decided to teach it. In 1897 he founded the Palmer Infirmary and Chiropractic Institute. The 1904 graduating class included Bartlett Joshua “BJ” Palmer, Andrew P. Davis (MD, DO), William A. Seally (MD), John Howard, Shegataro Morikubo, and Solon M. Langworthy. The mix of students showed how quickly the new approach drew interest.
Early Legal Battles and Professional Resolve
In 1899 a Davenport physician, Dr. Heinrich Matthey, pushed to stop drugless healers and to limit health education to medical doctors. Because chiropractic was new, authorities tried to fit it under medical statutes and charged chiropractors with “practicing medicine without a license.” Palmer argued that chiropractors did not prescribe drugs or perform surgery and that a separate standard was appropriate. He was convicted in 1906 and, rather than pay the fine, served seventeen days in jail. Many early chiropractors endured similar arrests because they believed their patients were being helped and they refused to abandon them. Those episodes were not blemishes. They were chapters in a civil fight for the right to practice a distinct, hands-on healing art. Decades later a federal antitrust ruling confirmed there had been organized efforts to “contain and eliminate” chiropractic, which places the early struggles in clear historical context.
The Chiropractic Curriculum
While these battles unfolded, Solon M. Langworthy helped formalize chiropractic study around the spine and nervous system. He used the word subluxation for misalignments that narrow the “spinal windows,” the intervertebral foramina where nerves exit. He published the first chiropractic textbook and argued for a scientific presentation of the work.
Innate Intelligence
Although Palmer did not agree with every point, he advanced a central idea that became part of the profession’s language: Innate Intelligence, the organizing principle that directs body function and uses the nervous system to express itself. In practical terms, the chiropractor’s job is to locate and reduce nerve interference by restoring normal joint position and motion so the body can do what it is designed to do.
Palmer School of Chiropractic (PSC)
After D. D. Palmer’s conviction, the school was transferred to BJ through arbitration. He had been serving as president since 1904. The settlement of $2,196.79 included books and osteological specimens. The institution became the Palmer School of Chiropractic (PSC), which remains one of the most recognized chiropractic colleges in the United States. Palmer soon helped launch schools in Oklahoma, California, and Oregon.
Under BJ’s management, PSC enrollment climbed to more than a thousand students in the 1920s. As other colleges developed their own identities, Palmer continued to refine his father’s ideas about innate intelligence and trained a growing network of chiropractors.
Palmer College of Chiropractic
BJ Palmer advanced spinal analysis and adjusting through careful study. He added X-ray technology to the curriculum and called it spinography. His publishing, campus clinics, and outreach raised educational standards and public awareness. The school became Palmer College of Chiropractic, and the name marks its enduring place in the profession.
For Chiropractors and Chiropractic Students
A number of respected texts cover chiropractic history, philosophy, neurology, biomechanics, adjusting methods, and rehabilitation. They are worth exploring for deeper study and for context on how the profession grew from Palmer’s first adjustment to modern practice.
