The First Chiropractor Got His Big Idea From a Ghost

The Grocer and the Ghost

Before he was the father of chiropractic, Daniel David Palmer was a man of many trades and even more beliefs. A former grocer, beekeeper, and schoolteacher in Port Perry, Ontario, he moved to the American Midwest and found his calling in the burgeoning world of 19th-century alternative healing. Palmer became a practitioner of magnetic healing, a popular therapy based on the idea of a vital life force that could be manipulated by the hands. It was an era electric with new ideas, where science, spirituality, and showmanship often bled into one another. The Spiritualist movement, with its séances and messages from the great beyond, was in full swing, and Palmer was an enthusiastic participant.

The official origin story of chiropractic, repeated in pamphlets and college websites, is a tidy anecdote. In 1895, Palmer was working in his Davenport, Iowa office when he encountered a janitor named Harvey Lillard, who had been partially deaf for 17 years. Lillard explained that his hearing loss began after he felt a “pop” in his back. Palmer examined him, found a displaced vertebra, and applied a sharp thrust. With a resounding crack, the bone supposedly shifted back into place, and Lillard’s hearing was miraculously restored. Palmer believed he had discovered the root of all disease: vertebral subluxations, or misalignments of the spine that impinge on nerves and disrupt the body’s “Innate Intelligence.” But the real story, the one Palmer himself told, was far stranger.

A Message from the Other Side

According to Palmer’s own writings, the foundational principles of his new science didn't come from anatomical study or clinical trial. They came from a ghost. He claimed to have received the entire theory of chiropractic during a séance from a deceased physician named Dr. Jim Atkinson, who had been dead for half a century. This spiritual revelation, not the incident with Harvey Lillard, was what Palmer considered the true genesis of his practice. The idea of an “Innate Intelligence” flowing through the body was not a new physiological concept but a rebranding of the same vital life force he had worked with as a magnetic healer. The spine was simply the new conduit for this spiritual energy. The treatment wasn't just mechanical; it was metaphysical.

A House Divided

This mystical foundation created an immediate and lasting rift in the profession. Palmer’s son, B.J. Palmer, took over the school his father founded and became the great developer and promoter of chiropractic. He leaned heavily into the vitalistic philosophy, selling the practice as a cure-all for everything from heart disease to influenza, all based on the unimpeded flow of Innate Intelligence. This faction became known as “straights,” who adhered strictly to Palmer’s original, spiritually-infused doctrine. They believed that correcting subluxations was the key to treating nearly all human ailments.

Almost immediately, a rival group of “mixers” emerged. These were practitioners who sought to integrate chiropractic adjustments with other therapies, like physical therapy, nutrition, and exercise. They were more inclined to frame their work in scientific terms, distancing themselves from the more overt spiritualism of the Palmers. This internal conflict—between vitalistic philosophy and scientific legitimacy—has defined chiropractic for over a century and helps explain why its public perception remains so polarized.

The Echo of a Ghostly Idea

Today, the core concept of the vertebral subluxation as the cause of disease is not supported by mainstream medical evidence. While spinal manipulation has been shown to be an effective treatment for certain types of musculoskeletal pain, particularly low back pain, the broader claims championed by D.D. and B.J. Palmer are widely considered pseudoscience. This is the central reason why chiropractors are often categorized as alternative providers rather than primary care physicians. The profession's historical DNA—the belief that a spiritual energy, revealed by a ghost, can be manipulated to cure all disease—is still present. It exists in the philosophical divide within the practice and in the persistent skepticism from the wider medical community. The story of chiropractic is a fascinating reminder that even in medicine, a powerful narrative can sometimes be more resilient than the scientific method itself.

Sources

• Daniel David Palmer
• Turn of the Century Medicine: D.D. Palmer, spiritualist ...
• History of chiropractic
• Why does it feel like it has become taboo to say that ...
• The first chiropractor was a Canadian who claimed he ...
• NCAHF Fact Sheet on Chiropractic (2001)
• Reframing a debate in chiropractic - PMC
• Chiropractic: A Skeptical View
• The schism in chiropractic through the eyes of a 1st year ...