Excerpts from The Official History of Chiropractic in Texas
By Dr. Walter R. Rhodes
Published by Texas Chiropractic Association, 303 International Life Building, Austin, TX 78701.As authorized by the various Boards of Directors of the Texas Chiropractic Association from 1958 to 1977, the idea first being presented to the board by E. L. Bauknight in 1958.
These excerpts are presented for educational purposes.
The chiropractors came to stay. It was their intention to render a service to their neighbors, a service so valuable it would be the source of their living, and so unique they would have no real competitors.
The vehement opposition springing up against them almost immediately would have succeeded in its intent if these conditions had not been met. The chiropractor’s defense when arrested for practicing medicine without a license was always accompanied with character recommendations, usually from the town’s leading citizenry, and such citizens all across Texas would not have consistently made these recommendations if they had not received a valued service they wanted to be sure they could receive again, or assure that their family and friends would have available in time of need. Their insistence on its availability superseded any friendships with the medical profession which would have cheerfully, blindly and unreasonably denied them that service.
And the chiropractors’ roots sunk deeply into the community life in all its phases. The children were in the local schools, the whole family went to church, political affairs were attended, social clubs and civic organizations were participated in and the entire fabric of their lives was woven into the community.
Even the children and wives often needed to be as determined as their fathers. In the 1920s and 1930s it was very common for chiropractors to be denied membership in civic clubs and their children were sometimes deliberately embarrassed by the defenders of the status quo.
Persistence, however, usually paid off and competing clubs and organizations almost invariably welcomed the chiropractor and his family when such indignities occurred.
Some of the early chiropractors were knowledgeable and well educated men in their day and no small number came from other professions. Willard Carver was a lawyer, M. B. McCoy a bank clerk, a surprising number were medical doctors, osteopaths, optometrists, magnetic healers or coming from some other branch of the healing arts and, probably the largest number of what one could call professionals were successful businessmen. Only a very few of the early chiropractors were young men seeking a prestigious way of making a living. Most were appealed to by results they saw with their own eyes, and the logic of the explanations given for these results, which impressed them so much they desired to share it with all of humanity at whatever cost to the prestige they might already enjoy with their peers.
Either way, one trait stood out: They knew who they were and what they wanted to do There was no wishy-washiness in them. They were enthusiastic, convinced in their hearts and very determined. A few arrests inspired by bigoted competitors couldn’t possibly have made much difference.
Dr. David Hestand, the M.D. who’s sister would be benefitted by Dr. David Teems is a good example, and his story shall soon be related. But perhaps more typical would be the example of Dr. M. L. Stanphill, who at age 92 still practices in Denison. He too, was first introduced to chiropractic by Dr. Teems when he took his ailing wife to him after everything else failed to improve her dangerously impaired health.
Dr. Teems adjustments did help her remarkably and she was able to live a reasonably normal life for quite a while.
Dr. Stanphill says,
“Finally the day came when my wife went away and left me at home with four children. I was working on the farm near Van Alstyne and I got my mother to stay with my children. I had promised my wife before she died that I would study chiropractic. I went to the American Chiropractic College in Chicago and stayed until I spent all my money. I came back to Van Alstyne and made a crop. Then I went back to Chicago to continue studying. Then I ran out of money once again and went back home. At that time I learned I could go to Carver Chiropractic College in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was closer to home and didn’t cost as much as going back to Chicago. I went to Carver Chiropractic College until I ran out of money and my mother sent me $400.00. I was then able to finish and began practice in 1917.In 1918 they sent the deputy sheriff to Van Alstyne from Sherman to my office. He took me to Sherman and I promised that I would quit charging my patients and they let me go. The patients would just leave their money on a table when they were ready to leave my office. Then the grand jury called me. I went before the grand jury three times. The last time I got up and made a little talk. I stood up and pointed my finger at the men around me. I told them that this was my state the same as it was theirs and if they did take me out of the state I was coming back. So they did never did bother me about that any more.Then I moved to Denison in 1921 after we had a near crop failure and I couldn’t collect what was owed me. I’ve been here in Denison for 55 years."
And these early men had enthusiasm for what they did. You’d think a criminal convicted of a felonious act and confined to jail would be ashamed of his past but if you think jailed chiropractors had any shame you’ll need to think again. Typical was Dr. Ashby T. Harris of Dallas who came to Palmer College in 1915, was jailed in 1916 for practicing medicine without a license, and who soon convinced both his judge and his jailer to become patients.
Drs. Paul Myers, Byron Black, David Teems, and Roy Boone, among many others, had given many adjustments during their jail stays. Actually, if the Erath County officials had been a little more efficient on the business side of things they could probably have made money on Boone’s jail house practice by charging him rent.
The chiropractors certainly did have their brigands who asked for trouble and those who made outlandish claims and, surely, have had their share of fraudulent operators within their ranks but the men you’ll come to appreciate were honest, enthusiastic pioneers and their battle cry was, “Nobody asked me to come, and nobody’s telling me to leave.” Some fell into the turbulent wakes of wave makers. Dr. R. E. Capshaw came to his practice in 1921 where Dr. David Teems had been well known. Before long he and his son had 21 indictments each for practicing medicine without a license in San Angelo. The last ten were dismissed after they went to court and beat the first eleven.
They had many prominent persons for patients who were called to testify on their behalf, and that, mixed with the testimony of less prominent but good, solid citizens carried the day.
In 1918 there were at least 54 indictments across the state, the result of an apparent drive to prosecute chiropractors wholesale, but poor results made prosecutors willing to grant continuances and finally dismissals. Dr. A. T. Harris in Temple had 19 indictments which were dismissed September 25, 1918; of the seven cases against Dr. J. B. Chessher at Jacksonville, four were dismissals before he was tried on another and found not guilty; then the last two were dismissed September 11, 1918.
Other cases extant at the time were Dr. Dawby at Sherman; the Drs. Goble in Beaumont; Dr. Fitzjerrald of Chillicothe; Dr. Zachary at Plainview; and Dr. B. F. Gurden and Dr. Eckenroth, both of San Antonio.
Dr. B. F. Gurden was found guilty on September 2, 1918, but it was publicized that his patients had asked to spend his jail time (one hour) for him and pay his fine. He wrote friend that he expected his practice to double because of it within 30 days. One of his patients was Señor Salvador Madero, the uncle of Mexico’s President Madero.
Dr. Stevannah Hargett and Dr. Joe Vandergriff, both of Fort Worth, had pending cases dropped. Dr. M. U. Bettendorf and his wife, also a chiropractor, had 10 counts filed against them in Abilene and were found guilty of one. They were fined $50.00 and given 1 day in jail. The medical authorities were depressed at the verdict but the Battendorfs were quoted as saying they had finally found the friendly place they’d been looking for and planned to stay.
The Universal Chiropractic Association’s attorney, Fred Hartwell, won a victory for Dr. M. M. Markwell of Galveston on March 23, 1917. Before that, in 1916, the Universal Chiropractic Association scored an even better coup: The bulletin announced that Dr. Charles C. Lemly of Waco had 2 cases dismissed, making a total of 5 wins in 6 charges. (He had been found guilty in a previous trial and served a jail term over it.) Furthermore, the article continued, he was 25, single, ambitious and looking for a wife. It suggested that any interested ladies please submit their photos when writing, and his address was given.
In April, 1917, Dr. I. E. Pruett of Bonham reported has trial continued in spite of the help Judge Hartwell offered the prosecutors. The state could only muster two witnesses and the judge, noting all the patients of Dr. Pruett crowding into the courtroom, offered the state any number of witnesses they wished, but prosecutors wisely declined the offer. Those particular witness would not likely have helped the prosecution. The charges continued from time to time. Dr. S. A. Gracey was tried December 9, 1929; outcome not known. Dr. W. L. Johnson of Greenville and Dr. I. H. Flores of Hebronville both had trials in January, 1930.
To demonstrate again how vulnerable a leader’s position is, Dr. Lemly is thought to have had more cases of practicing medicine without a license filed against him than any other chiropractor, 66, and was actually tried in the courts more times than any other although the exact number of court trials is not currently known.
It is often said that without his background and the subsequent knowledge of the ins and outs of legislation, the 1943 and 1949 laws regulating chiropractic would not have been possible in those years. And it was Dr. Lemly, usually alone, who was arguing in the early years that educational requirements for chiropractors should be raised.
Dr. Lemly’s father, Samuel, is though to have been the first graduate pharmacist in Texas.
That fact, plus the knowledge that he originally began the study of medicine under Drs. Abell, Smith, Kittrell and Hunt (a former president of Texas Medical Association) and because of dramatic personal results from chiropractic then switched to chiropractic and graduated in 1914 from the Universal Chiropractic College, made him a particularly juicy target.
Dr John A. Kent, while in his early years of practice in Livingston, was arrested for practicing medicine without a license in Polk County and prosecuted by a young lawyer who would later gain fame as a defense attorney, Percy Foreman.
Marvin Bruce McCoy, at age 27, had everything a man could need except a healthy wife. He was a respected bank clerk at the First National Bank in DeKalb with a secure future ahead when the medical doctor told him he didn’t see how his chronically ill wife could possibly live much longer. It was a heavy blow and he began to seek other things that might help her.
He took his wife to Dr. R. E. Mathis, Texarkana’s pioneer chiropractor and she slowly began to improve. Months passed and she was still improving but each trip to Dr. Mathis’ office was a day’s journey away. Dr. Mathis suggested to McCoy that he consider becoming a chiropractor, especially since his wife was certain to need treatment for many years. Dr. Mathis said, “Your wife suffers from several chronic conditions and will probably require chiropractic as long as she lives. Learn to do the work yourself, save doctor bills make a good living while serving humanity."
McCoy said,
“I resigned from the bank. My business associates were fearful that I was making a grave error. We moved to Oklahoma City where I matriculated in Carver Chiropractic College."“I began my practice in the First National Bank Building of Paris, Texas. I was ready, at last, for my visions of serving suffering humanity to begin coming true. I had problems. 1921 was a deep depression year, the economy lagged and my money was about gone. My greatest source of help was the ever present faith and optimism of my good wife, who was thin and weak and far from well. But sick folk did come in and they brought others. After a couple of years had passed, fortune seemed to smile again. At this time, 1923, then Attorney General Dan Moody met with the Texas Medical Association in a convention at Ft. Worth and promised them in an address that he would, 'Run all the chiropractors in Texas into the Gulf of Mexico.' The Lamar County Medical Association ran a series of ads in the daily newspaper, warning the people about such 'quacks' being a menace to the 'Public Health.' Might most surely was not on my side but I knew that Right was and I was ready to fight for it. I replied with ads calling the campaign 'persecution' and 'trying to get rid of their competition at public expense.'"“I was soon arrested on the charge of ‘Practicing Medicine Without A License.’ From the cashiership of a country bank to this situation was something to digest, but the principle involved had to be defended. I won eight cases during the next two years, but lost the ninth, which cost me two weeks in the county jail. January, 1927, brought in new county officers who were friendly to our cause. Our troubles were over. My hurt pride was salved somewhat by more patients coming in that I could serve. Three years later I built a fine, large clinic which is still being used."
"I have never regretted taking the advice of my old friend Dr. R. E. Mathis, and becoming a chiropractor. My practice has given me a full life of service to my fellowman; a livelihood; and, I fully believe, the continued good health of my beloved wife."
In a letter to Dr. Evelyn Shipman dated January 27th, 1971, Dr. McCoy mentions his wife, saying that at age 81, a few treatments have seen her through yet another crisis.
We must now come to Dr. James Riddle Drain, who, although a chiropractor in his own right, barely qualified to be mentioned with the men who suffered trials, arrests and jail terms. But he is unique.
He did serve one day in a jail, when, in Columbus, feelings were running pretty high over a trial and Dr. Drain was appearing as an expert witness – he was jailed overnight for his own protection.
On another occasion he was such a needle to the opposition that they wanted to embarrass him professionally and charged him with the patently ridiculous charge of “Being about to practice medicine without a license,” which was, of course, promptly thrown out of court before it embarrassed the judge instead.
Dr. Drain was born in Idaho, May 10, 1891. He investigated chiropractic during a period of time when he was looking for sources of help for his paralyzed sister. He was so impressed by chiropractic that he determined to study – especially after sitting through the Hall trial.
Drain recalls the trial of Dr. I. B. Hall as one of the first cases ever tried involving a chiropractor. It was the spring of 1911 at Scott City, Iowa. Dr. B. J. Palmer was opposed in the witness chair by Dr. Alfred Walton of Harvard Medical School. The prosecutor, Paul Rochester, argued before Judge J. B. Loughran, but with only a fraction of the energy of Tom Morris, who defended Hall.
The not guilty verdict was so enthusiastically received by the township they retired that night to the Christian Church, the only place large enough to accommodate the crowds, so B. J. could lecture.
When the not guilty verdict was announced not everyone was happy, however; the M.D. called B. J. an obscene name and Dr. Hall gave him a souvenir black eye before it dawned on him he shouldn’t have done it.
Drain, just a boy then, said he was from that day in the process of being the best chiropractor in the world. Later on, after graduation, Drain went back to his Kansas home and sent the Palmer School of Chiropractic 25 students in one year.
The Senator from his district, Jewett Shouse, and the representative from his district, F. A. Hines, soon introduced and passed one of the first chiropractic bills in the nation.
In 1919 Drain and family moved to san Antonio, where he later became President of the Texas Chiropractic College in association with Dr. H. E. (Buddy) Weiser and Dr. C. B. Lofting in a partnership which was to last thirty-four years.
Besides his duties as executive, teacher and practitioner, he traveled over the entire state of Texas and parts of Louisiana appearing in chiropractors’ trials as an expert witness, usually at his own expense. He felt it his duty to help wherever he could to defend chiropractors against the erroneous charges of “Practicing Medicine Without A License."
Although he taught many technical subjects, “Chiropractic Philosophy” was Dr. Drain’s favorite. This is evidenced in his writings which include two editions of “Chiropractic Thoughts” and his last effort “Man Tomorrow.” Both were standard texts in the Texas Chiropractic College at one time. Due to his enthusiasm and success nine members of his family became chiropractors.
The International Chiropractic Association bulletin apologetically announced in November, 1929, that it had lost Dr. Kenneth Guy’s case in Dallas. Dr. W. J. Prather of Ft. Worth was tried February 4, 1930; Dr. C. L. Helms of Amarillo was found guilty and fined $73.70 and 1 hour in jail; Dr. W. H. Nelson of Houston had charges dropped on Friday, the 13th of August, 1951, and in Childress charges were filed against Dr. J. C. Cates and Dr. L. W. McClendon.
Dr. J. Tom Walker came to Cleburne about 1918 – and soon found himself arrested for practicing medicine without a license. Many of his patients were called to testify on his behalf and the rest were invited to have a picnic on the grounds of the courthouse in Johnson County the day of his trial.
The display of support both within and without the courtroom was persuasive enough to acquit him and he continued his practice in Cleburne until World War II caused the National Guard to be mobilized in which organization he was an officer; and he closed his office and went to war, ultimately retiring from military service as a Colonel about 1950.
Dr. C. J. Durston and Dr. Fleming had a case continued from 1917 into early 1918 in Cleburne. It is not known if it was ever tried or not.
Dr. John Halstead, investigating Cleburne as a site for opening his practice in the 1940s came to Dr. Walker’s office to see about taking over his practice when he left for the war. Walker told him to get a location and settle in – he was closing up and leaving. Dr. Halstead found a nearby place for $10.00 monthly rent, borrowed a bit of money for the other expenses and went to work in the good will vacuum left by Dr. Walker.
Dr. D. K. Diefenbrock of Fredericksburg diDn’t fare so well, falling upon hard times in the 1930s when his practicing medicine without a license conviction turned into a sentence served at hard labor. West Texas Doctors, inspired by Dr. H. H. Kennedy, took up a collection and paid for a half-page ad in the Fredericksburg paper upon his release in order to help him out.
Dr. John Hilty said his arrest and conviction for practicing medicine without a license did not add to his popularity or his prosperity, especially during his first years of practice since the country was already in a full time depression. The harassment didn’t get him down, however, and he went on to give many years profitable service to the Texas State Chiropractic Association. Dr. C. W. Billings of Dallas, later to become the first president of TSCA’s Gavel Club, was arrested but at the trial his jury didn’t waiver long – he was found innocent within 15 minutes.
But there was a kind of personality who not only didn’t particularly mind the jousting, it might even be said that such men thrived on the controversy.
Dr. Joseph Robert Frank Baier went into family practice, with father J. A., mother Elizabeth H., and a sister, Alice H., in San Antonio, then Seguin for a time.
Dr. Jodie, which was what everyone called him, and his sister, Dr. Alice, afterwards moved to Lufkin. The first year there he was charged with practicing medicine without a license 19 times.
His office being across from the courthouse, combined with the fact he had been charged so many times, soon made him a familiar figure. The sheriff would whistle out the courthouse window when his cases were called for trial. This enabled Dr. Jodie to continue his busy practice with as little interruption as possible.
When called, he would grab a spine and nerve chart and go to court. He was never convicted and usually got one or more members of the jury to come in for treatments later.
Dr. Baier has one other credit due him that must not be neglected. He was the prime motivating force that moved the Texas Chiropractic College from San Antonio to its present location in Pasadena.
Dr. Charles C. Lemly was one of the earliest fighters for recognition of chiropractic in Austin, which soon brought the forces of the enemy to his Waco doorstep. During his 28 years of legislative battles he was often charged with practicing medicine without a license but lost only one case. Lemly was vigorously defended by Pat M. Neff who found himself under fire in May, 1917, because he was such a supporter of the Texas State Chiropractic Association and constantly defended Lemly, who was a “sore spot under the medical saddle” at the time. Because of these activities the medical authorities tried but didn’t succeed in removing Neff from his position at Baylor University, where he was later appointed president.
Judge Frank Winter was another defense lawyer who very ably defended Texas chiropractors in the 1923 era. He was very popular and traveled extensively over Texas in defense work.
But back briefly to the story of Dan Moody, the fire-breathing candidate for the attorney general’s office. His promise that “if elected I’ll run every chiropractor out of Texas in six months” must have sounded good because he went all over the state repeating the refrain, sometimes saying he’d run them all into the Gulf of Mexico, sometimes it was that he was going to run them over the Red River, the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma. He was elected attorney general that year and later ran a successful campaign for Governor.
But running all the chiropractors out in any direction proved a tougher chore than he thought. Dr. F. L. Charlton, writing in 1937 said, “I guess the old boy didn’t realize what a hard job he was undertaking – now he is old and sick and the chiropractors are going fine in Texas."
Dr. D. G. McDonald, however, adds a bit of spice to the story, and says, “I don’t know that Moody ever went so far as to become a staunch friend of the chiropractors but in later years he mellowed his attitudes considerably. It seems he married a woman who took chiropractic adjustments regularly and her family did too.” And one day Clifford Stone, an assistant Attorney General under Moody, was sent to Mineola to help prosecute a chiropractor there, probably Dr. E. V. Bunn, who turned out to be an old school chum. When they had been boys together they had highly developed the art of “borrowing” watermelons from local farmers on hot summer evenings – and they renewed an old and pleasant friendship.
No one really knows what may have influenced Moody, but rumor has it that wives and friends do have mysterious ways of exerting subtle pressures. At any rate in his declining years he was considerably more lenient on the subject.
Governor James V. Allred revealed in June, 1937, that the patients of one convicted and jailed chiropractor approached him and asked the governor for a furlough for him stating that “a lot of his patients are going without treatment while he is being kept away."
Allred declined, and also refused to name the chiropractor involved.
The May 1940 issue of the Texas Chiropractor carried a report by Judge E. B. Simmons in which he comments on the current state of the cases of Dr. R. G. Moore of Amarillo, Dr. R. M. Craton and Dr. J. M. Cox, both of Shamrock, Dr. O. Brunner of Houston, Dr. R. C. Hartong of San Antonio, Dr. R. L. Turner of Dallas and Dr. M. E. Weddle of Greenville.
And in Brownwood special investigator Rowan filed four charges against Dr. H. A. Hoy, two against Dr. J. H. Ehrke and three against Dr. H. H. Canford.
There were many other prosecutions all over the state in those difficult years. There is no way all could be named, for which apologies are offered, because all certainly deserve to be remembered.