“Day of Miracles Not Obsolete”, reads a headline in the Daily Bulletin from November 6 of 1907. The “world’s greatest healer”, Professor E.B. Garner, was preparing to open Professor Garner’s Institute of Healing in Brownwood. In the meantime, the “modest and unassuming Miracle worker”, as described by the newspaper, was available for consultations at the Harper Hotel, a building that still stands today, currently a nail salon located at 106 South Broadway.

An entire news page is devoted to entrancing endorsements regarding the “healing hands” of the professor’s magnetic therapy sessions. “A reputation for marvelous cures had preceded him and his advent here sixteen months ago was awaited by hundreds of suffering humanity who besieged his office and found the relief they had sought in vain for years,” the Bulletin enthused. The reporter, who is not named, but probably was the editor, was seemingly himself gripped by the contagious excitement over the medical miracles that were performed right here in our town!

“You no doubt thought us ungrateful for not writing a testimonial on the wonderful cure you affected in our little Ruth,” reads one reference in the article. “The fact is, Doctor, we had expected to visit Brownwood and see you personally, and bring with us our baby, who you unquestionably snatched from the brink of the grave. When we left our farm home we were reconciled to the fact that unless you could restore her to health, there was no hope for her. We had heard of the man in Brownwood who was performing miracles, so with heavy hearts, hoping at times against hope, we set out to see you. You know the rest. Ten of your magnetic treatments put life into the dead limbs, the paralysis disappeared and the power of perfect locomotion was restored. Little Ruth has never been sick a day since you discharged her. She has full use of both legs and the one affected arm, and as grateful parents we give full praise to your wonderful skill. You are at full liberty to use this feeble heartfelt testimony, as it may be the means of leading others so afflicted to your Shrine of Healing. Yours gratefully, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dyer, Ebony, Mills County, Texas.”

Travelling magnetic healers were a thing in the early 20th Century, and grandiose claims to cure any illness had people flocking to them across Europe and the US. The first most famous magnetic healer, and arguably the first, was Franz Mesmer, a popular practitioner who performed public healing rituals involving magnets throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Mesmer opened a magnetic healing institute in Paris, where adherents were trained. From Mesmer’s colorful career came the word mesmerized. Mesmer passed magnets over his patients and many testified to the efficacy of these sessions, claiming complete healing. Eventually, Mesmer gave up the use of magnets altogether, as he said his hands themselves now held electromagnetic powers of restoration. He began to perform mass hypnosis sessions on his crowds of followers. Adherents to Mesmer’s teachings opened shop in the US, including one run by a Professor W.D. Jones of Indiana, who claimed affiliation with a National School of Magnetic Healing in Illinois. Such practices were eventually shut down on the grounds of false advertising.

I am pretty sure Professor Garner’s Healing Institute never materialized in Brownwood, but the photo above still gives me pause. There is no caption for this photo, which was printed as part of a second article I found about the Professor, published by the Bulletin in 1909. The paper again praised Garner’s powers of healing, stating he “…cured the worst forms of disease known in Brownwood or in the state”, and that “…the good people of Brownwood have kept him here.”

Judging from the dates of both articles, Garner practiced magnetic healing in Brownwood for over 3 years, maybe longer. A photo of the man shows a dapper looking gentleman, with one heck of a well waxed mustache. Garner seems to fall off the radar after 1909, at least I was not able to find any further mention of him. So what happened to Garner and his plans? Did he get run out of town for malpractice, shut down by greedy corporate interests or simply fade away into the ether further West? We may never know. We do know that the 18th and 19th century magnetic healing phenomenon, seemingly part circus, part religious ceremony, held, for a short time, quite a few believers in Brownwood spellbound.

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Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns appear Thursdays on BrownwoodNews.com