The new Texas Coop Power magazine has a nice brief article on Outlaw Healers, brothers Roscoe G. Milling and George R. Milling. "The Milling brothers, unlicensed medical men, claimed mysterious power over disease," says Gene Fowler, an Austin writer who specializes in history. The Milling brothers practiced what was sometimes called "magnetic healing", which Fowler says was "a combination of massage, faith healing, hypnotism and showmanship." There were numerous success stories in which patients testified to the efficacy of their work. These brothers did not have medical licenses, and seem to have often run afoul of the law. R. G., at least, was convicted for practicing medicine without a license. This may have been part of the incentive for his running a sanitarium at which he charged for room and board, but offered his services for free. G. R. ran a sanitarium in Glen Rose, Texas. He not only ran afoul of the law, but also of the spouse of one of his patients. While he may have rubbed the patient right, G. R.'s medical practice apparently rubbed the husband the wrong way. He shot G. R. Milling on the Glen Rose town square with a double-barreled shotgun.*
* In contrast, The Atlanta Constitution for Friday September 11, 1914 (page 5) included a notice that "...Dr. G. R. Milling...was accidentally shot and killed..."
See also Medicine Shows in The Handbook of Texas Online
2 comments:
My grandparents financed trips for my mother to accompany me to this sanitarium in the 1947 time period, I think for several years, from the time I was about two years old.
Interesting. Since the brothers were dead by then, who was running it then? How long did it stay open.
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