In his youth he worked as a farm hand; he later moved into railroading and eventually sold life insurance, at which he was successful.
It was at this time he was approached by a mysterious unnamed individual who claimed that he had a cure for drug addictions such as heroin, opium and alcoholism.
Towns was eventually sent by the US government to China to assist with the recovery of some of the 160 million drug addicts in the country.
He lobbied tirelessly to prohibit the sale of hypodermic needles unless prescribed, to pass laws against driving while impaired, and for drug and alcohol education at a time when the subjects were politely avoided.
Towns was making claims that his cure was guaranteed to work for any compulsive behavior, from morphinism to nicotinism to caffeinism, to kleptomania and bedwetting.
The third major ingredient was the dried bark or berries of Xanthoxylum americanum, or prickly ash,[9] added to help with diarrhea and intestinal cramps.
[13] The week following the treatment a diet of a special tonic and simple and easy to digest meals would relax the patient.
He had partnered with a physician named Dr. Mariette G. McGinnis for a couple of years, reportedly operating an opium cure business out of her office.
In June 1905, he operated his “cure” from 119 West 81st Street with McGinniss, a servant and a nurse, according to the New York City census.
He retained the 81st Street facility as an “annex” for people who could not afford treatment at the new hospital, with its 50 beds and rooftop solarium, on Central Park.
[16] After Towns’ death in 1947, his son Edward, a Columbia University graduate who practiced law until 1940, operated the hospital until it closed in 1965, after fifty years of treating alcoholics and addicts.
These were Habits That Handicap in 1915, which was given a review in the New York Times, Reclaiming the Drinker in 1931, and Alcohol and Drug Sickness in 1934.
It was Towns' belief that lack of occupation was the destroyer of men; helping the alcoholic was useless if the man had no job to which he could return.
On his last stay, beginning December 11, 1934, the date of his last drink, he showed signs of delirium tremens[20] and was treated with the Belladonna Cure.
Three days later, Wilson underwent a so-called “white light experience," also known as a spiritual awakening, which occurred on Friday, December 14, 1934.
[22] It was at Towns Hospital during this last stay that Wilson first read William James’ 1902 book, The Varieties of the Religious Experience, which Thatcher had brought to him.
[24] In July 1939, on the rooftop of the Towns Hospital, Charlie announced to Wilson that he told the AA story to a writer who would publish it in Liberty, which led to the sale of several hundred Big Books.