William Harvey Lillard

[1] Harvey Lillard was an African-American janitor[2] who worked in the Ryan Building in Brady Street, Davenport, Iowa.

Lillard added that he "could not hear the racket of a wagon on the street or the ticking of a watch.

"[7] When asked how he had become deaf he replied that, 17 years before, while bent over in a cramped, stooping position[8] he "heard something "pop" in his spine"[9] and immediately lost most of his hearing.

"[12] Palmer, in fact, thought Lillard's hearing loss was due to a misalignment that blocked the spinal nerves which control the inner ear, the so-called vertebral subluxation;[citation needed] he decided to push the vertebrae back into place[13] and, after a few days, Lillard said that his hearing was better and almost completely restored.

[14][15] Lillard described: I was deaf 17 years and I expected to always remain so, for I had doctored a great deal without any benefit.