Richard wrote
>Do any of you know what the Keeley cure is?  I should know this but don't,
>and couldn't find in it my collection of books on liquor and temperance.  I
>came across the term in a press accounts of aVirginia murder trial in 1907.
>Reporters wrote that the defendant had taken the Keeley cure in the 1890s
>to stop his binging and constant consumption of alcohol.  Any information
>or citations would be very helpful.
 
It's a great story but unfortunately there's not a lot written about it.
Keeeley was an ex-Civil War doctor who decided that he had discovered a
cure for alcohol and other drug addiction.  This secret formula was called
Double Bichloride of Gold and to get it you had to go to Keeley's hospital
to get it or to one of a chain of hospitals that he opened up to meet the
demand.  These places were generally well-run and besides getting your dose
of medicine you were treated for other physical ailments and engaged in a
type of proto-group therapy.  They even had a type of aftercare through the
use of Keeley Alumni Clubs.  The best surveys I know of are in H. Wayne
Morgan's two books <Yesterday's Addicts> and <Drugs in America: A Social
History.>  Also, Tim Hickman, a graduate student at UC Irvine, is doing
some interesting research in the area.  His e-mail is [log in to unmask]
Also, some of Jim Baumohl's stuff on doctors and inebriety in the late 19th
century contain references to it.
 
Hope this is of some help.
 
Mark C. Smith
American Studies
University of Texas at Austin