Lorenzo Fowler is born on an Ohio farm in 1811, two years after his brother, Orson Squire Fowler. He first encounters phrenology at Amherst College, taught by Dr. Charles Caldwell. After graduating, he plans to enter Lane Theological Seminary to become a minister until he and Orson conduct roving lectures on “reading heads” that become wildly popular. The brothers then open a phrenology center in NYC, publish the American Phrenological Journal, and their 1836 book, Phrenology, Proved, Illustrated and Applied. From 1840 to 1885 the brothers become famous in the U.S. and Europe, despite attacks by critics. Among the celebrities who submit to a “reading” is Mark Twain, told of a “total lack of a sense of humor” linked to a facial “cavity” before revealing his name and receiving a do-over.
Lorenzo Niles Fowler
