On March 14, 1908, police arrested Henry Bowers for public drunkenness. Bowers, known as Heenan, was a common drunk.

In an effort to cure him, his family employed a hypnotist to help him stay sober, and miraculously, Heenan went four months without a drop. Everyone thought he’d been cured of alcoholism.

But on this night, Heenan was drunk for the second time in three days. Hypnotism had failed, as had earlier treatments at the Waterbury Insane Asylum. It was bad news for Heenan, as he was sentenced to 60 days in the county jail. It was simply the latest chapter in a history of more than 40 incarcerations.

Image courtesy the Vermont Historical Society.