1/3/2010:
W. N. Kennedy, self-proclaimed fortune-teller, was arrested in Bottineau, North Dakota, on this date in 1899 for practicing medicine without a license. Kennedy had been working in Bottineau "for some time." Also billed as a dwarf, Kennedy described himself as a "great living wonder" and a divine healer, in addition to his divinatory powers. Since the time of the Egyptians, dwarves have been believed to be imbued with special powers, and at the turn of the century, many traveling dwarves made a living off these superstitions. In 1891, the New York Times reported that in Moroccon communities, dwarves were considered healers, granted the power to cure by God himself. This would lend some credibility to Kennedy's claims, but the Bottineau court didn't see it that way and sentenced Kennedy to a fine of $50 and thirty days in jail.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
Fargo Forum and Daily Republican. Tuesday (Evening ed.), January 3, 1899: p.1.
The New York Times. Wednesday, September 27, 1891: p. 4.
http://www.pacificnews.org/jinn/stories/3.17/970814-carnival.html
http://www.syl.com/astrology/oracledivinationswereapartofgreekmythology.html