Clare Williamson's Will Changed Her Life

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At the dock, Clare Williamson was barely conscious. Under the supervision of Dr. Linda Hazard's attorney, Clare wrote that in the event of her 25 sterling pounds per year, she'd go to the Hazard Institute of Natural Therapeutics. The sanitarium, Clarendorra had seen advertised, had charming cabins and manicured grounds. But when they got there, it wasn't that at all.

In 1911, two sisters traveled to Seattle to meet a "doctor" named Linda Hazzard. The sisters didn’t seem very sick, but when they arrived, Dr. Hazzard told them they didn’t have a moment to lose – they needed to begin her treatment right away.

A few months later, one of the sisters wrote a letter to her old governess. “I am wonderfully better in fact,” she said, “getting stronger by leaps.” But her handwriting was messier than usual, and her sentences ran together and overlapped.

You can find Gregg Olsen’s book, Starvation Heights, here.

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