USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 9 > Part 5
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sessions of Walter Palmer within Char- lestown are given as: "two acres of land in the east field putting south on the back street, with a dwelling house and other appurtenances, five acres of arable land, milch cow, commons six and a quarter, four acres more or less in the line field, eight acres of meadow lying in the Mystic marshes, four acres of meadow lying in the Mystic Meadows, five acres of wood- land in Mystic Field, five acres of meadow on the west of Mount Prospect, thirty acres of woodland, eighty-six acres of land situate in the waterfield." In the first division of lands on the Mystic side, Walter Palmer and his son John received their proportion about 1643. On the 24th day of the eighth month, the men who had agreed to found a new town met in Wey- mouth to prepare for the settlement of a place which was to be at Seacunke. Wal- ter Palmer and William Cheseborough, who were thereafter closely associated, were of these. In 1645 this settlement was assigned to jurisdiction of Plymouth Colony, and Walter Palmer was its rep- resentative in the General Court. The name Seacunke was changed to Rehoboth. At this time Walter Palmer gave the value of his estate as £419. In 1653 Wil- liam Cheseborough and Walter Palmer removed to the newly selected place of Wequetoquoc, afterward called Souther- ton and now Stonington, Connecticut. Here Walter Palmer became the owner of about 1200 acres of land, part of which lay on the eastern slope of Togwonk. crossing Auguilla brook. Walter Palmer made his will, May 19, 1658, which was approved by the General Court, May II, 1662. He married (first) in England, Ann, who is said to have been called Elisabeth to distinguish her from her mother. He married (second), probably in Roxbury, Massachusetts, Rebecca Short. She had been admitted a member
of Rev. John Eliot's first church. She and her husband, and his daughter, Grace Palmer, together joined the first church of Charlestown in 1632.
(II) Jonas Palmer, fourth child and third son of Walter and Ann (or Elisa- beth) Palmer, whose date of birth is un- known, came in 1628 with his father to Rehoboth, where he died June 22, 1709. By the terms of his father's will he in- herited one-half of the farin in Rehoboth, then in Plymouth county, now in Bristol county, Massachusetts. He married, in Rehoboth, May 3, 1655, Elizabeth Gris- sell, born about 1641, daughter of Francis and Mary Grissell, of Charlestown, for- merly of Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was buried in Rehoboth, February 11, 1692.
(III) Samuel Palmer, eldest son of Jonas and Elizabeth (Grissell) Palmer, was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, November 20, 1659, and died in Wind- ham, November 18, 1743. He served under Major William Bradford in the Narragansett swamp fight in 1676. In 1741, with others, he purchased land in that part of Windham, Connec- ticut, called "Scotland." On March 17, 1702, he sold his house, barn and orchards, home lot, all of forty-three acres, together with six and one-half acres of his west pasture and other parcels of land. His will, dated July 11, 1728, is on record at Willimantic. He married, in Rehoboth, December 29, 1680, Elizabeth Kinsley, born there January 29. 1662, daughter of Eldad and Mehitable (French) Kinsley, died in Windham, May 16, 1717. Their second son was Samuel, of whom further.
(IV) Samuel (2) Palmer, son of Sam- uel (1) and Elizabeth (Kinsley) Palmer, was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, January 4, 1683. He sold land in Wind- ham, December 7, 1741, and again in 1745 to his son, Aaron. Subsequently he pur-
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chased from another son II0 acres in Windham and Canterbury. Samuel Pal- mer married, in Windham, April 8, 1707, Hepsibah Abbe, born February 14, 1689, in Salem Village, now Danvers, Massa- chusetts, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Knowlton) Abbe. She was a grand- daughter of John Abbe, who was born about 1613, in England, was founder of the American family of that name, and died about 1689-90, in Salem. His wife, Mary, who accompanied him from Eng- land, was born about 1615-20, and died in Wenham, Massachusetts, September 6, 1672. Their son, Samuel Abbe, born about 1646, probably at Wenham, was an early resident of Windham. Connecticut, where he died March 16, 1698. He mar- ried, in Wenham, October 12, 1672, Mary Knowlton, born in 1653, daughter of Wil- liam and Elizabeth Knowlton, of that town. They were the parents of Hepsi- bah Abbe, wife of Samuel Palmer, as above noted.
(V) Rev. John Palmer, fifth son of Samuel (2) and Hepsibah (Abbe) Pal- mer, born March 6, 1721, in Windham, Connecticut, died in that part of the town now Scotland, August 13, 1807. He was a noted Separatist minister, a man of sin- gular strength and independence of char- acter. Because of his non-conformity to the established or Congregational order, he was imprisoned for a period of four months in Hartford. This simply in- creased his zeal, and he built up a very large and powerful church known as the Brunswick Church, located about one mile southeast of Scotland Village. He was ordained as its pastor, May 17, 1749, and continued in that capacity many years. He married, May 18, 1749, Ester Cleve- land, born November 5, 1727, in Canter- bury, Connecticut, died October 28, 1754, in Scotland, daughter of Benjamin and Anne (Church) Cleveland, granddaughter
of Aaron Cleveland, great-granddaughter of Moses Cleveland, founder of the family in this country. Her mother, Anne (Church) Cleveland, was a daughter of John and Sarah (Bradley) Church, of Hartford.
(VI) Captain Levi Palmer, only child of Rev. John Palmer and his wife, Ester (Cleveland) Palmer, was born February 7, 1750, in Windham, Connecticut, and lived at Bashan, in East Haddam, Con- necticut, where he was a very prominent citizen. He married, July 21, 1767, Eliza- beth Cone, born July 3, 1751, in East Haddam, daughter of Jonah and Eliza- beth (Gates) Cone, of that town.
(VII) Aaron Cone Palmer, second son of Captain Levi Palmer and his wife, Elizabeth (Cone) Palmer, was born Feb- ruary 5, 1773, in Bashan, Connecticut, and died January 5, 1858. He married, May I, 1796, Azubah Brainerd, born July 6, 1778, in Millington Society of East Haddam, third daughter of Enoch and Prudence (Hungerford) Brainerd, of that town, de- scended from Daniel Brainerd, one of the founders of the town of Haddam, who came thither from Hartford and is else- where mentioned at length in this work, with several of his descendants.
(VIII) Levi (2) Palmer, son of Aaron Cone and Azubah (Brainerd) Palmer, born March 15, 1818, at Bashan, Connecticut, died June 23, 1845, at the age of twenty- seven years, in Norwich, Connecticut. He married, August 8, 1838, Elizabeth Ann Flood, widow of Lorin Flood, born July 29, 1820, in Lebanon, Connecticut, daugh- ter of James and Lois (Loomis) Bigelow. (IX) Frederick Augustus Palmer, son of Ievi (2) and Elizabeth Ann (Bigelow- Flood) Palmer, was born June 13, 1839, in Westchester, in the town of Colchester, Connecticut, and there and in Bashan passed his early boyhood. He attended school in Greenville, Connecticut, and the
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high school at Norwich. Following the death of his father, when he was but six years of age, he lived with Willard Bliss, whose wife was an aunt, a manufacturer of satinette warp at Lisbon, Connecticut. He also lived for a time with George Smith, of Norwich, whose wife was an aunt. When about fourteen years of age he started out to make his own way in the world, and became a clerk in a whole- sale drug store at Norwich, where he con- tinued about a year. Subsequently, for some five years, he was a clerk in the dry goods store of Ely & Company at Nor- wich. When about twenty years old, he began reading law with Jeremiah Halsey, of Norwich, but did not seek admission to the bar at that time. Later, while resid- ing in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was connected with a business house, he was offered the charge of a department store in Des Moines, Iowa, which he ac- cepted, and remained through the winter of 1860-61.
In the spring of the latter year he re- turned to Connecticut, was active in re- cruiting, and enlisted as a soldier of the Civil War at Norwich, becoming a mem- ber of Company E, Eighteenth Connecti- cut Volunteers, and was commissioned by Governor Buckingham as first lieutenant. With his regiment he went to Perryville, Maryland, to guard the ferry between that point and Havre de Grace. Later he was stationed at Fort McHenry in Baltimore as a member of a General Court Martial, and thence proceeded to Winchester, Vir- ginia, where he was assigned to similar duty. Before this time he had been pro- moted captain, and was soon summoned to headquarters at Winchester, where he was appointed confidential aide on Gen- eral Milroy's staff. A warm friendship existed between these two officers. Soon after this command, the Second Division, Eighth Army Corps, preceding the battle
of Gettysburg, was dispersed, and with- drew from Winchester, and Captain Palmer was ordered to report with Gen- eral Milroy to General Robert C. Schenk at Baltimore. General Milroy was ordered to Washington, and Captain Palmer ac- companied him. Young Palmer was found to be a valuable officer, and while in Baltimore he was sent by request to join his regiment at Martinsburg, Vir- ginia, where he spent the winter of 1863- 64. Because of insufficient equipment of the camp at that point, he was taken ill and was quartered in the city of Martins- burg, and made provost marshal. Soon after his appointment as provost marshal, among the pleasant, but trying, duties which he performed in that position was the oversight of the family of the Rebel minister to France-Faulkner, and Mrs. Myra Clark Gaines, of New Orleans, who also came under his charge. One of his able aides was the noted spy. Belle Boyd. He was also active as judge advocate to the court martial in ousting the horde of gamblers who had gathered around the headquarters in Martinsburg. After sending part of them to the penitentiary he succeeded in driving the rest away. From Martinsburg he was sent to Har- per's Ferry, where he was appointed per- manent officer of the day. On account of his exposures while at Martinsburg he was taken with a severe attack of bron- chitis and was removed to a hospital at Frederick City, Maryland. After some time there he was sent to Hartford, Con- necticut, and discharged on account of physical disability.
In order to recover his health he pur- chased a farm in Andover, Connecticut, which he continued to till for one year, and then removed to Manchester, same State, where he owned in succession two different residences. From Manchester, he removed to Groton, Connecticut, oc-
Conn-10-3
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cupying the Stafford place, and in the fall of 1871 went to New York and was active in labor and other affairs of that city. In 1873, while secretary of the United Labor party, he drafted the platform of that or- ganization, and before the close of that year went to Europe in an effort to secure patents on electric machines of his own invention and in the interests of his or- ganization. In this, however, he was only partly successful, and returning to New York be became secretary of the Keyser Stove Works. Because of its engage- ment on contracts with the Tweed admin- istration, this establishment failed in busi- ness and Mr. Palmer united with Mr. Keyser, who was also interested in phil- anthropical work, owning jointly several thousand acres of land near Aiken, South Carolina. They sought to establish a colony, known as New Hope, for the benefit of the freedmen and involuntary poor of New York, and while here Mr. Palmer in charge gained the love and de- votion of many of the colored people and local whites, but was not able to make a success of the Colony and this in time was abandoned. During this period, re- construction days, he was a member of the South Carolina Legislature in session at Columbia, and was very active in pro- moting the public interests, drafting sev- eral bills. While conducting his Colony he earned the enmity of the "Ku Klux" and their sympathizers, and his life was many times threatened and in danger, but he escaped by the Grace of God and through the devotion and loyalty of many friends, white and colored.
In 1874 he returned from Europe, and in 1878 organized the Palmer Galvanic Bed Company, which engaged in the manufac- ture of metal beds and is still, 1919, doing business under his sole control as presi- dent, and of which he has always been major stockholder. In 1863, while on re-
cruiting duty in Connecticut, his admis- sion to the bar at Norwich was recorded by Chief Justice Parke, who convened Court in the evening for that purpose. Al- though he never engaged in practice, he found his knowledge of the law to be very useful on various occasions. Mr. Palmer is a man of versatile gifts, and has written and spoken much in the interests of humanity. While in South Carolina it was his custom to address the colored people on religious topics, and he was revered by them as an unselfish teacher.
His first wife, Mary (Stafford) Palmer, daughter of Robert Stafford, of Cumber- land Island, Georgia, was a refined, culti- vated woman. His second wife, Mrs. Elizabeth (Daniels) Palmer, who died in 1892, was a woman of remarkable tal- ents, artist, lecturer and spiritualistic medium. Through her as his guide there developed in Mr. Palmer a great and mag- netic healing power. This he exercised free gratis for over a year at his office, Twenty- seventh street and Broadway, New York City, with great success. He has been a newspaper correspondent, and has de- livered many public addresses on spir- itualism and labor. Among the most noted of his addresses may be mentioned that at Columbia, South Carolina, on the One Hundredth Anniversary of American Independence. It has been preserved in a book devoted to famous orations on the occasion of the American Centennial, which is now found in all good libraries. This address was in extemporaneous verse and is well worthy of a place in American literature; a copy of it closes this article. At the celebration of the Burns Anniversary at Des Moines, Iowa, Mr. Palmer delivered the address of the occasion and so impressed John A. Kas- son, subsequently a noted public official and later Ambassador to Russia, that the latter offered Mr. Palmer his law practice
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if he would remain there and engage in law work. Another warm friend with whom he became associated at Des Moines was J. C. Savery, later a very prominent citizen of the State, a partner in the firm of Nolan & Savery, of whose store he had charge at that time. While residing in New York he was invited by Henry Ward Beecher, pastor of the fam- ous Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, to de- liver an address on the situation in 1877, in that church, which he did, to a capacity audience.
During his active career, Mr. Palmer has been the owner of many handsome homes. Two of these were at Manches- ter, Connecticut. At one time he owned the original homestead of Governor Jon- athan Trumbull (the brother Jonathan of Revolutionary times) at Lebanon. He also lived at Bayside and Flushing, Long Island, Norwalk and New Canaan, Con- necticut. In 1910 he took up his residence in Middletown, Connecticut, and for sev- eral years owned one of the fine old places on Washington street in that city. It is scarcely worth while to note that he has long been highly influential in the coun- cils of the Republican party, though he has never sought any office for himself. His acquaintance in his native State is very wide, as well as in New York and other states. Mr. Palmer spent many winters in Washington, and became in- timately acquainted with President Lin- coln during his war activities. He was also personally acquainted with Presi- dents Grant, Hayes and Mckinley, and during the activities of the Electoral Com- mission in 1877 he wrote for President Hayes an account of the situation in South Carolina, during the campaign of the previous autumn when Mr. Palmer was active in the politics of that State. He was a member of the Niantic Club, of Flushing, New York, and the Knob Club,
of Norwalk, Connecticut. He was long a member of the Larchmont Yacht Club, of New York, and was owner of the "Richmond," one of the famous vessels in its fleet. He was also interested in fine horses and kept at various times very speedy trotters. On going to Middletown, he joined the Middletown Club and the Middletown Yacht Club. He is a life member of Brainerd Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of New London, with which he became affiliated in early life, and in which at one time he filled an important office. Outside of any formal organizations, he numbers scores among his warm and appreciative friends.
Mr. Palmer married (first), in 1860, Mary Stafford, daughter of Robert Staf- ford, one of the greatest producers of Sea Island cotton. She was for many years an inmate of the family of the Hon. Lafay- ette S. Foster, a man long distinguished in the national public service. He mar- ried (second) Mrs. Elizabeth Daniels, of Boston, who died in 1892. His third wife, Adelaide L. (Moore) Palmer, of Brook- lyn, New York, died in 1916. Two daughters of the first wife died in girl- hood. His only surviving child is Fred- erick Levi, of whom further.
(X) Frederick Levi Palmer, son of Frederick Augustus and Adelaide L. (Moore) Palmer, was born May 11, 1895, at Bayside, Long Island. He is now a member of the United States Naval Re- serve, at present on inactive duty, sub- ject to call. During the recent World War, he was in service at the naval base in New Haven, Connecticut, and at Pel- ham Bay, New York, as a motorist and otherwise. He enlisted May 17, 1917, for a period of four years, and is now at- tached to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He is an enthusiastic motorist, and is thus qualified to render valuable service at headquarters.
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The following is the Centennial Ad- dress by Mr. Frederick A. Palmer, men- tioned heretofore :
CENTENNIAL ADDRESS.
A noble band of patriots with faces all aglow Stood in the Halls of Congress one hundred years ago;
Stood side by side, as they had stood upon the battle field,
When they compelled the troops of England's King to yield.
The enemies of Liberty sat silent, pale and still While these brave men prayed God to know and do his will;
It was an hour when Justice was trembling in the scales,
When God from man the future in tender mercy veils.
These brave men knew that they must act for children yet unborn.
They sealed the Nation's destiny upon that glori- ous morn,
When each man pledged his all for Right, for Liberty and Peace
Forever sacred to our hearts shall be such men as these.
"Tis true they left a stain upon our banner fold,
But we have wiped it out with blood and paid for it in gold;
'These patriots fought for Liberty, and pledged themselves to stand
For Freedom, Right, and Justice, a firm unbroken band.
But while they threw their own chains off, they bound in bonds more strong,
The bands that held the colored man in misery and wrong ;
But soon or late all wrong comes right, for such is God's decree,
And in His own good time He set the black man free.
It was not some one favored State, North, South, East or West,
That gave the true brave signers of that Declara- tion blest ;
No; each State gave her patriots who bore their noble share,
And when the Nation's work was done, each State had proud names there.
Let us clasp hands, to work as one, for all the Nation's good
And stand together as one man, as once our fathers stood;
Behold, how short the time has been, but one brief hundred years,
To plant the tree of Liberty and water it with tears.
Brave men have fallen on the field, to guard that sacred tree,
To save it from all vandal hands our aim shall ever be ;
Altho' we still have many faults, our Nation yet is young;
And we will carry out the work which these brave men begun.
We live in freedom; let us clasp each other by the hand;
In love and unity abide, a firm, unbroken band; We cannot live divided; the Union is secure ;
God grant that while men live and love, this Na- tion may endure.
(The Bigelow Line).
(I) The Bigelow family, from which Mr. Palmer descended, was founded by John Biglo, who was baptized February 16, 1617, in England, and was an early resident of Watertown, Massachusetts, where he died July 14, 1703. The name is found in both English and American Colonial records with a great variety of spellings, sometimes written "Boglo" "Beguley," and was written by John Bige- low, "Biglo." It is from the Anglo-Saxon "Biggan" (big), and "Hleaw" or "Hlaw" (a hill, or barrow), the place of residence of the person who first assumed it as a surname. John Biglo married, in Water- town, October 30, 1642, Mary Warren, who was a native of England, and died October 19, 1691.
(II) Joshua Bigelow, fifth son of John and Mary (Warren) Biglo, born Novem- ber 5, 1655, in Watertown, Massachusetts, served in King Philip's War, and received a grant of land in Narragansett No. 2, now the town of Westminster, Massachusetts. He passed most of his life in Watertown, and was executor of his father's will. In his eighty-seventh year he removed to Westminster, June 9, 1742, with his son, and died there February 1, 1745. He married, October 20, 1676, in Watertown, Elizabeth Flagg, born there March 22, 1657, died August 9, 1729, daughter of Thomas and Mary Flagg. They were the parents of twelve children.
(III) Lieutenant John (2) Bigelow, third son of Joshua and Elizabeth (Flagg) Bigelow, born December 20, 1681, in
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Watertown, Massachusetts, lived for some years in Hartford, Connecticut, whence he removed to Colchester, same colony. There he built a house in 1710 on Bulkeley Hill, at that time the most elegant house in the town, and a land- mark until recent years. There he died March 8, 1770. He married (second), in Hartford, November 4, 1709, his cousin, Sarah Bigelow, daughter of Jonathan and Rebecca (Shepard) Bigelow, of Hart- ford. She was a tailoress and brought her husband a bushel of silver, which she had earned with her needle, and which fur- nished the means of building their elegant home in Colchester. There she died Octo- ber 13, 1754.
(IV) Asa Bigelow, son of Lieutenant John (2) and Sarah (Bigelow) Bigelow, born September 3, 1720, in Colchester. Connecticut, lived there on the farm of his father, and died October 9, 1754, at the age of thirty-four years. While prepar- ing for college, he met Dorothy Otis and was so smitten that he was unable to pur- sue his studies and abandoned them. She was born in 1721, and died October 20, 1794. They were married December 13, 1737, when he was seventeen years of age and she sixteen.
(V) Jonathan Bigelow, son of Asa and Dorothy (Otis) Bigelow, born August 10, 1740, in Colchester, Connecticut, lived in his grandfather's homestead on Bulkeley Hill, and died January 13, 1823. He mar- ried, May 24, 1759, Elizabeth Otis, born in 1736, daughter of James and Sarah (Tudor) Otis.
(VI) James Bigelow, son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Otis) Bigelow, born March 16, 1764, lived in Colchester, Con- necticut, and died November 23, 1840. He married, November 13, 1783, Anna Day, who died October 25, 1825.
(VII) James (2) Bigelow, son of James (1) and Anna (Day) Bigelow, lived in Colchester, where he married, March 20,
1819, Lois Loomis, who was born Janu- ary 2, 1804, daughter of Samnel and Bet- sey (Dunham) Loomis.
(VIII) Elizabeth Ann Bigelow, dauglı- ter of James (2) and Lois (Loomis) Bige- low, born September 9, 1820, became the wife of Levi Palmer, of East Haddam, as previously stated.
STARR, General Elihu William Nathan, Faithful Public Servant.
In various capacities, civil and military, General Starr served well his generation, and especially in his home town of Mid- dletown, Connecticut, was he useful, faithful and indefatigable. His character was what might be expected from one inheriting the blood and disposition of his New England forbears.
(I) The family of Starr is found of record in England as early as January, 1584, at Cranbrook, County Kent. Dr. Comfort Starr, the progenitor of this fam- ily in America, was baptized at Cranbrook, July 7, 1589. He removed to Ashford in the same county before 1615, where he was a man of some means and professional skill, and whence he emigrated to Amer- ica in 1635, sailing from Sandwich in the ship "Hercules." He lived for a few years in Cambridge, his house being on or near the Harvard College grounds, removing to Duxbury and finally to Boston, where he spent the last years of his life and died January 2, 1660. The deed conveying his Duxbury home was witnessed by Cap- tain Miles Standish and is among the treasures preserved in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth. The date of his marriage to his wife, Elizabeth, has not been discov- ered and her parentage and date of birth are unknown. She died in Boston, June 25, 1658, aged sixty-three years. They were the parents of eight children, all born in England.
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