Legislator Details
Vital Records Information:
Marital Information:
married Lizzie P. Merrill, dau. of Charles P. Merrill, 1855; children: Harold (adopted)
Number of Children: 1
Background
Education:
attended Thompson’s Academy in Palmer (now St. Clair), MI & University of Michigan at Ann Arbor;
Biographical Sketch:
Son of Thomas and Mary Palmer; his mother was a daughter of Judge James Witherell. He traveled to Spain and South America; engaged in lumbering & agricultural pursuits. He was in business in Wisconsin 1850-51 but returned to Detroit in 1853 and worke din real estate. He had interests in the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Co., the Lake Michigan Navigation Co, the Frontier Iron Works, the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Co., and the Iron Silver Mining Co. of Leadville, CO. Retired to his Wayne Co. farm near Detroit, MI. Elected to the Detroit Board of Estimates, 1873; member of the Masons.
Notable Facts:
Elected to the US Senate 1883-1889. Appointed US Minister to Spain in 1889 by Pres. B. Harrison, served for 2 yrs; president of the National Commission of the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago 1890-1893. One of the founders of the Detroit Museum of Art.
Detroit's Palmer Park was donated by Mr. Palmer. Palmer Field for women's athletics at University of Michigan was also a gift from Palmer.