Search billions of records on Ancestry.com


Available Sources
Records

1875 A. T. Andreas Atlas
1880 Dubuque County History
Honorable William B. Allison
Eugene Anderson
Sanford A. Atherton
Honorable Isaac W. Baldwin
Dickson Beatty
F. E. Behrens
Henry Bockenstedt
John Bomacke
General Caleb Hoskins Booth
Nicholas Bray, M. D.
William Bray, M. D.
Edward Brown
John D. Bush
Edward Butler
Cascade Biographies
Dr. Rodolphus Clark
Bernhard Claus, Jr.
Frank W. Coates
Honorable Dennis Nelson Cooley
Reverend Mark Cooney
Hugh Corrance
Patrick F. Cunningham
Mell H. Cushing
Peter Dawson
John Driscoll
Charles Henry Eighmey
Jesse P. Farley
George Fengler
Mrs. Catherine Fries
Albert Gasser
Henry Gehrig
A. P. Gibbs
Theodor Goerdt
John R. Goldthorp
Honorable Julius Graves
Charles H. Gregoire
Ezra Gregory
Daniel Hallahan
Nicholas Hansen
Honorable Thomas Hardie
Henry Henkels
Rev. James Hill
Nancy R. Hill, M. D.
Asa Horr, M. D.
James Howie
Edward R. Jackson, M. D.
Francis Jaeger
Henry J. Jecklin
Reverend Clement Johannes
Evan E. Jones
General George Wallace Jones
John Kantlehner
Joseph K. Kaufmann
James Kelly
John Kleinschmidt
F. H. Klostermann
A. R. Knight
Honorable Frederick M. Knoll
Paul Lattner
Honorable Wendelin Lattner
Thomas Lochner
Christian Loetscher
Norton J. Loomis
Delos E. Lyon
J. E. Maguire, M. D.
W. A. Manhart
George Marshall
M. H. Martin
Honorable James McCann
Benjamin McCluer, M. D.
Susan Ann McCraney
A. S. McDermott
James and Martha McGee
James McGrath
M. F. McNamara
Jacob Michel
Charles Miller
Adam Mink
George Mollart
William J. Morgans
James Mullin
Dorrance Dixon Myers
Nicholas P. Nicks
Frederick R. Nitzsche, M. D.
J. J. E. Norman
Honorable Peter Olinger
Bernard J. O'Neill
John P. Page
Frank Paley
John Palmer
Rev. Frederick William Pape
Thomas Phillips
Joseph Platz
Andrew Rahe
Honorable James Rowan
Reverend Roger Ryan
George Salot
Colonel C. J. W. Saunders
John Sauser, Jr.
Joseph Schemmel
George Schmitt
Short Biographies
Joseph Simones
John F. Sloan
Charles F. Smyth
Johanna (Baker) Specht
Ralph Spensley
Daniel Stallard
J. Peter Stendebach
Honorable William W. Stewart
Oren Stuart, M. D.
James Sweeney
John Tibey
Paul Traut
Matthew Tschirgi
Hon. Christian Anton Voelker
Chester H. Walker
William Watson, M. D.
F. W. Wieland
Louis Witter
Jacob Zollicoffer

DISCLAIMER:
You are free to use the information found on Dubuque Genealogy for research purposes. It is not for resale.


Dubuque Genealogy Coordinator

HOME

Logo by Ginger Cisewski


John Palmer
Extracted from Portrait and Biographical Record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton Counties, Iowa, 1894 Reprinted by Higginson Book Co., Salem, Massachusetts, p. 119

JOHN PALMER, a retired farmer, now living in Dubuque, is numbered among the early settlers of this county and has witnessed much of its growth and development. A native of Christian County, Ky., he was born on the 3d of August, 1814, and is a son of Edward Palmer, a native of Virginia, who died in Galena Ill., in 1828. The paternal grandfather, James Palmer, was a 'native of Virginia, and was descended from English ancestors who located in the Old Dominion prior to the Revolutionary War The mother of our subject, who bore the maiden name of Rebecca Patton, was also a native of Virginia, and her death occurred in 1836.

John Palmer, whose name heads this record, spent the first fourteen years of his life in Kentucky, and then accompanied his father to Galena, Ill., with a keel boat loaded with provisions; this was in 1828. He died a few months thereafter. His educational privileges were meager, for the schools of the community were of an inferior quality. In 1832 he enlisted in the Black Hawk War and served through that struggle. At the age of nineteen he began working in the lead mines of Galena, and carried on business in that way for a number of years. In 1833 we find him in Dubuque, where he has since made his home, one of the oldest residents of the city. During all these years he has been interested in lead mining and now owns much valuable mining property. He also has a rich tract of land of one hundred and sixty acres just outside the city limits.

In 1836 Mr. Palmer was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Gwyther, who died in 1870, leaving four children, a son and three daughters, of whom two are yet living: Edward, now a civil engineer of South Dakota, and Mrs. Martlla E. Graham, of Hardin County, Iowa. For his second wife Mr. Palmer chose Mrs. Mary D. Graffort, a widow of John D. Graffort, whom she married in 1843, and who died in 1874. Mrs. Palmer was born in Greenville, Ill., in 1822, and is a daughter of H.T. Camp, a native of Georgia, who at an early day settled in Illinois and thence came to Dubuque on the 10th of September, 1832. He was Captain of a company in the Black Hawk War, served for two terms in the State Legislature during pioneer days; and was prominently identified with the early history of this state. He was born February 27, 1799, and died March 4, 1837. He was one of the committee who selected the Jackson Park Cemetery of Dubuque. In politics he was a stanch Democrat of the Jackson type, took an active part in political affairs and served as Sheriff of Bond County, Ill., for a number of years. He was always interested in the work of public improvement and gave his support to all enterprises calculated to promote the general welfare. With the Methodist Church he held membership, and Mrs. Palmer heard the first sermon ever delivered in Dubuque. Her mother bore the maiden name of Sarah B. Kirkpatrick, and was of Scotch descent. She was born in Georgia, and died in May, 1865. Mr. Camp owned considerable property in Dubuque and for a number of years was engaged in mining.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, was celebrated on the 17th of April, 1878. They reside at No. 240 Nevada Street, where they have a pleasant home, surrounded by all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. Mr. Palmer has always been temperate in his habits, fair and honorable in his dealings and straightforward and upright in all the relations of life. He has witnessed almost the entire growth and development of this cityand has always done his part in the work of advancement and up building. He holds membership with the Old Settlers' Association. His well directed efforts in business and his enterprise and perseverance gained him the capital which now enables him to enjoy a well earned rest. In politics he was an old-line Whig, and a great admirer of Henry Clay, but is now a Republican.

Site maintained by Julia Krapfl | Copyright © 1996-2004 | Page updated 5 October 2004
Designed by Kelly Krapfl