Joseph Palmer (American Revolutionary War general)
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Joseph Palmer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 31, 1716 |
| Died | December 25, 1788 (aged 72) |
| Conflicts | |
| Spouse |
Mary Cranch
(m. 1746; died 1788) |
| Children | Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph Pearse Palmer |
| Relations | Nathaniel Peabody (son-in-law), Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, and Sophia Amelia Peabody Hawthorne (granddaughters) |
Joseph Palmer (March 31, 1716 – December 25, 1788) was an English-American general during the American Revolutionary War, beginning with the Siege of Boston and the Battle of Lexington. A Cambridge Committee of Safety member, he issued the Lexington Alarm dispatch for Israel Bissell to ride to warn that the war with Britain had begun. Palmer went on intelligence-gathering missions in Vermont and Rhode Island. George Washington issued letters of commendation to Palmer for his service.
Palmer made a fortune before the war, and lost it after the war. Due to the kindness of Abigail Adams, his wife Elizabeth and their daughters lived at her Old House (in Quincy, Massachusetts) after Palmer's death. Elizabeth died two years later. His son Joseph Pearse Palmer attended Harvard College, participated in the Boston Tea Party, and fought with his father during the war. Joseph Pearse Palmer and Elizabeth Hunt Palmer were the parents of Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, and Sophia Amelia Peabody Hawthorne.
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Palmer was born at Shaugh Prior, Devonshire, England, on March 31, 1716,[1] a son of John and Joan Palmer, née Pearse.[2] He married Mary Cranch in 1746[3][4] and emigrated to Massachusetts later that year with his brother-in-law Richard Cranch.[3]
Palmer and Mary had two daughters, Mary (Polly) and Elizabeth.[5] Their son Joseph Pearse Palmer attended Harvard College.[4] He participated in the Boston Tea Party (December 16, 1773).[6] Joseph tutored Elizabeth Hunt in history, geography, and arithmetic, meeting secretly. He courted her, and the couple eloped in 1772.[6] They first lived in Watertown and then Germantown. The Palmers had nine children, one of whom was Elizabeth Palmer, wife of Nathaniel Peabody and mother of Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, and Sophia Amelia Peabody Hawthorne.[4] Elizabeth taught her daughters the three Rs when they were young and read William Shakespeare to them.[4] Son Joseph was good friends with Royall Tyler, who lived with the Palmers in their Boston boardinghouse.[4]
Massachusetts Bay Colony
In 1752, Palmer and his brother-in-law built a glassworks in Germantown, now a part of Quincy, Massachusetts. Later, they built a chocolate mill and spermaceti and salt factories.[3] Palmer bought his brother-in-law's interests in the businesses by 1760.[4]
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By the 1770s, Palmer had become a supporter of American independence,[3] and he was friends with his neighbor John Adams.[1] Palmer served in the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and on the Cambridge Committee of Safety.[3]
