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SCHENECTADY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE
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[This information is from Vol. III, pp. 1286-1289 of Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, edited by Cuyler Reynolds (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911). It is in the Reference collection of the Schenectady County Public Library at R 929.1 R45. Some of the formatting of the original, especially in lists of descendants, may have been altered slightly for ease of reading.]
The first authentic record of Walter Palmer, emigrant ancestor of the Palmers of Gloversville, New York, is found in Charlestown, Middlesex county, Massachusetts. The traditions are that he was from Nottinghamshire, England, and that Abraham Palmer was his brother, as both he and Walter Palmer were made freemen May 14, 1634, and both were citizens of Charlestown. In 1638 he is recorded as owning "two acres of land in the East Field," with a dwelling house and "other aptinances" together with various other tracts of meadow, wood and tillable land. In 1645 he joined William Chesbrough and bought land in the Pequot country, in what is now Stonington, Connecticut. There was much trouble with titles, which were finally quieted, and he became the undisputed owner of about twelve hundred acres of land. Later church troubles developed, the new settlers not liking the long trip to New London. After several years the troubles between Massachusetts and Connecticut were settled, boundary lines established, and the name of the town, previously Southerton, was changed to Stonington. The will of Walter Palmer, dated May 19, 1658, was approved by the general court of Massachusetts, May 11, 1662. As Stonington (Southerton) was then in Suffolk county, Massachusetts, the will is recorded in Boston, where it may be seen. Walter Palmer married, in England, Ann ————; second (supposedly Roxbury, Massachusetts, where she was member of Rev. John Eliot's First Church), Rebecca Short. He joined the First Church of Charlestown in 1632, Grace, daughter of his first wife, joining at the same time. He died in Stonington, November 19, 1661. Children, by first wife:
Children of second wife:
(II) Nehemiah, son of Walter and Rebecca (Short) Palmer, was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, November 23, 1637. He was made a freeman at Hartford, Connecticut, May 10, 1666. He thereafter took a prominent part in the civil affairs of Stonington; was elected deputy to the general court of Connecticut, May 15, 1668, and re-elected for fifteen sessions. He bought and sold much land and is of frequent mention in the public records. He married, in Stonington, November 20, 1662, Hannah, daughter of Thomas and Ann (Lord) Stanton. She was born in 1644, and died in Stonington, October 17, 1717. Nehemiah died February 17, 1717, aged eighty-one years, and is buried in the old burial ground on the east side of Wequetequoc Cove, the inscription being still decipherable. Children:
(III) Justice Daniel, son of Nehemiah and Hannah (Stanton) Palmer, was born June 12, 1672, died February 28, 1762. In 1717 his father gave him "for his dutiful care of me, one half of all the land at home where I now dwell." In October, 1724, he was appointed a commissioner to determine the dispute with the people of Rhode Island. He annually received the appointment of justice of the peace for fifteen years. In November, 1719, he was a member of the council, and was repeatedly elected a deputy to the Connecticut assembly. He married (first) March 25, 1701, Margaret, daughter of Nehemiah Smith. She died in Stonington, June 4, 1726. He married (second) January 12, 1732, Mary, widow of William Denison, and daughter of John and Abigail (Chesebrough) Avery. She was born November 14, 1680, and was fifty-two years old at the time of her marriage to Daniel Palmer, whom she survived ten years, dying in 1762. Children, all by first wife:
(IV) James, son of justice Daniel and Margaret (Smith) Palmer, was born in Stonington, Connecticut, July 18, 1720, died June 20, 1786. His homestead was about one mile east of the old burying ground. He married, in Stonington, June 14, 1740, Hannah, born June 11, 1732, died October 4, 1814, daughter of William and Lucy (Denison) Chesebrough. Children:
(V) Samuel, eldest son of James and Hannah (Chesebrough) Palmer, was born June 18, 1758. He married, in Stonington, Connecticut, November 9, 1780, Hannah Eells, born September 14, 1760, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel and Mrs. Mary (Darrell) Eells, of Stonington. Children:
(VI) Henry, eldest son of Samuel and Hannah (Eells) Palmer, was born in Stonington, Connecticut, October 9, 1784, died aged sixty-six years six months. He married, June 3, 1804, Mary Kennedy, born April 9, 1786, who survived him twelve years. After his marriage he settled in the town of Johnstown, now Fulton county, New York, on a tract of wild land that he cleared and improved. Children:
(VII) Robert, fourth child of Henry and Mary (Kennedy) Palmer, was born in the town of Johnstown, Fulton county, New York, June 21, 1810, and died December 12, 1896. He was educated in the public schools and reared on the farm. He taught school for four winter terms. He learned the tanner's trade, but all his after life followed the occupation of a farmer, excepting the years he spent as proprietor of the Palmer House, a hotel he built in Gloversville and managed until 1891, when he turned it over to his son, Charles. This hotel was always run as a strictly temperance house, no license being asked for and no intoxicating liquors ever having been sold there. He was an active member of the Baptist church and in politics was a Whig and a Republican. He was successful in all his business enterprises and secured for his old age a comfortable competency. He married, October 22, 1835, Betsey Marvel Gage, who was born August 20, 1817, died October 16, 1900; children:
(VIII) Charles V., son of Robert and Betsey Marvel (Gage) Palmer, was born in the town of Johnstown, Fulton county, New York, September 20, 1839. He was educated in the common schools and succeeded his father in the management of the Palmer House at Gloversville, New York, which he successfully conducted. He was sheriff of Fulton county, 1893-95. He married, October 14, 1862, Emmeline Godfrey, born April 5, 1842, daughter of Robert and Emmeline (Rhodes) Godfrey. Children:
(IX) Dr. Robert J. Palmer, eldest son of Charles and Emmeline (Godfrey) Palmer, was born in the town of Johnstown, Fulton county, New York, November 16, 1863. He was educated in the public schools, finishing his preparatory studies in Gloversville at the high school. Choosing the profession of medicine, he entered the Albany Medical College, where he was graduated M. D., March 16, 1887. He at once began practice in Gloversville, where he yet remains, ranking among the best of his profession in the city. Since 1896 he has been coroner of Fulton county, and since 1906 city physician of Gloversville. He is a member of the city and county medical societies; Gloversville Lodge, No. 428, Free and Accepted Masons; and in politics is a Republican.
He married, November 9, 1887, Margaret Rebecca Morris, born September 24, 1868, daughter of Charles H. C. and Louisa (Swart) Morris, and granddaughter of Isaac Morris, of Amsterdam, New York, who married Jane Vrooman, a lineal descendant of Hendrick Meese Vrooman, who was born in Holland and after two removals in New York state, settled at Schenectady in 1677. At the Schenectady massacre of February 9, 1690, Hendrick and his son Bartholomew were slain, he leaving two sons, Adam and Jan, to inherit his estate. Adam, son of Hendrick Meese Vrooman, was born in Holland, in 1649, came to America with his father, and in 1670 bound himself for two years to learn the millwright's trade. In 1683 he built a mill on the Sand Kill east of Schenectady. In 1690, when Schenectady was destroyed, he defended his house bravely and escaped with his life, although his first wife, Engeltje, with her infant child, were killed, and two sons, Wouter and Barent, carried away prisoners. He had three wives and nine sons and four daughters. He was a large land owner and among his possessions was six hundred acres in Schoharie. Peter, son of Adam Vrooman, settled on the tract of land in Schoharie called "Vrooman's Land." He married Gridje Van Alstyne, and had twelve children, and died in 1771. Abraham (Abram), son of Peter Vrooman, was born in Schenectady, New York, January 24, 1759, and died in Schenectady, January 29, 1813. Abraham Vrooman served in Revolution as a private of Company Four of the Wemple Regiment of Schenectady. He was living on a farm in Schoharie in August, 1780, the date of the "Schoharie massacre," when a band of seventy-three Indians and four Tories under Captain Brant entered Vrooman's Land on an errand of murder and pillage. Abraham had a narrow escape from death. He was in the valley with a powerful team and hay rake. He picked up several of the settlers, outstripped the Indians and reached the fort in safety. He married Matilda Vischer, and had several sons and daughters, one of whom, Jane, married Isaac Morris, a shoe manufacturer of Amsterdam. They had ten children, two of whom died in infancy; the others were Lewis, Abram V., Margaret, Tunis, Charles H. C., John, James Stewart and Isaac (2). Charles H. C., son of Isaac and Jane (Vrooman) Morris, born November 24, 1836, married Louisa Swart, and had four children:
(X) Robert Morris, only child of Dr. Robert and Margaret Rebecca (Morris) Palmer, was born in Gloversville, New York, August 25, 1888. He is at present a student at Union College, Schenectady, New York, taking a course for A. B. degree.
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