John Egerton Palmer IV (1793-1877) emigrated to the United States from England in 1819 and settled in Richland County, Ohio. In 1820, he married Mary Ward (1801-1874) and they had the following children: John Egerton V, William Joseph, Thomas Sharp, Mary Elizabeth, Jane Ward, Artamesia May, Caroline, Charles Ward, Joseph Ward, and Annie Frances. John Egerton IV was described as a strong abolitionist whose farm served as a station on the underground railroad. However, John's son, William Joseph (1823-1862), did not share his father's abolitionist views. In 1845, William moved to South Carolina and became involved in the shipping business in Charleston. He married Catherine Reed and they had two children, Bessie (1858-1878) and Clinton Ward (1859-1935). William was a slave owner who fought for the Confederate army when the Civil War broke out. He was killed in Charleston on September 11, 1862. While William fought for the Confederate Army, two of his brothers, John V (1821-1864) and Joseph (b. 1841) served in the Union Army. At the beginning of the war John V enlisted in Company A of the Twenty-eighth Iowa Infantry. He served in the siege of Vicksburg, was in the Red River expedition under General Banks, and later was transferred to the Army of the Potomac. He was killed at the Battle of Winchester on September 19, 1864. Joseph, who served in the Union Army as one of General Kilpatrick's Raiders, survived the war and returned home to live on the family farm. As a youth, Thomas Sharp Palmer (1825-1908) served as an apprentice in a cabinet-making business in Mansfield, Ohio. He then lived for several years in Oskaloosa, Iowa, worked for two years in the mines of California, and returned to Mansfield in 1851. In 1853, Thomas married Nancy Hale and the couple moved to Vinton, Iowa where he opened a small drug store. After selling the business to his son Walter in 1880, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and lived there until his death, in January, 1908.
From the description of Palmer Family papers, 1859-1911. (University of California, Davis). WorldCat record id: 63131545
