More History of Palmer
The property on which the town of Palmer, Missouri, once rested is now part of the Mark Twain National Forest. Purchased in 1935 from the Parole Mining Company, Palmer no longer exists as a town. A few residences, the old church and cemetery, the big spring, and a few hard-to-find remnants of building foundations are all that remain of this once prosperous and colorful mining community.
Mrs. Anne Cooper, a Caledonia teacher, voluntarily compiled this brief history of Palmer for the Forest Service. Personal interviews, letters, newspaper articles, and excerpts from the local publication Belleview served as sources of information for this account. Her purpose was to document a few details and memories of the town for historical purposes. This then is not a concise chronological history, but rather a documentation of the quality of life in Palmer and a few memories.
Mrs. Cooper and the Forest Service are appreciative of the many contributions to this document. They are as follows:
Muriel Akers, Author of Belleview
Melba Baddour, Potosi
Howard Blount
E.W. Cover, DeWitt, Ark.
Guy Delashmit, Palmer
Walter Gilliam
Janelle Jinkerson, Belgrade
E.E. Neely, Springfield
Effie Mae Rutledge, Flint, Mich.
Glen and Pearl Scott, Potosi
Mrs. Henry Wood, Flat River
Civil War
The Palmer area had some contact with the Civil War.
A mound of stones with a cross east of Palmer is the grave of a Civil War soldier who lived three days after being shot. He could not be moved and was wounded so badly around the mouth, he was unable to eat food. Women from Palmer brought him water. He told them his name, something like Sweezy, but his full name is long since forgotten. His grave is located by the side of the road on a hill above Earl Halbert's place on Hazel Creek. When the new Palmer Road was built, the grave was marked. Very few people knew it was there before it was marked.
Mrs. Henry Wood recalls stories of the soldier and the war: "My Grandmother Martin and her nine-year-old son, William J. Martin, helped to bury that man. After shooting the man, the Rebels came into Palmer, and finding no menfolk, told the women to go and bury him. And about the same time they captured my Grandfather Martin and took him a prisoner. He was gone nine months. They didn't know if he was dead or alive. I've heard her tell many times about five men that were killed. One of her brothers was in the group. Rebels captured one of six men and insisted he tell where the rest were hidden, and they would let him go free. But the men (Union soldiers) saw the Rebels coming and tried to run away. GIllam tripped and fell beside a fallen tree. He knew if he raised up he would be shot, so he got under the log as well as he could and the Rebels passed over without seeing him. They shot the informer."
Mrs. Henry Wood recalls family stories of Palmer when numerous guerilla raids raged in that area and through much of Washington County. Palmer, on the Old Webster Road, also saw major Civil War action after the Battle of Pilot Knob in September, 1864. Union troops under General Ewing slipped out of the besieged fort under cover of darkness, fled north to Caledonia, and then west on the Webster Road through Palmer, across the Courtois, and eventually on to safety at the rail line at Leasburg.
Mrs. Wood also remembers about the old road west of Palmer: "I can still picture in my mind the crooks and turns of that road, as we traveled it many times. I wonder how many living today know that that road was laid out and marked by Daniel Turner, Watson Cole, and John Orchard from the town of Webster to Courtois Creek, past the John P. Turner farm and the Daniel Turner farm to intersect the road from Black River. Who knows, maybe someday it will opened again as a bridle path for horseback riders. This road was marked out in August, 1846. Daniel Turner was my husband's great-grandfather and both have many living descendants in Wahington and surrounding counties".
Home And Social Life
Home life in Palmer was similar to other Ozark communities. Most families had a cow, chickens, hogs. Favorite games were baseball, horseshoes, fishing, and hunting.
Guy Delashmit's father farmed and worked in timber to cut bolts and saw staves. His mother canned vegetables and fruit. They had milk cows, hogs, and a big cold spring to keep milk and left-overs in. His chores when he was young included working the garden, milking cows, and feeding horses, cows, and chickens.
Submitted by Ann Delashmit Buckley
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The article in the March 6, 1969, issue of the paper, recalling the days of
the Civil War at Palmer, mentioned the grave of the "Unknown Soldier" on the hilltop from Highway "C", about one-half mile on the right side of the road. His surname was "SWEEZY". He was a Union messenger carrying information from one company to another south to Pilot Knob.
