Palmer Name Study

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If you wish to contribute, please feel free to add your name (Wiki Link) to the Membership list, add links to any relevant free space pages you're working on or simply leave a message for other researchers at the foot of the page.

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About the Project

The Palmer Name Study project serves as a collaborative platform to collect information on the Palmer name. The hope is that other researchers like you will join the study to help make it a valuable reference point for other genealogists who are researching or have an interest in the Palmer name.

As a One Name Study, this project is not limited to persons who are related biologically. Individual studies can be used to branch out the research into specific methods and areas of interest, such as geographically (England Palmer's), by time period (18th Century Palmer's), or by topic (Palmer DNA, Palmer Occupations, Palmer Statistics). These studies may also include a number of family branches which have no immediate link with each other. Some researchers may even be motivated to go beyond the profile identification and research stage to compile fully sourced, single-family histories of some of the families they discover through this name study project.

Also see the related surnames and surname variants.

How to Join

To join the Palmer Name Study, first start out by browsing our current research pages to see if there is a specific study ongoing that fits your interests. If so, feel free to add your name to the Membership list below, post an introduction comment on the specific team page, and then dive right in!

If a research page does not yet exist for your particular area of interest, please contact the Name Study Coordinator: Vacant for assistance.

... ... ... is a member of the Palmer Name Study Project.

Once you are ready to go, you can also show your project affiliation with the ONS Member Sticker:

Research Pages

Here are some of the current research pages included in the study. I'll be working on them, and could use your help!

Membership

Related Surnames and Surname Variants

Origin of name Palmer

English: from Middle English, Old French palmer, paumer (from palme, paume ‘palm tree’, Latin palma), a nickname for someone who had been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Such pilgrims generally brought back a palm branch as proof that they had actually made the journey, but there was a vigorous trade in false souvenirs, and the term also came to be applied to a cleric who sold indulgences. Swedish (Palmér): ornamental name formed with palm ‘palm tree’ + the suffix -ér, from Latin -erius ‘descendant of’. Irish: when not truly of English origin (see 1 above), a surname adopted by bearers of Gaelic Ó Maolfhoghmhair (see Milford) perhaps because they were from an ecclesiastical family. German: topographic name for someone living among pussy willows (see Palm 2). German: from the personal name Palm (see Palm 3).

First Palmers in America

Walter Palmer arrived in Salem, Massachusetts from Dorset in England in 1629. He helped found the settlements of Charlestown and Rehoboth in Masachusetts and New London in Connecticut. The Stonington chronicle described Palmer as:

"the patriarch of the early Stonington settlers, a vigorous giant - 6 feet 5 inches tall. When he settled at Stonington he was 68 years old, older than most of the other settlers."

Descendants have included:

1. William Palmer, Governor of Vermont
2. Nathaniel Palmer, the whaler and seal hunter
3. Thomas Palmer, a Senator from Michigan
4. Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War General and later American President.

Another Palmer, William Palmer, arrived in New England in the 1630's and settled in Wethersfield, Connecticut. His descendants moved first to upstate New York and then headed West, to Illinois. Two grandchildren went onto Kansas, eventually arriving in Oklahoma territory during the great Indian land rush of the 1890's.

Also from original Connecticut stock via Canada came Daniel Palmer, the chiropractic pioneer. He started his practice in Davenport, Iowa in the 1880's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_David_Palmer

PALMER Family of NH and MA

The PALMER family of NH and MA can trace its lineage in America back to William PALMER (1585-1646/7) who it is thought arrived in Massachusetts around 1637, from Ormsbey St. Margaret, Norfolk, England and settled in Hampton, NH in 1638. Children from his first marriage to Mary STAMWORTH who it is thought remained and died in England were: Martha (1620-1700) who married John SHERMAN, Edward (1623-?), Christopher (1625-1699) and Mary (1627-1655?). William married Ann and had a child Joseph (1643-1715) born in Hampton, NH who married Sarah Jackman. (see Family Narrative and Family Tree to the right)

People with name Palmer

• Palmer profiles https://www.geni.com/surnames/people/palmer
• Palmer Genealogy https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/palmer/
• Palmer Genealogy on wikitree https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/palmer
• Profiles with Palmer name https://www.geni.com/surnames/people/palmer
• Category:Palmer_Name_Study (other profiles in Palmer Name Study) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Palmer_Name_Study