Lorin W. Palmer, a citizen of Duluth who represents one of the pioneer families at the Head of the Lakes, was born May 1, 1832, in the town of Henderson, Jefferson Co., NY. His ancestors were among the pioneer settlers of New England, the Palmer family having been founded in America by two brothers who came hither in the "Mayflower," on her second voyage, and settled in Massachusetts. One of them subsequently moved to Stonington, Conn., where annual reunions of his descendants are held.

Vose Palmer, grandfather of Lorin W., served for a time in the Revolutionary war. He was a farmer by occupation, and moved to Herkimer County, NY where he became a prominent citizen, and where his descendants are still numerous. He died at the age of about sixty. Vose Palmer married Betsy Stuart, who came from the royal family of Scotland.

Samuel S. Palmer, father of Lorin W., was born in Connecticut and settled in Jefferson County, New York while a young man. In 1832 he migrated westward to Wood County, Ohio, where he lived for many years, and in 1857 he tried his fortune still farther west, settling in the then infant city of Duluth. For several years he was keeper of the Government lighthouse at the Superior entry. He died April 1, 1878, aged almost eighty-three years. While in Ohio he was always active in local affairs, and quite prominent in the locality of his home. Mr. Palmer married Silenda S. Chapin, who was born May 20, 1797, and whose parents lived on a farm in Herkimer Co., NY. She died Sept. 1, 1841, in Ohio, leaving a family of eleven children, as follows: Evaline S., who is the wife of Mark Curtis, of Ypsilanti, Mich.; Samuel A., of Pontiac, Mich.; Vose, who died June 28, 1897, at Sucker River, Minn.; Jotham C., born Jan. 21, 1825, who died at Duluth; Maria H., Mrs. Samuel Gay, who died at Etna Green, Ind.; Francis E., of Ishpeming, Mich.; Lorin W.; Leander C., of Marquette, Mich.; Thaddeus and Theresa, twins, who died in childhood; and Alonzo S., who served four years in Company F, 15th Ill, V.I. and died on Minnesota Point, near Duluth, of injuries received in the service. By a second marriage Samuel S. Palmer had two sons; Roswell H., who is a resident of Duluth; and Lester C., deceased.

Lorin W. Palmer passed his boyhood on his father's farm in Ohio, and received his education in the public schools of the locality, such as they were at that early day, attending three or four months in the winter. He also spent two winters in high school at Perrysburg, Ohio. In 1859 he went to Etna Green, Ind., where he was employed in a sawmill, and later he bought and operated a sawmill at Ironwood, that state. During the Civil war, Mr. Palmer volunteered, and was at first rejected, but during 1865 he was accepted and served three months in Company I, 59th Ind. V.I. doing picket duty at Hilton Head, S.C. In the fall of 1856 Mr. Palmer went to the Head of the Lakes, and spent a year or more at Sucker River, Minn., also helping to survey the line of the St. Croix railroad, between Superior and Deer River, Minn.

In the fall of 1865 he returned to Superior, where he remained about ten years, during which time he was employed in sawmill work, and for a short time engaged in teaching, and he came thence to Duluth in 1875. He has since made his home in that city and for a number of years gave his attention to dock building, filling contracts for the construction of a number of docks, In recent years he has lived retired, enjoying the fruits of his active years. Since coming west he has devoted his time principally to business, but while living in Indiana he was quite prominent in local affairs, and served one year as township trustee of Etna Township, Kosciusko Co., Ind. He has been a Republican from the formation of the party, voted for Fremont in 1856 and during that campaign was an active participant in a fight over a political meeting. Mr. Palmer has always been interested in church work, and he assisted in organizing the First M.E. Church of Superior, of which he was the first steward and a member of the first board of trustees. The family is now connected with the First M.E. Church in Duluth, of which Mr. Palmer has been steward since the year 1880. His social connections are with Duluth Lodge, No. 110, A.O.U.W., in which he has filled all the chairs and with Willis A. Gorman Post, G.A.R. of which he is past commander.

On Jan. 6, 1859, Mr. Palmer was united in marriage with Letitia Hughes, who was born in St. Catharine's, Quebec, and died March 28, 1871, at Superior, at the age of thirty-one years. She was a member of the Methodist Church. On May 5, 1872, Mr. Palmer married for his second wife Miss Margaret Hughes, a sister of the first, and she still survives. By the first union there were five children, namely: Clara S., Mrs. James Cooper, of St. Paul, Minn.; Della M., who is engaged at teaching in Brainerd, Minn.; Letitia, who died at the age of seven years; and Steward and Charles, who were drowned when five and three years old, respectively. Three children blessed the second union: Evalyn S., Mrs. W.T. Giese, of McGregor, Iowa; Edward L., who is a bookkeeper with Booth & Co., at Duluth; and Lester W., stenographer for a lumber firm in Duluth.

David and Sarah (Barrett) Hughes, parents of both the wives of Mr. Palmer, were born in Caermarthenshire, Wales, and emigrated to Canada, locating at St. Catharine's, Quebec. There Mrs. Hughes died in 1845. Mr. Hughes subsequently lived at Detroit, Mich., and his death occurred in Harbour Creek, Erie Co., PA., in 1887, when he was aged seventy-nine years. He was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by occupation.

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