NORTHWESTERN IOWA ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION VOLUME II 1804-1926 C. E. PALMER Charles E. Palmer, who as president of the Palmer Fruit Company was a widely known business man of Sioux City and enjoyed an extensive acquaintance in jobbing circles throughout the state, had been a resident here for a period of forty-five years when he passed away at his home at No. 1807 Grandview avenue on the 11th of August, 1924, at the age of fifty-six. He was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, in 1868, being the eldest son of Edward Cook and Louise T. (Lightbody) Palmer, both of whom are deceased. The father, who was elected mayor of Sioux City in 1890, figured prominently in business circles in the early days, establishing a wholesale grocery enterprise under the name of E. C. Palmer & Company in 1879. Three years later, in 1882, the firm extended the scope of its operations, becoming commission merchants and wholesale dealers in fruits. The following biography of Edward C. Palmer, father of Charles E. Palmer of this review, appeared in a history of Woodbury and Plymouth counties which was published in 1890: "Edward Cook Palmer was born in Gloversville, New York, April 25, 1844. His parents, Edward and Melinda (Devereux) Palmer, were natives of New York state, of English and French lineage, respectively. Sylvanus Palmer, father of Edward Palmer and the grandfather of Edward C. Palmer, was early left an orphan. He became a preacher in the German Reformed church and did missionary work almost all his life among the Indians about Rochester and Buffalo. When he first visited these settlements they contained only six white families each. He continued to ride and preach with the aid of an interpreter until eighty-seven years old and died at the age of eighty-eight years. He was widely known and beloved and his funeral procession was over a mile long. He mastered eight languages, including several Indian tongues. His wife was as member of the Van Rensselaer family and they reared eleven sons. The last of these sons, the father of Edward Cook Palmer, was still living in Clarissa, Todd county, Minnesota, at the age of eighty years in 1890. In 1847 he removed from New York to Janesville, Wisconsin, where his wife died in 1854. "Edward C. Palmer, in 1863, entered the store of his uncle, Andrew Palmer, to learn the drug business and continued with his uncle for some fifteen years. In 1878 he came to Sioux City and bought the wholesale grocery business of H. D. Booge & Company, which he sold after conducting for nine years to The Tollerton & Stetson Company. He then became the head of the firm of Palmer-Willey & Company, wholesale dealers in dry goods. Mr. Palmer built and was the chief owner of the Sioux City and Nebraska pontoon bridges. He was president of the Citizens Bank of South Sioux City and director of the Commercial National Bank of Sioux City. He was heavily interested in several subdivisions of Sioux City and South Sioux City and was a large landowner in Nebraska, Dakota and Iowa. In 1890 he grew over seventeen hundred acres of crops in the last named state. In 1885 he was the democratic candidate for congress from the eleventh district and was elected mayor of Sioux City in 1890, being the first democrat elected to that office on a partisan ticket. Mr. Palmer was a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Hawkeye Club. In 1867 he married Miss Louide T. Lightbody, an English lady, who died in 1883, leaving two sons, Charles E. and William B. Mr. Palmer was again married in 1885, this time to Mrs. Kate C. Elliott. They had one daughter, Ethel E." Charles E. Palmer, whose name introduces this article, was a lad of eleven years when in 1879 he came to Sioux City, Iowa, where he continued to reside to the time of his death. He was a graduate of the Sioux City high school and for a number of years attended Cornell University at Ithaca, New York. As early as 1885, when a youth of but seventeen years, he became associated with his father in business as an active member of the firm of E. C. Palmer & Company, commission merchants and fruit dealers. From that time until his death, with the exception of a few years spent in college, he remained an active factor in the business circles of his adopted city. From 1885 until 1889 the firm of E. C. Palmer & Company was conducted by E. C. Palmer and Charles E. Palmer, commission merchants and dealers in grocery specialties. In 1890 the name of the enterprise was changed to Martin & Palmer (wholesale fruits), the proprietors of the business being George Martin and William B. Palmer, brother of Charles E. Palmer. Two years later, in 1892, the firm became Palmer & Company, a whole sale fruit concern owned by Edward C. Palmer and his sons, Charles E. and William B. Palmer. Succeeding his father in 1893 as senior member of the partnership firm of Palmer & Company, Charles E. Palmer continued the business together with his brother, William B. Palmer, for twenty-one years, engaging in the wholesale fruit and candy manufacturing business. In 1914, on account of the growth of both departments of the business, Palmer & Company was incorporated into Palmer Fruit Company and Palmer Candy Company. Charles E. Palmer was president of the Palmer Fruit Company and also continued as vice president of the Palmer Candy Company until January, 1923. His brother, William B. Palmer, occupied the vice presidency of the Palmer Fruit Company and the presidency of the Palmer Candy Company. In January, 1923, on account of failing health, Charles E. Palmer sold out his interest in the candy firm to his brother, William B. Palmer. Besides being active in business circles Charles E. Palmer, who was a familiar figure in the Sioux City trade territory, was identified with the Masonic fraternity as a member of the local Tyrian lodge and belonged to the County Club and the Sioux City Boat Club. In 1906, at Harrisonburg, Virginia, Mr. Palmer was united in marriage to Miss Mary Vance Clary. Besides his widow, he is survived by three daughters and one son, namely: Virginia, Mary, Mildred and Charles V. The last named is a student at Princeton University. Following her graduation from the Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles, California, Virginia Palmer attended Hollins College for Young Women at Hollins, Virginia. She subsequently began studying under the direction of the A. Y. Cornell Studio of Music in New York city and on the 2d of November, 1926, left for Europe in company with her mother to finish her musical education in England and France, where she will spend a year. Mary Palmer is preparing for Vassar College and will tutor in Florence while abroad. Her study of music is devoted to the harp. Mrs. Mary Vance (Clary) Palmer, the mother of this talented family, is a graduate of the peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee, and is not only possessed of social graces and accomplishments but is an exceptionally able business woman. She manifests a helpful interest in the various club and social activities of Sioux City, and as trustee of her husband's estate she handles all investments and business transactions pertaining thereto. She has been conspicuous in Red Cross work as chairman of the organization committee when it was founded in Sioux City and as purchasing agent for the organization during the period of the World war. Mrs. Palmer is serving on the city planning commission of Sioux City, having the distinction of being the only woman member of that board. Her name is on the membership rolls of the Women's Club, the American Association of University Women, the Strollers, the Portfolio Club and the Golf and Bridge Club. She is also chairman of the Women's Golf and Bridge Club, which is a part of the Sioux City Country Club, and she belongs to St. Thomas Episcopal church and is a member of st. Margaret's Guild and of the Altar Guild. Mrs. Palmer is widelyknown as one of the prominent, capable and cultured women of Sioux City, where the circle of her friends is constantly expanding. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/