Joseph Palmer (American Revolutionary War general)
Joseph Palmer (1716–1788) was an English-American general during the American Revolutionary War, beginning with the Siege of Boston and the Battle of Lexington. A Cambridge Committee of Safety member, he issued the Lexington Alarm dispatch for Israel Bissell to ride to warn that the war with Britain had begun. Palmer went on intelligence-gathering missions in Vermont and Rhode Island. George Washington issued letters of commendation to Palmer for his service.
Joseph Palmer | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 31, 1716 Shaugh Prior, Devonshire, England |
| Died | December 25, 1788 (aged 72) Dorchester, Massachusetts |
| Battles/wars |
|
| Spouse(s) |
Mary Cranch
(m. 1746; died 1788) |
| Children | Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph Pearse Palmer |
| Relations | Nathaniel Peabody (son-in-law), Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, and Sophia Amelia Peabody Hawthorne (granddaughters) |
Palmer made a fortune before the war, and lost it after the war. Due to the kindness of Abigail Adams, his wife Elizabeth and their daughters lived at her Old House (in Quincy, Massachusetts) after Palmer's death. Elizabeth died two years later. His son Joseph Pearse Palmer attended Harvard College, participated in the Boston Tea Party, and fought with his father during the war. Joseph Pearse Palmer and Elizabeth Hunt Palmer were the parents of Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, and Sophia Amelia Peabody Hawthorne.