Abner B. Palmer
Abner B. Palmer was born on September 2, 1836, in New York to Comfort and Jane Palmer. His father was a farmer who owned $1,500 of real estate by 1850. The family moved to Preston, Pennsylvania, in the 1840s, and Palmer attended school there. He married a woman named Harriet in the 1850s, and they had at least two children: Francillia, born around 1857; and Frank, born around 1859. Palmer worked as a farmer, and by 1860, he owned $200 of real estate and $200 of personal property.
He enlisted in the Union army on October 2, 1861, and he mustered in as a corporal in Company A of the 56th Pennsylvania Infantry on October 16. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with dark hair and dark eyes. The regiment took part in the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, the siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox campaign. He eventually earned a promotion to sergeant and then to 2nd lieutenant.
He apparently did not vote in the election of 1864. As he explained to his mother, "I did not hav time to go to election & I dont now as they would let me vote if I had[.] I hav no papers to show that I hav pade a tax...I hate to loos my vote but if I do it wont amount to mutch[.] I persume some think that I will vote for Mc [McClellan] seeing I said that I would not for AB [Lincoln]." Nonetheless, Palmer insisted that "eney one that thinks me a Copperhed is mistaken." He mustered out on July 1, 1865.
He returned to Preston after the war and resumed his work as a farmer. His wife probably died in the 1860s, and he married Mary Kellogg in the 1870s. They had at least two children: Jane, born around 1878; and Ada, born around 1880. He died in Preston on February 4, 1885.
DATABASE CONTENT
| (4417) | Palmer, Abner B. | 1836-09-02 | 1885-02-04 |
- Conflict Side: Union
- Role: Soldier
- Rank in: Corporal
- Rank out: 2nd Lieutenant
- Rank highest: 2nd Lieutenant
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
Documents - Records: 12
- (4171) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 5 January 1862
- (12222) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 2 May 1862
- (12223) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 4 May 1862
- (12224) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 30 April 1862
- (12225) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 4 June 1862
- (12226) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 11 September 1862
- (12227) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 18 January 1863
- (12228) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 28 May 1863
- (12229) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to George Palmer, 15 January 1864
- (12230) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 12 October 1864
- (12231) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 17 January 1865
- (12233) [writer] ~ Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 8 June 1865
People - Records: 5
- (4418) Palmer, Jane is the [parent of] (4417) Palmer, Abner B.
- (4419) Palmer, George is the [sibling of] (4417) Palmer, Abner B.
- (5559) Townsend, Mary E. is the [cousin of] (4417) Palmer, Abner B.
- (5560) Hunt, Martha Jane is the [cousin of] (4417) Palmer, Abner B.
- (5561) Palmer, Walter R. is the [cousin of] (4417) Palmer, Abner B.
Places - Records: 2
Regiments - Records: 1
- (1038) [enlisted] [A] ~ 56th Pennsylvania Infantry
SOURCES
1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Pennsylvania Veterans Card Files, 1775-1916, available from Fold3.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985, available from Ancestry.com; Carbondale (PA) Daily News, 24 March 1885; Abner B. Palmer to Jane Palmer, 12 October 1864, DL1851.010, Nau Collection
