Charles Palmer (banking)

• American

CHARLES PALMER, President of the Charles Palmer Banking House at Imlay City, was born in Saratoga County, N. Y., September 27, 1831. He is the son of Ashbel and Elizabeth Palmer. The grandfather and great-grandfather of our subject lived in Saratoga before the Revolution and the famous battlefield of Saratoga was only a mile and a half from their home. Our subject's father was a soldier in the War of 1812 and his grandfather was in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Palmer was reared in the village of Stillwater where he attended the village schools and at the age of seventeen began working on the railroad as a civil engineer. In September, 1851, he went to Toledo, Ohio, where he was connected with the Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland Railroad as civil engineer, having charge of the construction of twenty miles of the road from Toledo east. He remained there until 1853, when he went to Wisconsin where he was engaged in the construction of several roads. In 1870 Mr. Palmer platted Imlay City, erecting the first building, which was called the Bancroft House and which was burned in 1873. He has been a resident of this city since his first coming here and is one of its most prominent and influential citizens. In politics he is a Republican.

He cast his first Presidential vote for Franklin Pierce, but when Lincoln was nominated, became a Republican. He has served on the School Board for twelve years and was Village Trustee for a number of years. He has taken the Royal Arch degree in Masonry. Mr. Palmer is a purely self-made man and is an extensive landowner, being the largest taxpayer in Imlay City. Our subject is the father of eight children, seven of whom are living. - 1892 Biographical Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola Counties

Lineage

• Father Ashbel Palmer

• Son: Harry Edward Palmer