JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER

John Williamson Palmer was born on April 4, 1825, at Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Edward and Catherine (Croxall) Palmer. His medical degree was granted by the University of Maryland in 1847.

From 1849 to 1850 Dr. Palmer was the first city physician of San Francisco. Arriving in Honolulu January 4, 1851, aboard the "Lydia Ann" from San Francisco, the doctor opened an office the following month. He practiced in Honolulu for several months but left later in the same year to become surgeon of the East India Company's war steamer, "Phlegethon", which gave him the distinction of being the only American who ever held a commission in the East India Company's "navy". From 1851 to 1852 he served in the Second Burmese War, presumably in the service of the same company, and returned to the United States in 1853.

Settling in the East (probably Baltimore), Dr. Palmer engaged in literary work as well as medicine. From 1855 to 1856 he wrote a series of papers covering the period from 1849 to 1850 for "Putnam's Magazine" and the "Atlantic Monthly". He also contributed articles to "Putnam's Monthly", "Atlantic Monthly", and "Century Magazine" about his experiences while traveling in the Hawaiian Islands, China, Burma, India, and other eastern countries.

In 1855 Dr. Palmer married Miss Henrietta Lee, also an author.

During the Civil War, Dr. Palmer served with General John C. Breckenridge (Secretary of War in 1865) in the Virginia valleys and in the War Department of the South. He was Confederate war correspondent of the "New York Tribune", writing under the nom de guerre of "Altamont", and made a unique and important contribution to the field of journalism. In 1870 the doctor moved from Baltimore to New York and became a member of the editorial staff of the Century Dictionary and of the Stanford Dictionary.

On February 26, 1906, Dr. Palmer died at his home in Baltimore at the age of 80.

He was a distinguished physician, traveler, litterateur, and poet. His literary works include "Stonewall Jackson's Way", a spirited camp song, translations of Michelets "L'Amour" and "La Femme" and other works, and compiling "Folk Songs" and "Poetry of Compliment and Courtship". He was the author of "The Golden Dragon; or Up and Down the Irrawaddy", "The New and the Old; or California and India in Romantic Aspects", "The Queen's Heart" (a comedy), "After His Kind" ( a novel), and "The Beauties and Curiosities of Engraving", and many others. Perhaps the doctor is best known for his lyrics and heroic ballads which include "For Charlie's Sake", "Theodora", "The Maryland Battalion", and "The Fight for San Jacinto".

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