Aaron V. Palmer
One of the highly successful farmers and stockmen of Allamakee
county is Aaron V. Palmer, who owns and operates the Orchard Hill
Farm, comprising two hundred and forty acres of valuable land on
section 27, Jefferson township. He is numbered among the early
settlers in Iowa, his residence in the state dating from 1863,
while he has made his home in this township since 1893. He was
born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1851, and is a son
of John Palmer, who was born in New York state, February 12,
1830. As a young man the father moved to Pennsylvania, where for
a number of years he engaged in the manufacture of shingles,
being a cooper by trade. In Crawford county, that state, he
married Miss Sophrona J. Coon, a native of Pennsylvania, and two
of their sons were born there. In 1853 the family moved to
Wisconsin and located in Marquette county, where the father
purchased a tract of land, which he cleared of timber, and
grubbing up the stumps opened a new farm. For ten years
thereafter he developed and improved this property, but in 1863
moved to Iowa, where he located in the vicinity of Elkader, where
he farmed and followed the cooper’s trade. He died in
Rossville, October 10, 1909, having survived his wife since 1892.
Aaron V. Palmer was twelve years of age when his parents moved to
Elkader, and he attended the public schools in that city. His
advantages, however, along this line were limited and he is
largely self-educated, having made up for his early deficiencies
by study and reading in later years. For a time he worked upon a
farm and also as stage driver between Postville and Elkader and
on other routes. He later turned his attention to the livery
business, establishing an enterprise of this kind in Waukon. He
remained in that city for a time and then returned to Elkader,
where he resumed his livery business, continuing at it until
1893. He had previous to this time bought a farm of two hundred
acres on section 27, Jefferson township, and upon this farm
property he then located, turning his attention to its
improvement and cultivation. He has since added forty acres to
his holdings and the Orchard Hill Farm is today a large and well
managed enterprise, reflecting everywhere the owner’s
careful supervision and practical labor. One hundred acres are in
hay and grain and the rest affords pasture for Mr. Palmer’s
fine herd of cattle and he Shorpshire sheep. He is a stock
breeder on an extensive scale, raising also a good grade of
Poland China hogs. In addition to this he keeps milch chows and
operates a modern and sanitary dairy, a branch of his business
which, like all the others, is important and profitable. Upon his
farm Mr. Palmer has made extensive and substantial improvements,
including a comfortable residence and a fine barn, in which there
is room for twenty-four horses and thirty cows, and which is
provided with a loft where fifty tons of hay may be kept. Mr.
Palmer is a fruit grower, also, and has a fine orchard of
selected fruits, with one hundred bearing trees. His business
interests are all carefully conducted along progressive lines and
his success has come as the result of sound judgment, keen
discrimination and well directed labor.
On the 24th of August, 1875, in Waukon, Mr. Palmer was united in
marriage to Miss Emma Niblock, who was born and reared in
Allamkee county, a daughter of William Niblock, who came to
Wisconsin to this part of Iowa in 1851 and is numbered among the
earliest settlers. Mr. And Mrs. Palmer became the parents of nine
children; Emmett Leroy, who is engaged in farming in Franklin
township; Fred Carl, who lives at home; James Raymond; Charles,
who is engaged in teaching; Merton R., who is assisting in the
operation of the homestead; Sophrona Jane, the wife of I. E.
Woodmanse, of Waukon; Maggie, who married Alden Mosier, a farmer
of Jefferson township; Bessie, the wife of Ora Mitchell, a farmer
of Jefferson township; and Doris Etta, who s still at school.
Mr. Palmer is identified with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows at Rossville and belongs to the Fraternal Brethren. He is
a devout member of the Baptist church and gives his political
allegiance to the republican party. He served on the school board
in this township for a number of years and for eight years as
school director in Elkader. Ambition, energy and perseverance are
his most prominent characteristics and they have brought him
recognition as one of the successful farmers and prosperous
stock-raisers of Jefferson township.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
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