Emmett Leroy Palmer
A thorough and experienced agriculturist and a good manager,
Emmett Leroy Palmer takes a prominent place among the younger
farmers of Allamakee county. Since 1910 he has owned his present
property, comprising one hundred and twenty acres, and within a
few years has brought it to a high state of cultivation, his
fields yielding rich harvests and being fenced into suitable
tracts. His buildings are substantial and modern and the latest
farm machinery and implements can be found upon his place. Mr.
Palmer is a native of Iowa, his birth occurring at Elkader,
Clayton county, on September 21, 1878. He is a son of Aaron V.
and Emma (Niblock) Palmer, the former a native of Pennsylvania,
born about 1851, and the latter of Allamakee county, her birth
having occurred near Waukon about a year later. In early life the
father followed the trade of cooper but also engaged in teaming
and farming and eventually settled on a property near Waukon, in
Jefferson township, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits and
where he still resides. Enjoying good health, he is still active
and is now enjoying a prosperity which his long years of
incessant labor have brought him. He also was engaged for a time
in carrying mail from Elkader to West Union and to Postville,
making these routes for about thirteen years.
Emmett L. Palmer is the second in a family of nine children, all
of whom are living. He attended school in Clayton county and also
in Jefferson township, this county. He was early reared to an
agricultural life by his father and from him learned the thorough
methods which now bring him such gratifying results. He remained
at home until eighteen years of age, when he started out upon his
independent career by working as a farm hand for others and also
engaging in other work until married and then rented land which
he operated until November, 1910, with such good results that he
was enabled to buy his present farm. He owns one hundred and
twenty acres in Franklin township and operates the same in a
general way. The farm is now fully equipped with modern
buildings, is conveniently fenced and its appearance in every way
betrays careful management and well applied labor. Mr. Palmer is
also a stockholder in the Farmers Cooperative Creamery Company at
Monona and in the Farmers Shipping Association.
The marriage of Mr. Palmer to Miss Ethel Stafford occurred on
September 4, 1901. She is a daughter of Seth N. Stafford and is
just nine days younger than her husband, her birth occurring on
September 30, 1878. Mr. Stafford is a pioneer of Allamkee county
and one of the representative agriculturists of Franklin
township. He owns a valuable farm of nearly three hundred and
fifty acres on section 23 and there has gained prosperity. A
native of Virginia, he was born near Morgantown, on the
Monogahela river, on the 1st of June, 1848, and is a son of James
Harrison and Christina (Trisler) Stafford. In his early youth he
came to Allamakee county, where he spent all his active life with
the exception of one year which was passed with his father in
Colorado. As the years passed he attained to prosperity and has
become one of the prominent citizens of his district. He was
twice married and to his first union, with Miss Mary White, two
children were born, a son and a daughter. Later he married Miss
Betty C. Entwisle, who was born in Franklin township in 1858 and
is a daughter of William and Martha (Hancock) Entwisle, the
former a native of England and the latter of Indiana. Mr. and
Mrs. Stafford became the parents of seven children, of whom
Ethel, the wife of our subject, is the oldest. Mr. and Mrs.
Palmer have four children: Everett Merle, born August 31, 1902;
Emmett Earl, August 18, 1907; Greta L., April 21, 1910; and
Crayton James, October 17, 1912.
In his political affiliations Mr. Palmer is a democrat and
although deeply interested in the affairs which affect the
community, he has never aspired to office. He is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodge at Monona and both, he and
his wife, belong to the affiliated order of Rebekahs at
Rossville. Mr. Palmer also holds membership in the modern Woodmen
of America and in that connection has a life policy and also has
protected his family by taking out insurance with other
organizations. Mr. Palmer is public-spirited and progressive in
all his actions and, as he is a man of natural ability, has
already attained a success which many an older man might well
envy. He enjoys in full measure the respect and esteem of his
fellow citizens and is recognized as a forceful factor for good
in his locality.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
Return to 1913 biographies index