El Paso County CO Archives Biographies.....Palmer, William J. 1836 - 1909
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 December 13, 2008, 8:00 am

Author: Wilbur Fiske Stone (1918)

GENERAL WILLIAM J. PALMER.

    General William J. Palmer has been termed Colorado's foremost citizen. Time
gives the perspective of all things and of all individuals, and as the years
pass the importance of General Palmer to Colorado is continually growing in the
public mind. The people realize the worth of his efforts, the value of his
deeds, the integrity and modesty of his life and know that in the course of his
residence in the west he opened up many avenues leading to civilization, to
progress and improvement. He took the initial step in many instances and pointed
out the way that others might follow. He passed two milestones on life's journey
beyond the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten and in the
course of his active life he accumulated a fortune that mounted into the
millions, but the attainment of wealth was never the end and aim of his business
career. His activity in the field of business was because of his deep interest
in the game and the possibilities for achievement in the way of opening up new
sections of the country, and his story contains many of the thrills of victory.
His ancestors were Pennsylvania people, living for many generations in
Germantown near Philadelphia. General Palmer was born near Leipsic, Kent county,
Delaware, September 17, 1836, and came of English, German and Irish ancestry,
his parents being John and Matilda (Jackson) Palmer. His mother, who died about
1902, at the very advanced age of ninety-four years, was a member of the Society
of Friends or Quakers. The son began his education in a Friends school of
Philadelphia, afterward attended the Central high school and was also a student
in the Zane street grammar school in Philadelphia. He made his initial step in
the business world when in 1853, at the age of seventeen years, he joined the
engineer corps of the Hempfield Railroad in Washington county. Pennsylvania,
where he became an employe of Charles Ellet. a distinguished civil engineer of
that period, who later organized the ram fleet on the Mississippi river early in
the Civil war. In 1856 General Palmer went to England and devoted a year to the
practical study of civil and mining engineering in that country. Upon his return
home he accepted the position of secretary and treasurer of the Westmoreland
Coal Company of Pennsylvania and a year later became private secretary to John
Edgar Thompson, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. In the latter
position he remained for four years but the outbreak of the Civil war stirred
his patriotic spirit and after the battle of Bull Run in July, 1861, he began
recruiting in the state of Pennsylvania and organized the Anderson troop of
cavalry for escort and special duty with General Robert Anderson when that Fort
Sumter hero took command in Kentucky. Mr. Palmer was elected captain of his
company, and with the retirement of General Anderson, General W. T. Sherman
accepted the troop from Captain Palmer; but before the organization reached the
field General Buell had taken command in Kentucky, and Captain Palmer and his
troop served under him for about a year, during which time they participated in
the Nashville and Shiloh campaigns. At the request of General Rosecrans in the
summer of 1862, Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania gave Captain Palmer authority to
raise a regiment of cavalry, known as the Fifteenth Pennsylvania. But before its
quota had been filled the incompleted organization was sent into the Cumberland
valley of Maryland to meet the Confederate invasion that was defeated and turned
back at Antietam in September of that year. On the day after the battle, Captain
Palmer volunteered to General McClellan for special duty within the enemy's
lines, where he was taken prisoner and was so held until January, 1863, when he
was released and returned to active service. The story of his capture and prison
experience is a most thrilling one. After the second battle of Bull Run new
troops were pushed into the field and after McClellan took command it was
ascertained that Lee had crossed the Potomac into Maryland, and at once all the
volunteer militia, recruits and detachments, without regard to completeness of
organization, were hurried to the front. It was at that time that Captain
Palmer's command was ordered to report to General McClellan and it was soon
afterward that he offered to go across the river and find out what the enemy was
doing. The General consented but demanded that he take with him a scout and a
Methodist preacher. Captain Palmer preferred to be alone but had to submit to
the orders of his superior officer. Arriving at the ferry's bank, they could
find no boat and finally had to call to the ferryman, who it was known was a
Union sympathizer and who was not only ferryman but miller at that point. At
length the three were taken across the river and proceeded to the mill, where
they found the man's wife and a negro woman. After much persuasion the man,
Roberts by name, was induced to go to a friend some distance away and find out
if there were any movements of the army in that direction. Captain Palmer and
his associates, including the miller's wife and the negress, sat in the darkened
room anxiously awaiting the return of the miller, when all at once Captain
Palmer heard a distant noise to which he listened intently until he felt sure
that it was an approaching troop of cavalry. The negress grasped the situation
and insisted that the men should go to the loft which she occupied above. Most
of the cavalrymen, however, passed on without suspicion that the house contained
two Union men—one an officer. When that danger was passed Captain Palmer
received a report from his scout, whom he sent on to inform McClellan of what
was happening. Then the men descended from the loft and soon afterward the
miller returned but reported that the men would be unable to make their escape,
as the Confederates were picketing the roads and posting sentinels. Again the
negress insisted that Captain Palmer should mount to the loft. Captain Palmer's
companion, the Methodist minister, was in citizen's clothing and he managed to
get away from the house and was attempting to cross the river. Captain Palmer
watched him with intense anxiety, when all at once he heard the negress saying
to him: "Massa Cap'n, you'se caught for su', now. H'yar, jes tuk off dem blue
clo's and put on dare common t'ings of Massa Roberts. Mighty quick! Dere's a
guard a-cummin' fra de camp wid Massa Roberts, an' dey is arter you." Captain
Palmer realized that if he was caught there his uniform meant punishment for the
people of the house and that in homespun he might have a chance to escape. Not
caring to be caught in the loft, after having donned the miller's garments he
proceeded to the lower floor. There the commanding officer of the Confederate
troops explained that his presence was demanded at headquarters, to which
Captain Palmer courteously replied that he would accompany him. As he went along
he framed the story that he would tell—"that his name was Peters, that he was
down in that district of Kentucky seeing about some mines which he owned and
that Maryland was his home." He was at length sent on to Castle Thunder and then
followed months in which there was danger at all times of his being shot as a
spy if he should ever be recognized. He had many narrow escapes from this. On
one occasion he and three companions, with the aid of a file and a jack knife,
sawed their way through a board in the floor and had planned to escape that
night when they found that evidently some suspicion had been aroused and there
was a double guard, with a light thrown into the cellar of the warehouse through
which they would have to make their escape. This plan was thus frustrated.
Captain Palmer did not dare to appeal to his friends, all of whom believed him
to be dead, for if they searched for him it would mean that he would be shot as
a spy if his identity were made known. Twice the promise came to him that he
would be exchanged with prisoners, but these promises were not kept. At length a
man who was a friend of nearly all of the Confederate generals and other
officers of that district was cast into prison and, to make a long story short,
it proved that he was a Union spy, although no one suspected him. He was the
factor who at length enabled Captain Palmer to make his escape and ultimately he
reached the Union lines. After his release Captain Palmer was promoted to the
colonelcy of his regiment, which was then serving under General Rosecrans in
Tennessee. He soon brought the command to a high state of efficiency and with
his troops participated in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge and
in the operations against General Longstreet in the winter of 1863-4. He also
participated in the Atlanta campaign, where he had charge of a part of the line
of communication and supply. He was afterward with the command of General Hood
and for his brilliant services was brevetted brigadier general. Early in the
spring of 1865 he was sent with his brigade across the Great Smoky range into
North Carolina and when General Johnston surrendered was placed at the head of a
division and put upon the track of Jefferson Davis and the Confederate forces,
who were then trying to escape to the Gulf or into Texas. General Palmer pushed
the pursuit of the Confederate president and the cavalry command which was
escorting him, and was close upon him when he was captured by General Wilson.
Soon afterward the Union armies were disbanded and General Palmer returned to
private life. General George H. Thomas said of him: "There is no officer in the
active or volunteer service who has performed the duties which have devolved
upon him with more intelligence, zeal or energy than General Palmer, whose
uniform distinguished success throughout the war places his reputation beyond
controversy."

    In the summer of 1865, at the request of John Edgar Thompson, Thomas A.
Scott and other Pennsylvania Railroad friends, General Palmer was elected
secretary and treasurer of the Kansas Pacific Railroad Company, then controlling
the Union Pacific eastern division. This was the initial step that brought him
ultimately to Colorado and his services here were of the greatest benefit in the
development of the resources and the upbuilding of the state. He remained with
the Kansas Pacific Railroad as manager of construction while it was being
constructed to Denver in 1869 and 1870, was a factor in the building of the
Denver Pacific road between Denver and Cheyenne in the same years, instituted
the plans leading to the establishment of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad
system and put these plans into execution. In 1872 he was active in organizing
the Central Colorado Improvement Company, which later became the Colorado Coal &
Iron Company and is now the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company. He remained the active
head of the Denver & Rio Grande until August, 1883, when he resigned to give
greater attention to his railroad enterprise in Mexico, promoted under the name
of the Mexican National Railroad. But he continued to remain as president of the
Rio Grande Western road extending from Grand Junction, Colorado, to Salt Lake
City and Ogden, Utah, until April, 1901, when he withdrew from personal
participation in its affairs and from an active railroad career, which, save for
the period of his four years' service In the Union army, had extended over a
period of forty-seven years. His retirement was marked by a most noteworthy
gift—the distribution of stock and cash of the value of one million dollars to
those who had long been in the service of the company.

    General Palmer was the founder and promoter of Colorado Springs, which came
into existence in the summer of 1871. He organized the company that secured
title to ten thousand acres of land, upon part of which the city was laid out.
He was also identified with the founding of South Pueblo, Alamosa, Durango and
several towns of lesser importance on the Denver & Rio Grande, but his interests
centered in Colorado Springs, where he made his home. His gifts to it were many
and yet he never figured prominently in this connection but kept himself always
in the background and most modestly disclaimed any credit for what he did.

    On the 27th of November, 1870, General Palmer married Miss Queen Mellen, of
Flushing, Long Island, and to them were born three daughters—Elsie, Dorothy and
Marjory Palmer. The mother passed away in December, 1894, and General Palmer was
survived only by his three daughters and one granddaughter.

    General Palmer was not only a builder of railroads but also a road builder
of highways. Moreover, he donated more than sixteen hundred acres in parks to
the city of Colorado Springs, thus changing unsightly districts, creek bottoms
and mountain tops into places of enchantment, spending millions to provide the
city with beautiful recreation spots. He was a most charitable and liberal man.
One of his pet projects found tangible expression in the establishment of
Colorado College, which he largely supported for many years. He was the builder
of the Antlers Hotel at Colorado Springs and maintained it at a loss for many
years until tourist travel had become sufficient for its upkeep. His own home,
Glen Eyrie, is the handsomest in Colorado and one of the most magnificent in the
west, the estate comprising more than five thousand acres of land. Among his
personal holdings were a convent and estate near the City of Mexico where he had
planned to build for himself a Mexican home. He never discussed his business
affairs and in fact rarely discussed anything concerning himself. This was
largely due to his innate modesty. It is estimated that he gave away more than
four million dollars during his lifetime, or nearly one-half of his entire
estate, yet no one ever heard the story from his own lips. The Colorado Springs
Gazette said of him: "Small of stature and slight of frame. General Palmer was a
phenomenal character from whatever standpoint he may be viewed. His early
education was not what may be called 'liberal' as measured by modern standards,
for he was earning wages at an age when many boys of the present day are merely
entering upon their college career, but his education was intensely practical.
Yet he developed into a finished writer and a brilliant conversationalist, a
patron of art and architecture, of originality and taste. Possibly the most
valuable year of his youthful education was that spent in England in the study
of civil and mining engineering, which gave him the basis for his great career
as a builder. His four years of experience in the army developed those traits of
devotion to duty, self-control and utter fearlessness in the face of danger and
difficulty which marked his career.  .  .  .  In reviewing the history of this
wonderful man the points in his character which possibly stand out above all
others are his extreme modesty and the invariable good judgment and foresight
which seemed almost to stamp him as a being of a superior kind. His faith in the
future of the west was apparently of that divine order which is accorded to but
few men in a century, and beyond doubt the greatest joy of his life was in
living to see and know the realization of that faith. From a typical 'barefoot
boy,' such as Whittier wrote of, in a modest country home in Delaware, to become
the manager of railroads at twenty-one, the commander of troops and the
confidant of the greatest military leaders of the Civil war at twenty-six, the
pioneer of a new empire and the builder of railroads at thirty-five, the founder
of cities and an international financier at forty, and the dispenser of millions
to the cause of humanity in the evening of his life—this was the career of
General Palmer. Of his vast wealth, estimated at not less than five million
dollars, not one penny was made through anything which flavored of financial
gambling or modern 'frenzied' finance. He was essentially an empire builder and
the originator of wealth, not for the mere sordid purpose of money-getting, hut
with the nobler ambition of conquering the apparently insurmountable
difficulties of nature in a new land and turning the desert into a paradise for
future generations. This was the great feature of his life work, and the proof
of it is seen in the fact that he has never been regarded as a mere millionaire,
nor will he be remembered as such, but rather as the developer of a state, the
builder of great railroads, the founder of beautiful cities. That he acquired
wealth in the doing of his splendid deeds was a mere incident, and such was
evidently the habitual attitude of his mind. Gold he took as it came to him and
dispensed with a liberal hand, keeping it always at its true valuation and never
making it the paramount object nor allowing it to taint the noble qualities of
his mind and soul. In this he stands unique and almost alone among the
millonaires of the world.  .  .  .  Love of nature was the fundamental
characteristic of General Palmer. This is shown first in his great and constant
devotion to the mountains rather than the crowded and artificial centers of the
east or Europe. This spirit is indicated in the choice of the location for his
magnificent home, Glen Eyrie, close to the everlasting hills. It was his daily
delight to take long horseback rides over the hills and through the glorious
ravines which surround his home, and which to him held all that compelling power
of attraction that the true lover of nature feels for God's most glorious
handiwork. It was while enjoying one of these rides over the road leading from
his home to the Garden of the Gods that he met with the accident which
ultimately caused his death." His horse stumbled and he was thrown to the
ground, sustaining injuries which made him an invalid throughout his remaining
days. He passed away March 13, 1909. "Amid all of these activities such as would
entirely consume the energies of the average business man of equal ability,
General Palmer found abundant time for the pursuit of the outdoor life to which
he was devoted and the cultivation of his tastes for literature and art. He
built a splendid home and filled it with the best books and pictures, of which
he was keenly appreciative. After his retirement from active business his
abundant energies found an outlet in these pursuits and in works of philanthropy
of which the public heard almost nothing. It is striking evidence of General
Palmer's abhorrence of ostentation and display that even in Colorado Springs,
where he was best known, there probably is nobody who is familiar with the full
list of his benefactions, and to the general public it is a sealed book. He was
a rich man for many years, but when his estate is settled it is likely to be
found that he died much poorer than he was a few years ago. For a long time his
benefactions have consumed his entire income and made considerable inroads into
the principal, for it must be remembered that while he gave liberally here at
home he also gave with open-handed generosity to causes that enlisted his
sympathy elsewhere. General Palmer had passed his allotted three score years and
ten and in the natural order of events his life could not reasonably have been
expected to be prolonged many years. But such a man can ill be spared, and his
passing, even at an advanced age, is an irremediable loss. He exerted a
wonderful influence throughout his long life, and now that he has gone he will
be sincerely mourned not only by the city he founded and the state he helped to
build, but in the many places throughout the nation where he was known and
appreciated  at his true worth."


Additional Comments:


Extracted from:

HISTORY OF COLORADO

ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME III

CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1918


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