BIO: John PALMER, Huntingdon County, PA

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Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley: 
Comprising the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry, 
Pennsylvania, Containing Sketches of Prominent and Representative 
Citizens and Many of the Early Settlers.  Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. 
Runk & Co., 1897, page 114.
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  REV. JOHN PALMER, Dudley, Huntingdon county, Pa., was born August 15, 
1828, in Monmouthshire, England, son of John and Ann Palmer.  John 
Palmer was a native of England and came to this country in 1849, 
settling in Cumberland, Md.  His family consisted of twelve children, 
of whom four are living:  Sarah, widow of Benjamin Spersey, of 
Frostburg, Md.; Rebecca (Mrs. Thomas Jenkins), Frostburg, Md.; Anna, 
widow of Matthew Powell, Altoona, Pa.; and John.  Mr. Palmer was a 
Republican.  He was a member of the Methodist Protestant denomination.  
He died in 1877, in Somerset county, Pa.
  Rev. John Palmer was educated in his native country, and followed 
mining until twenty-five years of age, when he sailed for America and 
landed seven weeks later in New York City.  He soon found employment in 
the Broad Top coal mines in Huntingdon county, Pa.  Many years of his 
life were spent in the Dudley mines, in which he served as mine boss 
and for three years as superintendent.  He retired from mining in 1891.  
Early in life Mr. Palmer became a local preacher in the Primitive 
Methodist church, and preached both in England and South Wales.  In 
Baltimore he was ordained deacon, and in Sharpsburg, Pa., was made an 
elder.  He has preached in Dudley for thirty years.  He organized the 
first Sabbath-school at that place, and made strenuous and successful 
efforts to secure a church building.  For many years he has been class 
leader, and Sunday-school superintendent for thirty-five years, and is 
ever ready to render aid to the needy.  His temperance principles are 
pronounced, and govern his conduct absolutely.  He has served three 
years as school director, two terms as assessor, and one term as 
burgess of Dudley.  He is highly esteemed for his worth and ability.
  Rev. John Palmer was married, first, in England, to Miss Harriet 
Matthews, by whom he had three children, one of whom, Matilda, widow of 
Rev. Mr. Stauffer, of Altoona, survives.  Mrs. Palmer died in Dudley in 
1857.  He married, secondly, Miss Catharine Stinson, of Huntingdon 
county.  Their children are:  Harriet (Mrs. C. H. Reed); Lillian (Mrs. 
Samuel Hess), of Johnstown; John W., married Lizzie, daughter of Levi 
Reed, November 12, 1895, station agent of Huntingdon and Broad Top 
Railroad, Dudley.