Orange
County
Biographies
NOAH PALMER
In the front rank of Orange county’s
most eminent citizens was Noah Palmer, of Santa Ana, long a dominating power in
financial circles and an extensive holder of valuable property, whose labors
contributed in large measure to the development, upbuilding and prosperity of
both his city and county. He was born in
Lowville, Lewis County, New York, September 3, 1820, and had reached the age of
ninety-five years when he passed away in Santa Ana, California, in January,
1916. His parents, Ephraim and Hannah
(Phelps) Palmer, were lifelong residents of the Empire state. Ephraim Palmer came of sterling English stock
and was of Quaker ancestry. He passed
away at the age of eighty-eight years, having long survived his wife, who died
when her son Noah was but seven years old.
Bereft of his mother, Noah Palmer
went to live with an older sister in Jefferson County, New York, where he
remained until he had attained the age of eighteen years. Following the completion of his education in
the local schools, he devoted his attention to the teaching profession for ten
years, being an instructor in New York until 1840 and afterward in
Indiana. In 1849 he joined the Isaac
Owen missionary train for the Pacific coast.
After a journey of six months across the plains, Mr. Palmer engaged in
mining at Hangtown, now Placerville, California, but this labor proving too
arduous, he went to San Jose and engaged in farming. Later he removed to Santa Clara, where he was
engaged in ranching for many years. In
1852 he returned east and brought his wife and little daughter back to
California with him. They traveled
westward via the Isthmus of Panama, which they crossed on mule-back. They established their home in Santa Clara
County, and there Mr. Palmer became active in local public affairs as a
supporter of the Republican Party. He
served as tax collector for six years and was a member of the state legislature
for one term. It was in August, 1873,
that he came to Santa Ana, which at that time was but a small hamlet. With the far-sighted judgment which ever
characterized him, he believed that there was a great future in store for this
section of the state. Going back to
Santa Clara, he closed a deal for seventeen hundred sixty-five acres of the old
Santiago de Santa Ana Grant, and on his return to Santa Ana he was accompanied
by a number of his Santa Clara friends, to whom he disposed of ten hundred
sixty-five acres. He put under
cultivation the seven hundred acres which he retained and produced some of the
best crops ever grown in this section.
This land, with the exception of a small acreage, is now all subdivided
into town lots. In 1882 Mr. Palmer
became interested in the banking business, and in association with W. S.
Bartlett, Daniel Halladay and others he organized the Commercial Bank of Santa
Ana, with Mr. Halladay as the first president.
After a few years Mr. Palmer succeeded to that office, which he held
until April 23, 1910, when he retired.
He was one of the organizers of the Bank of Orange and served as its
president until the institution was sold.
He was also a director of the Bank of Tustin and of the Orange County
Savings Bank, now the Orange County Trust & Savings Bank. He was active in the promotion of the Santa
Ana, Orange & Tustin Railway and became the first president of the
company. Mr. Palmer long enjoyed an
enviable reputation as an able and successful businessman. “In all of these business connections,” said
an earlier biographer, “he was a most influential factor and through them he
was able to contribute in large measure to the advancement and prosperity of
his community.”
In March, 1843, in Franklin County,
Indiana, Mr. Palmer married Miss Susan Evans, who was born in that county
January 28, 1824, and whose death occurred October 28, 1903, after a wedded
life of sixty years. To Mr. and Mrs.
Palmer was born three children, but the only surviving member of the family is
Emma, the widow of George J. Mosbaugh and the mother
of a son, H. Percy Thelan, by a former marriage. A review of the career of George J. Mosbaugh may be found in another part of this work. Lottie E. Palmer passed away September 18,
1927, and Mrs. Almira A. Hewitt, the eldest daughter of Noah and Susan (Evans)
Palmer, died in March, 1912, leaving three children: Fred P. and William L., who are deceased; and
Mrs. Susie Deuel.
Mr. Palmer left to the members of
his family a heritage that is of more value than the wealth which he bequeathed
to them—the memory of a noble and honorable life. He donated generously to all worthy causes
and was a citizen whose aid and cooperation could be counted upon in the
furtherance of all measures and movements looking toward community advancement. No history of Orange County and this section
of the state would be complete without extended reference to him, for his
record is inseparably interwoven with the annals of Southern California.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 353-355, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S ORANGE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES