Edward Jonathan & Caroline Florence Barker Palmer History

Edward Jonathan Palmer

Caroline Florence Barker Palmer
& two children

Edward Jonathan Palmer is understood to have been born 31 July 1831, in Stoke Newington, Middlesex, England. A christening record has not been found. In the 1841 England Census a nine year old Edward Palmer is in school in Stoke Newington, in the Finsbury Division residing with schoolmaster James Harford in Nelson Terrace.  The record states that he was not born in the same county which may or may not be correct. This is assumed to be our Edward, as I have not located his mother in this census or another suitable match.

We find him again in the 1851 England Census living with his 44 year old mother Mary Palmer, a widow, and an 18 year old sister, Mary A. in the St. George Bloomsbury Parish of Middlesex, England. His mother, Mary is listed as a laundress born in Margate, Kent, England. His sister is also listed as a laundress born in Southwark, Middlesex, England.  At 21 Edward is listed as a diamond jeweler which is consistent with our family stories. The others in the household do not appear to be related and are also of the working class.

In 1851, an Edward Palmer was married in the St. George Bloomsbury parish in Middlesex on August 3 to Sarah Bedford. He is listed as a jeweler. His father is listed as Edward Palmer, a publican. Her father is George Bedford, a dairyman.  The record is witnessed by Mary Ann Palmer, either sister or mother, and Robert John Peave. The information leads me to believe it is our Edward Palmer. However, I have not been able to piece together what happened other than that FamilySearch attached a record for an Edward John Palmer born or christened 8 November 1852, in Grays Inn Lane, Holborn, London, England as a son for the couple.  I have not been able to find the record from which this was extracted to substantiate it, however. There is no record of what happened to this couple following this birth.

Caroline's story is much harder to piece together. Biographies handed down say that she was a chambermaid and that she was of the poorer class from a small town outside London. Other family biographies say that he met Caroline Florence Barker at a dance to which she had accompanied a friend. They also say that when they met it was love at first sight and that they married soon after.  I have been unable to find a marriage record online in England.  The same sources indicate that this was the time that missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began preaching in London, or at least that Edward and Caroline came across them there and accepted their teachings.  A record for their baptisms has not been found as of yet.

Edward and Caroline emigrate to the United States in December 1859/January of 1860 aboard the Kangaroo according to the ship passenger list on Ancestry.com, arriving in New York City 9 January 1860. Edward was 30 and Caroline 23. Although the record states they were Irish, I feel that this is our Edward since the biographies previously mentioned stated that he was in the New England area early enough to enlist in the US Civil War, break his leg, and then immigrate to Utah with the Henry W. Miller company of 665 in 60 wagons and many handcarts which started their journey from Florence, Nebraska, August 5-8^th of 1862 and arrived in Salt Lake City the 17^th and 18^th of October 1862.  Their first born, a son, Elmer Edward Ellsworth Palmer who had been born 24 May 1861, died in Wyoming Territory and was buried in a shallow grave 11 October 1862 along the trail.

They came north to the Ogden area to make their home in Plain City, northwest of the Great Salt Lake. They built an adobe home and acquired some farmland upon which they grazed cattle and raised fruits and vegetables which he would take into town and sell door-to-door according to other biographies. It was hard work for him, a jeweler and for her, a housemaid.

The 1870 US Federal Census they are in Plain City, farming with a small family of three: Alfie E. age 6, Dina age 4, and Caroline age 1.  Family records say they had a son, Samuel Barker Palmer, who was born and died 22 October 1863 in Plain City, Utah. Currently, there are no records of his burial in the cemetery. Their neighbors are the Folkman’s, Neil’s, Singleton’s and Moore’s.

In the 1880 US Federal Census Edward and Caroline are still listed in Plain City as farmers, but their family has grown. Alfred is now 16, Dinah is 14, Caroline is 12, Fredrick is 9, George is 7, Ellen is 1, and Cennie (Centennial) is 2. Alfred is working on the farm with his father and the other school aged children are attending school. They do have new neighbors: Skeen’s, Miller’s, Heath’s, Folkman’s, and Goddard’s.

On 10 February 1881, Edward J. Palmer renounced his citizenship of the Kingdom of Great Britain and declared himself, and therefore his wife pursuant to law, to be citizens of the United States of America in the Third Judicial Court of the United States in the Territory of Utah. 

From other biographies I have learned that Caroline had developed arthritis that nearly crippled her from the pain at times. She bore at least nine children, seven of which lived, though some sources say she had 11. Life was difficult, though these same sources say she had a strong testimony of the Gospel and was an active member of the Relief Society and the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Some sources say they were not happy in the church which would be easy to believe looking back at the difficulty of their life there.

For the Palmer family, 1884 proved to be a difficult year. On April 10, Edward died leaving Caroline and the children to strive on alone. His death was suspicious, but deemed natural though sudden according to a small article in the Ogden Herald the following day. Many of the details in the article are erroneous, though he does not appear to have been happy or healthy in the months prior. He was buried in the Plain City Cemetery following the examination into his death which may not have been until May 1884, according to her obituary. She was left to care for and raise the younger six children which included a wedding for daughter Dinah in August that same year.

Caroline was not well and she suffered a paralytic stroke November 5, 1884, which defeated her on 10 November, six months to the day of Edward’s death. According to her obituary that appeared in the Ogden Herald on November 13, her services were led by Reverend Unsworth from the Episcopal Prayer book in the Episcopal School house on November 12. She was also buried with Edward in the Plain City Cemetery.

It can be assumed that Alfred, the oldest son and aged 20 at the time of his parents’ death, raised the younger children as they really had no family in Plain City other than the neighbors and church members. The youngest son, Centennial, is living with Alfred’s family in the next available census in 1900. All the children marry members of local families: Slater, Richardson, Knight, Carver, Folkman.