He was born in
Hoosick,
Rensselaer County, New York. After completing preparatory studies, he graduated from
Williams College in
Williamstown, Massachusetts, studied law, and was admitted to the
bar. He then commenced practice in
Plattsburgh, New York in 1810. Palmer also served as paymaster in the Eighth Regiment of the New York
Militia during the
War of 1812.
Congress Palmer was elected to Congress as a
Democratic-Republican to the
fifteenth Congress (March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1819).
Later career After leaving Congress, he was a
district attorney until 1832. For part of the year 1832, he was a member of the
New York State Assembly, after which he served as judge of
Clinton County until 1837, when he resigned. He was elected as a
Democrat to the
twenty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839), after which he did not run for reelection.
Death Palmer died in
St. Bartholomew in the
French West Indies at the age of 55. He was buried at Saint Bartholomews Cemetery in
Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy. There is a cenotaph to his memory at Riverside Cemetery in Plattsburgh. John Palmer was the uncle of
George William Palmer, also a U.S. Representative from New York. ==References==