Our History

"In 1882, Dr. Palmer was united in marriage to Miss F. Elizabeth Hamilton, a native of the Republic, O. She had also studied medicine in the same school from which her husband graduated.

After their marriage, Dr. Palmer came to Albion and opened an office, and she soon became one of the community's most successful physicians. Her popularity seemed to eclipse that of her husband. She was held in high esteem by members of the medical profession and residents of the city. She displayed marked skill and thorough understanding of the scientific principles of medicine and surgery. She was elected a member of the board of education, and for six years she served as its president.

July 27, 1899, Elizabeth Palmer took her own life in what is now Victory Park; but then was known as Brockway woods at the foot of Mingo street and across the railroad tracks, now a part of the (Albion) College athletic field. She was 47 at the time. After she had been missing for a day, her body was discovered in the woods and it was ascertained she had purchased a quantity of strychnine from a local drug store. Following her funeral, her husband closed their office, and devoted his energies to other fields of business activity. He became president of the Albion Buggy Co., and was named a director of the Albion Malleable Iron Co,. and a director of the Commercial & Savings Bank.

Dr. Palmer had built the residence at 108 W. Erie, which he used as a medical office, and also cared for seriously ill patients there. But when he decided to quit the medical practice after the death of his medic wife, he sold that building to Dr. A. B. Grant who practiced there a number of years.

After Dr. Grant's death, the building was sold by his son, Dr. Herman Grant, a Detroit physician to Charles E. Marsh, father of Mrs. Howell, and then an undertaker here. Dr. Palmer, once out of medical practice, engaged himself in industry and civic affairs. In 1903, he was elected mayor of Albion by a large majority and history reports that he gave the city (of Albion) a business like administration.

The home is currently under ownership of Scott Marvin, school teacher, and proprietor of the Palmer House Inn Bed and Breakfast, along with his wife, Dr. Tammy Jechura, Professor of Psychological Science at Albion College, and their daughter, Lilly, who is an aspiring artist and kindergartner.

-Taken from the Morning Star December 29, 1986 Albion, Michigan in an article entitled "Roots! From Whence Came We?"