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He’d return home after the war ended in 1865, devoting the next 30 years to making Janesville better. Owner of a successful local medical practice, he would found and grow early predecessors to Mercy Hospital, and he’d advocate for public health and sanitary improvements. He’d be elected twice as Janesville’s mayor, serve for 10 years as Wisconsin’s surgeon general – and bring the first telephone to the city.

Henry Palmer was born on July 30, 1827, to Ephraim and Abigail Palmer in New Hartford, New York, according to his obituary published in the Janesville Gazette on June 15, 1895.

After working on his parents’ farm as a young adult, Palmer completed his medical training at Albany Medical College in 1854. He then worked at Marshall Infirmary in Troy, New York, for two years.

Palmer married Edna Hoyt, a fellow New Yorker, in 1852. The pair would go on to be married for 43 years.

When his father purchased a farm in Edgerton, Palmer and Edna followed his parents to Wisconsin in 1856, settling in Janesville.

Civil War service

Palmer’s Civil War record is distinguished. Enlisting as a volunteer on Sept. 7, 1861, he was the company surgeon for the Seventh Wisconsin Infantry.

On April 4, 1862, he was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to serve as brigade surgeon for the famous Iron Brigade, and was commissioned to direct the largest hospital in the U.S., in York Pennsylvania.

A biography of Palmer written by his grandson, Malcolm Palmer Mouat, β€œDr. Henry Palmer: The Fighting Surgeon 1827-1895,” detailed Palmer’s war service.

Mouat wrote that during the Civil War, the hospital in York, Pennsylvania, served more than 14,000 soldiers. While Palmer was director, he lost fewer than 200 patients.

In the summer of 1863, Confederate soldiers attacked the hospital, seeking to steal its supplies. Palmer successfully hid those before enemy soldiers arrived.

When Confederate soldiers took control of York, they captured Palmer, who had stayed behind at the hospital with a handful of patients deemed too unwell to travel.

A few days later, as the battle of Gettysburg began, Palmer escaped and returned to the hospital, treating injured soldiers from Gettysburg.

In 1864, Confederate soldiers again raided York. Palmer armed his patients and citizens and fought alongside them.

Mouat wrote that Palmer was captured a second time, and again escaped. While taking him prisoner, Confederate soldiers tried and failed to steal Palmer’s coat and epaulettes.

In June 1865, he was assigned to oversee the disassembly of a hospital at Camp Douglas in Chicago and was mustered out of service on Oct. 7, 1865 as a lieutenant colonel.

After the war

Palmer returned to Janesville after the war, building his medical practice.

β€œPosessing cool nerve, a quick eye and dexterity of hand, supported by a strong will and great power of endurance he had the reputation of having performed some of the most difficult and dangerous operations known to the profession,” his obituary read.

Palmer became known for traveling through snowstorms, setting broken bones and saving the life of Burr Robbins, the owner of a local circus after his skull was crushed in a boating accident. Robbins recovered, the Janesville Gazette reported.

Palmer also served as Wisconsin’s surgeon general for 10 years, appointed in January 1880.

Palmer was constantly learning. His daughter recalled passing her father’s bedroom door late at night to see him surrounded by stacks of medical books, reading into the morning, Mouat wrote.

β€œThe calls upon him came night and day, and the work he did would tax the capacity of any ordinary man beyond endurance; yet he was always ready to respond and minister to the sufferings of his fellow man,” his obituary said.

The benefits to the Janesville community are still being felt today.

Oaklawn Hospital

In 1883, a group of Janesville doctors including Dr. Henry Palmer established Oaklawn Hospital, the city’s first hospital, in a 20-room home owned by J.B. Crosby. The Crosby House on Hyland Avenue, later renamed Sutherland Avenue, remains a historic landmark in Janesville, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

β€œIn 1888, it was decided to move to a more accessible location

nearer the business district, the depots, and the street cars. A large building on North

River Street was purchased and (the hospital) moved to a suitable location at 1214 Mineral Point

Avenue and occupied until 1895,” notes β€œThe Medical History of Janesville, Wis.,” published by J.V. Stevens in 1933.

β€œThese hospitals were rented, equipped, and supported by voluntary contributions

secured mostly by interested and energetic women. Several donors of quite large

amounts helped to make the enterprise possible,” Stevens’ account continued.

In 1895, Palmer purchased a home on N. Washington Street overlooking the Rock River, intending to move the hospital there, but he died before it could open. His son, Dr. William Henry Palmer, opened it that year and ran it until 1907, when he sold it to the Sisters of Mercy. It became Mercy Hospital, which still operates in Janesville today.

Palmer medical expertise and influence extended beyond Janesville.

After helping establish the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which later became the University of Illinois Medical Department, Palmer served as its chair of surgery.

Mouat reprinted a portion of Palmer’s 1886 graduation address to the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

β€œModern civilization with its habits, social life and business impetuosities leads to premature development and premature decay. We become gregarious but not social, we eat and drink together like a herd of cattle, chewing his cud, unconscious of the presence of others; we rush in crowds to the fashionable resorts,” Palmer said.

β€œWe live too fast, bring our children up too fast, we work too fast, we dissipate too fast and consequently being ahead of our time, die too fast.”

β€œThe life that is prolonged through fear and spent in running away from death will not add to it much that is valuable or worth living for, while the life prolonged by hope and love of existence will be happier, nobler and better,” Palmer said.

Civic service

Elected twice as mayor, in 1866 and 1867, Palmer prioritized improving the sanitary conditions of the city. He supported establishing a fire service, growing manufacturing and improving railroad access and roads.

He especially worked to β€œimprove the health of the people and make our city attractive to strangers,” he said in his inaugural address, shared in the Janesville Gazette on April 20, 1866.

Owner of the first telephone in Janesville, Palmer was almost singularly responsible for bringing the telephone to the city and helped form the Wisconsin Telephone Company.

He championed the Janesville Electric Light Company which incorporated in 1880, and the construction of a horse-drawn street car system.

He invested in both the Janesville Pickling Company and the Wisconsin Shoe Company, was president of the Janesville Cotton Mill Company and president of the Merchants and Mechanics Savings Bank, the city’s first combined savings and commercial bank, his obituary said.

Palmer was also a member of the G.A.R., a charter member of the Janesville Elks Club and president of the Janesville Business Men’s Association, the Janesville Gazette said.

He enjoyed planning community celebrations, especially for Independence Day, and brought Ulysses S. Grant to Janesville in 1880.

Dr. Henry Palmer died on Saturday, June 15, 1895 at the age of 68, and was laid to rest at Oak Hill Cemetery on June 18, 1895.

Hundreds of residents lined the streets that day, with businesses shuttered and flags at half mast, the Janesville Gazette reported.

β€œThus was laid at rest one of Janesville’s most prominent men; one who will long be remembered for his true manhood, worth and enterprise; one who did his part and more, in advancing the interests and growth of the city,” THE Gazette wrote.

β€œCity on the Rock River,” by Carol Lohry Cartwright, Scott Shaffer and Randal Waller, said the Palmer family donated 69 acres on Janesville’s southside for a park in 1929. Named Palmer Park, in honor of Dr. Henry Palmer, it still exists today.