Thomas W. Palmer

Thomas W. Palmer

Thomas Witherell Palmer (born January 25, 1830 in Detroit , Michigan , † June 1, 1913 ibid) was an American entrepreneur , politician of the Republican Party , US Senator for Michigan and a diplomat .

biography

After attending public schools and Thompson's Academy in St. Clair , he studied at the University of Michigan . After traveling to Spain and South America , he devoted himself to timber and agriculture and in 1873 was a member of the Detroit Board of Estimates . In 1879 he began his political career with the election to the Senate of Michigan and belonged to it until 1880.

As a candidate for the Republican Party, he was elected US Senator for Michigan and held the second Senate seat ( Senator Class 2 ) from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1889. During his tenure he was first chairman of the Senate Committee on Fisheries from 1885 to 1886 and then from 1887 to 1888 of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry . He was also a co-founder of the Detroit Museum of Art in 1883 .

After the end of his electoral term, he declined to run again and was instead appointed envoy to Spain by President Benjamin Harrison in 1889. After his return to the USA, he was President of the National Commission for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago from 1890 to 1893, the World's Fair held from May to October 1893 .

He then retired to Wayne County and settled there as a farmer .

Background literature

• Ziewacz, Lawrence E .: Thomas W. Palmer: A Michigan Senator's 'Masterly Argument' for Women's Suffrage , Michigan Historical Review 26, Spring 2000, pp. 31-43

Web links

• Thomas W. Palmer in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)