1905 History of Crawford County Kansas

Robert P. Palmore, carrier on rural free delivery route No. 2 out of Mulberry, has had an eventful and useful career extending over nearly seventy years, and during his many years' residence in Crawford county he has gained the respect and esteem of hosts of his fellow citizens and attained a position of worth and success in his community.

He is also an honored veteran of the Civil war. His case was one of the numerous instances of our rebellion where members of the same family fought on opposite sides, sincerely and faithfully for the cause which appealed to each one as right and as dutiful. Mr. Palmore was living in Missouri when the war broke out, and on April 2, 1862, he enlisted in Company F of the Fifth Missouri State Militia, in the cavalry branch, the colonel of his regiment being Albert Sigel, a brother of the famous Franz Sigel. They were in camp at Booneville for several months, and were engaged in numerous skirmishes with the bushwhackers and guerrillas in Missouri. They also fought Price's and Marmaduke's men, and Quantrell's bloody troopers, also encountering General Joe Shelby's men once or twice. They were all through southern and central Missouri, being a rough rider regiment in the true sense of the word, and experienced some of the worst phases of the war. Mr. Palmore was in the hospital for a time, and at the end of his period of service he received an honorable discharge.

Mr. Palmore was born in Monroe county, Kentucky, in 1838, being a son of William and Betsy (Lamb) Palmore, the former a son of Charles Palmore. The father, a native of Virginia, served in the Confederate army, as did several of his sons. The mother died in Kentucky when her son Robert was eight years old, he being the eldest of the five children; the other brothers were: Captain R. H., John D., and Jonathan, all of whom fought on the Confederate side. William Palmore was a farmer, a Democrat in politics and a member of the Christian church, and his death occurred in Texas when he was ninety years of age.

Mr. Palmore was reared in Kentucky, obtaining his education at the schools of his native locality, and he early began making his own way in life. He was employed in a smelter for a time. In young manhood, and while living in Missouri he married Miss Julia Harvey, but he soon lost this wife by death. For his second wife he married Lucy Pitman, who was born in Tennessee and died in Arkansas, leaving two children: one by her former husband, Volona Baker, of Colorado; and one son by Mr. Palmore, John W. John W. Palmore is also a carrier on a rural delivery route out of Mulberry, and is one of the popular citizens of this part of the county. He was born in Abilene, Kansas, and married Lucy Cundiff, by whom he has one son, William Robert. They have a nice home at Mulberry, and he is a member of the Masonic order at this place.

Some time after the war, in 1869, Mr. Palmore moved out to Kansas, living at Abilene for two years; in 1871 he went to Texas by the overland route, and then lived at Maysville in Benton county, Arkansas; he spent three years in Indian Territory, was at Joplin, Missouri, for a time, and later came to Pittsburg, this county, and from there to Mulberry, where he has been a resident for some years. He took his position as rural mail carrier in 1901, and he has filled his position to the satisfaction of all concerned and in a manner most creditable to himself. He is affiliated with Mulberry Post No. 183, G. A. R., Department of Kansas.