Gideon Stinson Palmer (1813-1891) was born in Gardiner, attended the Gardiner Lyceum, and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1838. He returned to Gardiner after graduation and was principal of the Lyceum for several terms. He then began to practice medicine in Gardiner and also served on the Gardiner city council and as a representative in the Maine legislature.
Sculpture in Gardiner City Park in Memory of Dr. Gideon Stinson Palmer (2005)
At the beginning of the Civil War, he enlisted as “assistant surgeon of volunteers” to use his medical skills for the wounded and dying Union Soldiers. He was promoted several times to gain the rank of Major and was surgeon in charge, successively of several hospitals during the War. In 1865 he received an honorable discharge with the rank of brevet lieutenant-colonel. He then returned to Gardiner where he resumed his professional career in medicine. In 1869 he was appointed professor of physiology and hygiene in the medical department of Howard University, and in that year he married Mrs. Susan S. Coolidge of Boston.. In 1875 he was chosen dean of the Faculty and appointed surgeon in chief of the Freedmen’s Hospital.
A Collection of Dr. Palmer’s papers at Fogler Library at the University of Maine in Orono reflects his service during the Civil War. It includes lists of soldiers killed and wounded from various regiments. It also contains invoices and monthly statements of medical and hospital supplies, 1862 and 1865.
The collection also contains programs, etc., of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, formed in April, 1865, as word of President Abraham Lincoln’s death spread throughout the country. Several Army officer friends met in Philadelphia to form the Legion. Rumors from Washington of a conspiracy to destroy the Federal government by assassination of its leaders prompted the officers to form the group that could help thwart future threats to the national government. Gideon Palmer was active in the Legion.
Additional resources
History of Bowdoin College. With biographical sketches of its graduates, from 1806 to 1879, inclusive. page 523.
“Gideon Stinson Palmer Papers.” Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections. “Scope and Contents.”
“Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS)” http://www.suvcw.org/mollus/mollus.htm (accessed January 4, 2021)