Tributes in loving memory to Mary T. (Skilton) Palmer ...

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Cributcs in Coving memory

to

/IftariP XL. (Shilton) Ip^almer.

Born march i$th, i$3i, In Croy, n. V.

Died September \5tl), ]$n, in Brookiyn, n. V.

Compiled and Published by her Husband,

HENRY L. PALMER. ^

TOE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBKAHY

ASTOR, LKSOX AND
TILliliN liM \IHTKlNS
B I.

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On Thursday morning, September 15, 1898, at the
family residence, 575 St. Mark's Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y.,

HDav^ Skilton palmer,

wife of H. L. Palmer, Esq.

Interment took place September 17, in Oakvvood
Cemetery, in Troy, N. Y.

Not since its organization has the Emma Willard Association known a
sadder bereavement than is realized in the sudden death of Mrs. Palmer, one
of its valued Vice-Presidents, and the late General Secretary of its Biograph-
ical Committee. In the latter capacity she has been brought in communication
with hundreds of former pupils of Troy Seminary, or their surviving rel-
atives, scattered throughout the country, who will read with sorrow this
startling chronicle of her death.

Towards all the aims and interests of the Emma Willard Association;
she has been from the first zealously affected, and in the work of gathering
data for the story of " Emma Willard and Her Pupils," which has so long
occupied the Committee on Publication, her efforts were most untiring and
efficient.

The youngest member of that Committee, she was seemingly in the very
prime of a useful and happy life.

Tenderly and gratefully do we recall the faithful service of our sympa-
thetic co-worker, and tearfully do we make this final record of our gentle
friend who has now passed beyond the sphere of earthly schools, and has an-
swered adsum to the summons of the Master.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

In the absence of Rev. Lyman Abbott, D. D., from the city, the Rev. Horace
Porter, assistant pastor of Plymouth Church, ofificiated at the services held at
the home No. 575 St. Marks Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. on Friday, September 16,
1898.

On Saturday, September 17, Rev. John F, Clymer D. D., pastor of State .Street
Methodist Episcopal Church, Troy, New York, of which Mrs. Palmer was for-
merly a member, officiated at the final funeral services, held at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. William J. and Amanda Simmons, old friends of Mrs. Palmer and the
family, near Oakwood Cemetery.

At the service held in Brooklyn the following members of the family were
present: James Avery Skilton and his wife, Julia S. (Davis) Skilton ; Charles
Candee vSkilton and his wife, Fannie (Markell) Skilton ; George Steele Skilton,
his wife, Adah (Gould) Skilton, and Avery Wadsworth Skilton and Chloe Mari-
ella Skilton, their children ; Harry IngersoU Skilton and Mary Kate (Skilton)
Geyer, and her husband William Thomas Geyer, the children of the late Dr.
Julius Augustus Skilton. At the services in Troy there were present, in
addition, Ella Frances (Skilton) Plough, wife of Alexander B. Plough ; Florence
(Hadger) Skilton, wife of Frank Avery Skilton, coming from St. Paul, Minn.,
and Mary (Palmer) Sheldon. Of the immediate family now living, only Hattie
E. (IngersoU) Skilton, Frank Avery Skilton, Justina Palmer, Charles Palmer, and
Edward Elias Palmer were absent, the two former in San Francisco, Cal.

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BIOGRAPHY.

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(Extract from " Emma Willard and Her Pupils ; or, Fifty Years of Troy
Female Seminary, J 822- 1 872.")

Mary T. Skilton, daughter of Dr. Avery J. and Mary Augusta (Candee)
Skilton, was born in Troy, N. Y.

She numbers among her honorable ancestry some early Governors of Con-
necticut, and the Hon. John AUyn, " The Secretary " of the Colony so instru-
mental in preserving the rights of the people about the period of the Charter
Oak episode and subsequently, and was a direct descendant from the brother of
the man who was supposed to have concealed the charter in the famous tree,
and from most of the prominent persons of the so-called " Dorchester Colony."

The father of Mary T. Skilton was born in Watertown, Conn., and was an
eminent physician in Troy, N. Y. Her mother was a native of New Haven,
Conn.

The early education of Miss Skilton was pursued in the select schools of
Troy, notably that of Miss Eliza Anthony. She studied French with private
teachers and with her father. Her delicate health precluded a continuous
course of study, and during her attendance upon Troy Seminary, in 1845, tier
recitations were confined to the morning sessions.

In 1848 or 1849 she was a pupil in a New Jersey boarding-school, but
returned to Troy Seminary for the year 1S51. Owing to her frail health and
sensitive eyes, her lessons could only be prepared by daylight, and her parents
deemed it unwise to subject her to the more rigorous duties incident to gradua-
tion ; in place of which she occupied her last year with music and painting.
After leaving the Seminary she spent two years as governess in a family in
Georgia.

She married Henry L. Palmer, and has lived successively in Troy, New

MEMORIAL TO MARV T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

York City, Washington, I ). C, Savannah, Ga., and in recent years in Brooklyn.
N. Y.

She has been interested in various philanthropies ; a prominent officer of
the " Brooklyn Nursery and Infants' Hospital," for some years a member of the
Brooklyn "Young Women's Christian Association," the " Brooklyn Woman's
Club," and the " Barnard Club," the " Woman's Health Protective Association "
of Brooklyn, " Fort Greene Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion," and Vice-President of the " Emma Willard Association. She prepared
the "Partial Catalogue" of the former pupils of Troy Seminary, the compila-
tion of which involved no little perplexing labor. She served as the efficient
Secretary of the " Biographical Committee ' of the "Emma Willard Associa-
tion."

She was a member of Plymouth Church of Brooklyn, under the pastorates
of Henry Ward Beecher and his successor, Dr. Lyman Abbott.

The late Dr. Julius A. Skilton, of Brooklyn, N. Y., \vho.se sudden death,
November 20, 1897, ended a notably useful and brilliant career, was a brother
of Mrs. Palmer. He served in the Civil War in the infantry and cavalry. At
one time he was on the staff of Gen. Banks, and finally was " Medical Director
of the Cavalry of the Gulf." Later was made Consul-General in the City of
Mexico under Gen. Grant's administration, acting also in special matters for
England, France and Austria, while diplomatic relations with these countries
were severed.

It was Dr. Skilton who exhumed the body of Emperor Maximilian and sent
it to Austria at the request of the Austrian Emperor, and procured the release
of Maximilian's Prime Minister, in grateful recognition of which he was en-
trusted with the custody of the dead Emperor's effects.

He gave much attention while in Mexico to archaeological research. His
valuable collection of relics is now in the Yale Museum.

Mrs. Palmer's home was at 575 St. Mark's Avenue, Brooklyn, where she
died suddenly from apoplexy, September 15, 1898.

/

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Her great-great-grandfather, Timothy Jiidd, Esq., No. 30 in the accompany-
ing Ancestral Register, was the first Town Clerk of the town of Watertown,
Conn., and for over forty years kept a careful record of deaths in the Parish of
West bury — formerly a part of the town of Waterbury, and which later became
the town of Watertown — written by his own hand, every name being numbered
with great care, which record is mentioned in the History of Waterbury recently
published, and the original of which is now in the possession of James Avery
Skilton, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Through the wife of Timothy Judd, Esq., Millicent
Gaylor Southmayd, No. 31, she descended from Hon. John Allyn, known as the
"Great Secretary " of the Connecticut Colony; her grandfather, James Skilton,
Esq., No. 14, was also deeply interested in genealogical matters, and being a
man of extraordinary memory, carried the genealogy of almost the entire town
of Watertown in his mind, and to his dying day was recognized by the whole
town as a final authority in local genealogy; and her father, Avery Judd Skil-
ton, had much the same talents, was deeply interested in the subject of geneal-
ogy, collected most of the data of the early generations for the Steele genealogy,
printed after his death by Durrie, as Durrie states, contributed to the Judd gen-
ealogy, published by Sylvester Judd, as Mr. Judd states, collected a considerable
amount for the genealogy of the Avery and other families, furnished Cothren
with a large amount of data for his History of Woodbury, and supplied that for
the original Ancestral Register, a copy of which, containing later additions, it
has been thought proper on these accounts to make part of her memorial.

MEMORIAL TU MARY T. (SKILTUN) PALMER.

Tkov, N. Y., Thursday, lo A. M., Sept. 15, 1898.

Dear Henry:

What shall I say ? The shock caused by your letter has scattered all my
thoughts, so I do not know what to write, but I do want to say something to
comfort you. I pray the Lord to let dear Mary live to be a comfort to us all, as
she has been in the past ; but if it is not to be, may he receive her to himself.
You have our sincere and our heartfelt sympathy, and may the Lord sustain
you in your deep affliction. I cannot bear it that she will not be with us any
more. She must live, we cannot part with her, I loved her so much. I want to
go to you, but you know how I am situated in regard to leaving home ; but if I
can be of any comfort, I will try and do all that is possible.

Please keep me informed if changes occur, and anything that we can do
will cheerfully be done.

Yours in sympathy, from us both,

WILLIAM AND AMANDA SIMMONS,

Oakwood Avenue, Trov, N. Y., Sept. 15. 1898.

Dear Friend Henry:

The sad news of our darling one's death is just received ; our hearts are
nearly broken for the loss of her and sympathy for the living. I was so hope-
ful that she would recover; but God knows best what is best for his children,
and may he comfort you. Mr. Simmons said that if you can make any use of
us and our home, for you to do so. You are welcome to use all as if it was your
own. I would like her to go to her resting-place from here. You can make
arrangements after you come. Please let us know the time of your arrival, if
you should make any changes.

Yours with sympathy,

Mr. W. J. AND AMANDA SIMMONS.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Mrs. Russell Sage,

506 Fifth Avenue, Sept. 15, 1898.

My Dear Mr. Palmer :

Mr. Sage brought me the sad news yovt had sent to our home in the city.
If I could have known in time to have reached your home before you started
for Troy, it would have been a satisfaction. But no ! the blow has been too
sharp and unexpected for alleviation, and I feel to-night so bereft that I write
with difficulty, and I wonder if the book in which we were all so interested
made Mrs. Palmer ill, and if I was too urgent about it. The uncertainties of
life made me thus urgent, but of the three on that Committee for compiling
" Emma Willard and her Pupils," Mrs. Palmer seemed to me the one most
likely to see it completed, as Mrs. Fairbanks' health has, from the beginning,
been precarious, and Miss Hastings I felt might not be able to persevere to the
end. And Mrs. Palmer, with her clear, concise judgment and careful precision,
has been my greatest dependence with the book and in the " Emma Willard
Association," as one of its Vice-Presidents, and to her could be trusted everything
that was to be " well done." This is her plaudit now, from the Highest and
Holiest : " Well done ! good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord," and into the fullness of that joy I feel this dear, saintly one has truly
entered. But what shall we do without her ? is my cry to-night — for as one by
one we go hence, the world indeed seems lonely and sad.

I cannot express to you all I feel for you in this sundering of dearest
earthly ties. Thank you for your note, and I shall try as soon as I can to
relieve you of all that concerns the " Emma Willard Association," for I cannot
burthen you with that.

I remain with deepest sympathy,

Sincerely yours,

MRS. OLIVIA SAGE.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALWliR.

Providence, R. 1.
My Dear Mr. Palmer:

I liave this moment received the startling announcement of Mrs. Palmer's
death, and I beg to offer my heartfelt condolence in your terrible bereavement.
I am appalled at the suddenness of this sad event, and my pen fails in words to
convey to you my sorrow and sympathy. I cannot make her dead — so little
while it seemed since she wrote me cheerful and friendly words of our mutual
work and interests !

Mysterious, inscrutable providence ! that of the band of four (the " Emma
Willard Association " Committee with which she has done such efficient ser.
vice), she the youngest, who had apparently many years before her, should be
the mark for death !

I am without any particulars. Will you kindly instruct some one to send
me the actual date of the mournful event, and any incident attendant upon it
which might fittingly be embodied in a tribute to her memory? Alas! that
the closing pages of the " Record " for which she so faithfully labored, should
convey the sorrowing message of her demise.

With renewed assurance of my sympathy, I am

Sincerely yours,
September twenty-seven. MARY M. FAIRBANKS.

(It was Mrs. Fairbanks who indited the touching obituary. It was a very brief period after it
was written that she was called to join her friend above and give her answer Adsum.)

Providence, R. I., October 3d.
My Dear Mr. Palmer:

Will you kindly send me the exact date of Mrs. Palmer's death and burial?
Am I right in the impression that the interment took place in Troy ?

If her picture is not already provided for, will you communicate with Miss
Hastings, who has that part of the work in hand, and will know if it is not yet
too late for its insertion. Miss Hastings may be addressed " care of M. M.
Goodenough, Hamilton, N. Y."

I very much hope the picture can be secured, and I shall have a tender
satisfaction in putting in words our sorrow for our dear, dead friend — as if I
might bring a bunch of " rosemary for remembrance."

In deepest sympathy and friendly regard, I am

Truly yours,

M. M. FAIRBANKS.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Marathon, N. Y., Sept. 21, 1898.
My Dear Mr. Palmer :

My heart is too heavy for you, and for myself, for any words. Your sad
note reached me Friday morning on my way to the station when I came here,
and I have been mourning with you in all these days of the funeral and the
burial, but too shocked and distressed to be able to write.

It was just three weeks from Friday that she stood on the steps bidding me
a hasty good bye as I started for Mount Morris — Dear, good, and much loved
friend — how can we spare you ?

I thank you for letting me know so soon — and be sure that I sympathize
most deeply and truly with you in this great grief and loss. But we must not
forget to rejoice for her — that a new and glorious life has begun for her. Strange
that she, the youngest of our Committee, should be taken before the trying
work we have been doing is completed. But God knows best !

Forgive this hasty note, and believe me ever,

Most Sincerely Yours.

MARY A. HASTINGS.

Brooklyn, N. Y., Sept. 15, 1898. Evening.
Mv Dear Mr. Palmer:

Very many will send you words of sympathy in this time of deep sorrow —
but none can be more sincere or heartfelt than mine. The memories of my
pleasant friendship with dear Mrs. Palmer, were always precious to me — and
now they will be more so, because of her going on before into the Heavenly
Home.

The reunion in God's good time is so sure — may the thought be very com-
forting to you in this great trial.

Sincerely Yours,

ELIZABETH ATEN.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Plainfield, N. J.
My Dear Mr. Palmer:

A copy of the " Brooklyn Eagle " has just been received with the sad
announcement of the passing away of your dear wife. I am greatly shocked.
Had I known it in time I should have certainly gone to Brooklyn to pay the last
tribute of respect to one whom I have always held in such high estimation.
Our friendship has extended over a period of many years, and we have been
intimately associated in charitable work. She will be greatly missed by many,
but to you the loss must be inexpressible. At our time of life such a blow is
a stunniag one. I would I could say words that would comfort you in your
grief, but all condolence are tame and commonplace at such a time. It is a
consolation, however, to know that her memory will linger long with many —
sweet and beneficent.

May you be upheld in your sorrow by a Higher Power, and be enabled to
dwell on the happiness you have had together these many years, rather than
on present loss and desolation.

Mr. Butler joins me in sincere and heartfelt condolences.

Your .sincere friend,
September the nineteenth. SARAH W. BUTLER.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Branford, Conn., October 22, 1899.
My Dear Mr. Palmer:

Your letter with its sorrowful news gave me a great shock, and I cannot
bring myself to realize that your good wife, of whom I was very fond has left
us. My visit to her last winter was a peculiarly pleasant one, and around it will
always cling memories never to be forgotten, and which still more have en-
deared dear Mary to me. Her gentle, dignified manner together with her clear
judgment, and good executive ability impressed every one who attended the
E. W. A. meetings, and she will be sadly missed, and her place never filled.
To you, my dear friend, my heart goes out in sympathy in your great affliction
and sorrow. It is, as I well know, very hard to be left alo7ie in the evening of
life, when the future holds so little fruitage, but " it is only for a little while, and
all shall be well with us." We know Mary has gone to that glorious Life to
which her rare and sincere Christian life here entitled her. I trust her sufferings
were not great, and it is better so, than to have kept her here a lingering help-
less paralytic.

While you may " Sigh for the touch of the vanished hand, and the sound
of the voice that is stilled," you have great consolation in the fact that by her
good works is she known and loved.

May the Good Father care for you in your desolation, and pour the balm of
His all healing love in your wounded heart is the wish of your sincerely sym-
pathising friend.

MARION E. LORD.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Charleston, N, H., September 22.
Dear Mr. Palmer :

I cannot tell you how shocked I was at receiving the " Brooklyn Eagle "
containing the notice of dear Mrs. Palmer's death.

I had so recently heard from her that I could not believe it possible she
was no more with us.

In her letter she complained of the great heat of the summer, but gave no
hint of any special illness, so I am at a loss to know what was the matter.

But she has always been delicate in health since I knew her, and I infer
that the labor of breaking up housekeeping acting on her system, enfeebled by
the extreme heat, must have been the cause.

I can hardly realize that she is gone, and I feel as if I had lost a good
friend, of which there are not too many in the world.

As for you, dear Mr. Palmer, my heart aches for you in your loneliness.

I know only too well how much you will miss her, for she has filled such a
large part of your life. The loss of a constant companion is most grievous.
She was so wise and sensible, as well as helpful, that she will be a great loss to
all who ever came in contact with her. Her executive ability was great, and
both the Emma Willard Association and the Nursery will greatly mourn her.
Her usefulness to others was a marked feature of her character.

I hope you will find some absorbing work to do, for when one is in sorrow
there is nothing like work which prevents one from thinking too much of the
past.

Just now you are doubtless busy with completing the arrangements for
breaking up housekeeping, but I dread for you the quiet hours which will
follow all this excitement. But you have the inestimable consolation of having
been one of the best husbands I ever knew— that ought to soothe many a heart
pang.

With deepest sympathy for you in this sad affliction, I am most sincerely

your friend,

ELLEN W. GOODWIN.

MEMORIAL rO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

EMMA WILI.ARD ASSOCIATION.

Whereas, during the recess of our Association death has called away from
our membership Mrs. Henry L. Palmer,

Now therefore,

Be it Resolved, That we, members of the Emma Willard Association, do
tender our deep and heartfelt sympathy to those who are left to mourn their
loss.

Resolved, That the poem " Good- Bye," which closed the Report of the
Recording Secretary, be also added to these Resolutions, and sent with them.

Resolved, That these Resolutions be spread in full upon the Minutes, and
the Secretary is hereby instructed to transmit a copy of these Resolutions to the
family of the deceased.

GOOD BYE.

We say it for an hour, or it may be for years ;
We say it smiling, say it choked with tears ;
We say it coldly, say it with a kiss.
And yet, we have no other word than this —
Good-bye.

We have no dearer word for our hearts' friend.
For him who journeys to the world's far end.
And scars our soul with going ; thus we say.
As unto him who steps but o'er the way —
Good-bye.

Alike to those we love and those we hate.
We say no more in parting at life's gate.
To him who passes out beyond earth's sight.
We cry as to the wanderer for a night
Good-bye,

Good-bye.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Brooklyn Woman's Club, 57 Livingston St., Novembei 10.
Mr. Henry L. Palmer,

Dear Sir: At the last meeting of our Board of Directors, held on October

24, suitable mention was made of our sense of loss in the lamented death of

your beloved wife, Mrs. Mary Skilton Palmer. As President of the Club I was

asked to convey to you our earnest and kindly sympathy. Mrs. Palmer's modest

but winning personality, and the gracious, unobtrusive faithfulness to Club

duties which was so eminently a characteristic of her. had won many friends

among us. We shall long miss and mourn her ; and I beg you to receive our

sincere wishes for fortitude and patience under your heavy affliction.

Very sincerely yours,

MRS. T. J (HELEN H ) BACKUS.
^3* t^ «5*

The Brooklyn Nursery and Infants' Hospital.
396 Herkimer Street, Telephone Call. 36 Bedford.

Brooklyn. N. Y. September 21. 1898.
Mr. H. L. Palmer,

Dear Sir: The Board of Managers of the Brooklyn Nursery and Infants'

Hospital have requested me to convey to you their sincere sympathy in your

great bereavement — your wife's death.

The ladies who have been many years connected with this work speak in

high praise of her long period of faithfulness in the past, and of her interest

which ceased only with her life. We are very sorry to have lost our only friend

in Plymouth Church.

Trusting the Comforter will be near you in these sad hours.

Sincerely yours,

SARAH C. PATTERSON,

Corresponding Secretary.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Salisbury, Conn., September 23, 1S98.
My Dear Mr. Palmer :

It is only to-daj- that I have learned the sad news that your wife has been
called away from your side to her heavenly home.

I need not tell you what a shock it is to me, and I hasten to write to assure
you of my sympathy for you in your great bereavement and of my own sorrow
at the loss of a dear and valued friend.

We have usually had some communication in the summer, but this year
has been an exception, and I have not known where she has been. I am glad
she was in her own home when the summons came. And you must think that
while you are left desolate, for her there will be no more sickness.

I know how inadequate are words even from a full and saddened heart to
bring consolation, and I can only commend you to Him who came to bear our
sorrows, for help and comfort.

Yours very sincerely,

DELIA DAUCHY.

52 Pineapple St., Brooklyn, N. Y., September 18, 1898.
Henry L. Palmer, Esq., 575 St. Marks Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y.

Dear Sir : I do not presume that any word of mine would be of comfort or
satisfaction to you in the cloud of grief and sorrow which has befallen your
home, the darkest which can come to any man, yet it seems to me that I may
without intrusion, say how sorry we were to learn of your bereavement.

I can claim only a slight acquaintance with Mrs. Palmer, yet recall her
many graces of character, her desire to do the best for every one, and your
unceasing solicitous care for her.

When such lives become a memory it is yet, God be praised, a radiant one.

I could not, by personal attendance at the funeral services, pay the tribute

of respect which is in my desire, but I am, with heartfelt sympathy in your

affliction, sincerely yours,

EDWARD SCHENCK.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

St. Paul, 645 Portland Ave., October 18, 1898.

My Dear Mr. Palmer :

When your note came to St. Paul, I was visiting in Chicago, and it was
some time after it came that I received it ; with it came the little study from
Mrs. Palmer. I shall always treasure the little study because it came from her.

I hardly know how to sympathize with you in your great trouble and
bereavement, but you have our heartfelt sympathy. I have always felt and
looked upon Mrs. Palmer as one that was as near being perfect as any one
could be, and that in losing her I have lost a very dear friend, for to know her
was to love her, and every one loved her dearly.

Mamma and papa send their kindest regards.

Very sincerely,

NELLIE M. STEVENSON.

«^ ,* 4^*

Troy, September 19.

Dear Mr. Palmer:

It does not seem possible that dear Mrs. Palmer has gone. Knowing how
you would turn to and receive heartfelt sympathy from my father and mother
if they were here, I want you, if possible, to feel that I act as their deputy, as
well as extending to you from Lewis and myself, our truest sorrow for your
dreadful blow.

I knew nothing of Mrs. Palmer's death until nearly four o'clock on Satur-
day afternoon, or I should certainly have been at Mrs. Simmons, where I
understand the funeral was held.

I think I understand a little of what this sudden loss is to you. You must
be stunned by it, and not able to realize it. I am sure I cannot realize that I
shall not see her again here.

With truest sympathy,

CHARLOTTE E. RAYMOND.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Mabbettsville, N. Y., September 17, 1898.

My Dear Henry :

I never wrote a letter with a sadder heart than I have now, since yours
came this morning telling us that Mary is no more.

I feel her loss so deeply that it almost makes me forget to put my own
grief aside, and think of you.

The suddenness of it makes it so hard to bear just now. No time given, I
fear, for the " tender, last farewell," which so wrings the heart at the time, yet
is so soothing to remember in after years.

We all feel your bereavement, Henry. Mrs. Coffin with full sympathy, for
her similar grief is still fresh ; and Robert and I ; what a faithful friend she has
been to us ! And how many acts of kindness towards us we have to treasure
in our memories !

And not we alone. How many there are who will miss her sorely, and
begin to realize her worth now she is gone. When we look at the other side
and remember that it was God's will that she should die, perhaps she has been
taken from evil days ; for I fear her sisterly heart would have had many
anxieties and sorrows, perhaps, to bear.

Again we offer you our heartfelt sympathy. Robert will write to you also.

Your sincere friend,

AMY D. COFFIN.

I Stevenson Ave., Everett, Mass., September 16, 1898.
My Dear Mr. Palmer :

I have just learned of the sudden passing away of yoor good wife. Please
believe in my deepest sympathy with you. Mrs. Palmer was always exceed-
ingly kind to me, and I shall never forget her attention and care for me during
an illness.

I am very sorry that this trouble and grief has come to you.

Very truly your friend,

FANNIE A. OSGOOD.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILION) PALMER.

San Franciscu, Cal., September 19, iSgS.

Mr. H. L. Palmer,

Dear Henry : — Two letters to Frank, addressed from St. Paul, announce the
sudden illness and death of your beloved wife. I write a line to tell you how
full of sorrow my breast is for you in your bereavement. Surely the deep and
bitter waters of aflliction seem surrounding us all. One great sorrow seems
following fast upon another, until it almost seems as if this shadow of death
would never pass away. Only this I know, that peace and rest supernal have
taken the place of disappointments and conflicts of this inconstant life for our
precious dead, and that for us, only a few more days or weeks of these sad
experiences and the welcome transition will come. In the awful desolation
and loneliness of spirit, I can sympathize to the depths of my broken heart.
That intense yearning and reaching out for something that will never come
back, brings anguish of spirit that will never be dissipated this side of the
eternal gates. May the dear Father in his great mercy comfort your sad heart.

Sincerely,

(HATTIE) MRS. JULIUS A. SKILTON.

Brooklyn, New Ycirk, September 16, 1898.

My Dear Mr. Palmer :

Your note of yesterday telling of your great loss was a surprise to us for
you had not told me of Mrs. Palmer's illness. From little things that I have
heard you say at different times and from that love of home which you have
always manifested, I knew that your married life was a very happy one. I never
had the privilege of knowing Mrs. Palmer, but I know how hard it would be for
me to part with my life companion, and can fully sympathize with you in your
affliction. May God, who only can help, give you strength at this time.

Yours truly,

F. W. ROWE.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Mobile, September 27, 189S.

Dear Cousin Henry :

The " Paper " containing- notice of Cousin Mary's death found me just up
from a short illness ; but while still weak and miserable, I feel I must write
you a few lines. I know from experience how little one can .say to their friends
that has the least comfort or consolation in it. If it did not seem heartless and
careless I sometimes think I would never offer to those I love, one word. How
idle they sound ; and only time and our good Father's love and kindness can
heal our hearts. Elma and I were very much shocked to hear of Cousin
Mary's death, and you can rest assured that you have our love and sympathy.
Elma often speaks of her lovely visit to you and the kindness you both showed
her. How well I realize the desolation of your home. If you can write me
about Cousin Mary's illness and cause of her death, I would be so glad to hear
from you. Excuse this short letter as I am hardly able to sit up.

With love and sympathy from Elma and yours sincerely,

(COUSIN RETTA) MRS. H. P. ENSIGN.

September 16.
Mv Dear Palmer :

I see in the " Tribune " this morning notice of the death of your -wife.

I wish to express to you my sincere sympathy and regret at the occurrence.

I would like to come over to the funeral this afternoon, but I have been away

for a week and have just returned this morning, and family are still in the

country. I trust to see you some day soon and will then in person express my

sympathy. I am as ever

Your friend,

FRANK SQUIER.

MEMORIAL TO MARY T. (SKILTON) PALMER.

Cottage City, Mass., September i8, 1898.

My Dear Mr. Palmer:

Mrs. Ellinwood and I were very much saddened, last evening, by the
notice in the " Brooklyn Eagle," which we suppose you kindly caused to be
sent to us, announcing the passing away of our dear friend, Mrs. Palmer
Mrs. Ellinwood has thought a great deal about her lately, and we have very
much regretted, ever since we left Brooklyn, that owing to .Sarah's poor health
we were unable to accept your invitation to visit you at your new home, or to
go over and call upon you when we came through New York on our way
from North Carolina to this place last spring. We, from the depths of our
hearts sympathize with you in your great loss, and trust that you will be
sustained by the thought that ere long you and she will be reunited in the
sphere just beyond. We not only feel deeply for you in your severe affliction,
but would like Mary's brothers (especially her brother James) to know that
they have our sincere sympathy in the departure of their beloved sister, to
whom they were so strongly attached. You may not have any faith that our
friends in the spirit world visit us, and at times commimicate with us, but we
have derived a good deal of comfort, as several of our acquaintances also
have, in this faith.

Will you not, when you feel as though you can, be so good as to write us,
and give us some information concerning Mrs. Palmer's illness, and the
circumstances attending her last days with you ?

With very best wishes from Mrs. Ellinwood, I remain

Sincerely your friend,

T. J. ELLINWOOD.

Cha* Cant
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