Julius Auboineau Palmer Jr. | |
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![]() March 1, 1840 – January 11, 1899 | |
Born | March 1, 1840 |
Died | January 11, 1899 | (aged 58)
Occupations | Ship captain Mycologist (J.A.Palmer) Author |
Known for | Association with Liliuokalani |
Spouse | Effie W. |
Parent(s) | Julius Aboyneau Palmer Sr. Lucy Manning Peabody |
Relatives | George Herbert Palmer |
Julius Auboineau Palmer Jr., (March 1, 1840 – January 11, 1899) is probably best remembered in history for his association with Hawaiian queen Liliuokalani. His was born into an old established Massachusetts family that centered around a conservative Christian lifestyle. His father was a successful businessman and politician, one brother a Christian minister, and another brother a professor at Harvard University. As a young man, he chose a seaman's life, visiting much of the world and becoming a multi-linguist. After retiring as a sea captain, he devoted later years to researching the health benefits of edible fungi.
Palmer and Liliuokalani first crossed paths at a diplomatic ball in Honolulu, when he was a sea captain on temporary residency. She was a young newlywed, and he had not yet reached the age of 30. Over the next several decades, their paths continued to cross. An avowed royalist who believed Hawaiians had been the object of missionary bigotry, Palmer was twice sent to Hawaii by United States newspapers to cover the unfolding political events following the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His public support of the monarchy put him in the position of being the target of ridicule and harassment by those favoring annexation, which included most of the established newspapers in Hawaii.
After release from her imprisonment, Liliuokalani recruited Palmer as her personal assistant when she was in residence at Boston and Washington D. C., protesting the annexation of Hawaii. He became her official spokesperson, a stenographer and secretary who assisted with her literary publishing, and her staunch ally. She, in turn, referred to him as a man of "unblemished honor and integrity".