Francis Palms

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Francis Palms
Francis Palms.jpg
Francis Palms, early Michigan tycoon.
Born
Francis Frederick Palms

1809
Antwerp, Belgium
DiedNovember 4, 1886
Detroit, Michigan
NationalityBelgian-American
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1830s-1880s
Known forsee below

Francis Palms (1809–1886) was the largest landholder in Michigan[1] during the mid-1850s. He had major business interests as well and was given the nickname "Croesus" because of his wealth.[2]

Life and career[]

He was born in Antwerp, Belgium December 13, 1809 and relocated to Detroit with his parents and siblings in 1833. His father Ange was a quartermaster in Napoleon's army who emigrated to the New World upon Napoleon's defeat. After moving to Detroit, Ange relocated to New Orleans with 3 sons and a daughter where he founded a manufacturing firm.[3] Francis stayed in Detroit with his mother Jeanette and sister Mary Frances.

In 1836, Francis Palms married his first wife Margaret Burnett, who died shortly after the birth of their son, Francis Frederick II.[3] He married his second wife, Catherine Campau, daughter of Joseph, who was a large landowner in early Detroit. With her he had two sons and a daughter. After working for Campau, Francis worked as a clerk and then tried manufacturing linseed oil. Selling this business, he became a partner in the wholesale grocery firm of Franklin Moore & Co.[4] Palms made considerable capital as a grocer and purchased 40,000 acres Macomb and St. Clair Counties[1] during the panic years of 1836-1837. Palms Road in St. Clair County was named for him. He had interest in a stave mill at the end of Palms Road on Anchor Bay.

Palms sold his land in lower Michigan in small parcels for a profit estimated to be between $300,000 and $400,000[5] and with the proceeds purchased pine and other forest lands[6] in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin. He invested in the white pine areas near the Jump River in Wisconsin along with other successful businessmen including Ezra Cornell, Frederick Weyerhauser and Henry Sage,[7] and in 1875, the men paid between $10 an acre up to $23.59. He also received land from a Pottawatomie chief, Chief Lerner, and continued to purchase more Indian Reserve lands as they became available.[8][9] With these additions to his holdings, he became the largest landholder in Michigan (and possibly the U.S.) while in his late 20s.

When he would sell land, he would keep the mineral rights. The discovery of copper and coal increased his wealth and his net worth increased by $800,000. Some of the lands were subdivided and became established towns such as Seney, Michigan and Newberry, Michigan while others did not prosper, withered away and became ghost towns.[10] In the 1880s Palms began building business blocks in Detroit. (The Francis Palms Building which houses the Fillmore theater in Detroit is named for him.) He was the president and largest stock holder in the Peoples Savings Bank as well as the Michigan Marine and Fire Insurance Company. He was the president of the Michigan Stove Company[11] and part owner of the Galvin Brass & Iron Co., Union Iron Co., and the Vulcan Furnace & Peninsular Land Co. He was the vice president and a director of the Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Railroad[12] and he built the Palms Apartments & Palms House on E. Jefferson. He was also an early supporter of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Palms lived in what is now known as the Croul-Palms House at 394 East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit.[13] Between 1875 and 1885, his health declined when he suffered a paralytic stroke and heart disease. At the same time, he was struggling with his businesses as timber became scarce and taxes and the immigrant population increased, so he invited his son to the business in 1880.[10] He died November 4, 1886,[3] and was laid to rest in the Palms Mausoleum built by George D. Mason in the Mt. Elliott Cemetery in Detroit, leaving an estate of $7 million.[1] After his death, his will was estimated at about $10,000,000,[2] the largest estate in Michigan at the time.[14]

His children Francis Frederick and Clotilde fought about the Palms estate,[15] so that they were estranged for twenty years before coming to an agreement. Palms's legacy not only continued with his son but his grandsons, the Book Brothers [16] and Charles L. Palms, co-founder of the Wayne Automobile Co. and part owner of the E-M-F Motor Co.

His remains are interred in the family mausoleum in Mount Elliott Cemetery.[17]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Jensen, Cecile Wendt (2006). Detroit's Mount Elliott Cemetery. Arcadia Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 0738540935. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "The Hour". . March 1, 1886. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Clarence Monroe Burton; William Stocking; Gordon K. Miller (1922). The City of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Volume 3. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 24. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  4. ^ Cyclopedia of Michigan: historical and biographical, comprising a synopsis of general history of the state, and biographical sketches of men who have, in their various spheres, contributed toward its development. Western Publishing and Engraving Co. 1890. p. 232. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  5. ^ Ewen, Lynn Ann (2015). Corporate Power and Urban Crisis in Detroit. Princeton University Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-1400871971. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  6. ^ Quarterly Review of the Michigan Alumnus, Volume 65. University of Michigan Library. 1959. p. 137. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  7. ^ "Graft and exploitation cut deep into the forests". The Milwaukee Journal. March 8, 1878. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  8. ^ Paul Torney; Lynn Lyon; Richard Gonyeau; Bob Mack; Alan Naldrett; Gail Zabowski (2015). Ira Township. Arcadia Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 978-1467113151. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  9. ^ History of St. Clair County, Michigan: Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources, Its War Record, Biographical Sketches, the Whole Preceded by a History of Michigan. A.T. Andreas & Company. 1888. p. 729. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Vanderzee, Robert (2011). Burt Russell Shurly: A Man of Conviction, a Life In Medicine and Education, 1871-1950. iUniverse. pp. 53–60. ISBN 9781450275279. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  11. ^ Burton, C. M. (1922). The City of Detroit Michigan 1701-1922. Рипол-классик. p. 546. ISBN 5877163736. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  12. ^ Farmer, Silas (1889). The History of Detroit and Michigan: Or, The Metropolis Illustrated; a Chronological Cyclopaedia of the Past and Present, Including a Full Record of Territorial Days in Michigan, and the Annals of Wayne County, Volume 2. S. Farmer & Company. p. 1063. Retrieved June 22, 2015. Francis Palms Michigan.
  13. ^ "Jerome Croul-Francis Palms Home – 1394 East Jefferson Avenue". detroit1701.org. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  14. ^ "Contesting His Will; Millionaire Palms' Children Do Not Respect the Wishes of Their Father". The Milwaukee Journal. December 3, 1886. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  15. ^ "Palms v. Palms, 68 Mich. 355". Michigan Supreme Court. February 2, 1888.
  16. ^ "To Be Detroit's High Structure". The Pittsburgh Press. March 31, 1925. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  17. ^ Francis Palms at Find a Grave. "Francis Palms Mausoleum, Mount Elliott Cemetery" (Photograph). Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library. Retrieved March 13, 2021.

External links[]

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