{{Short description|American politician (1820–1862)}} {{For|the musician|Robert Moffat Palmer}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Robert Moffett Palmer | ambassador_from = | country = | term_start = October 5, 1861 | term_end = c. April 12, 1862 | predecessor = [[John F. Cushman]] | successor = [[Robert C. Kirk]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1862|4|26|1820|12|14}} | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | death_place = [[Atlantic Ocean]] | birth_place = [[Mount Holly, New Jersey|Mount Holly]], [[New Jersey]] | office2 = [[Pennsylvania State Senate|Pennsylvania State Senator]] | term_start2 = 1857 | term_end2 = 1861 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1820|12|14}} | spouse = Isabelle Seitzinger | children = 6 | honorific_prefix = Ambassador | image = Robert Moffett Palmer.jpg | office = 5th [[United States Ambassador to Argentina|United States Minister to Argentina]] }}
'''Robert Moffett Palmer''' (December 14, 1820 – April 26, 1862) was an [[Americans|American]] [[diplomat]].
== Biography == Palmer was born in [[Mount Holly, New Jersey|Mount Holly]], [[New Jersey]] on December 14, 1820 to a family of judges and politicians.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Fischer|first=Kirsten|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2uMKEAAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+M.+Palmer%22|title=American Freethinker: Elihu Palmer and the Struggle for Religious Freedom in the New Nation|date=2020-11-20|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-9782-9|language=en|access-date=2021-11-19|archive-date=2023-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212171409/https://books.google.com/books?id=2uMKEAAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+M.+Palmer%22#v=snippet&q=%22Robert%20M.%20Palmer%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> At age 9 his father moved the family to [[Pottsville, Pennsylvania|Pottsville]], [[Pennsylvania]] and Palmer began learning the trade of [[printing]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last1=Wiley|first1=Samuel T.|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028854598|title=Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Schuylkill County Pennsylvania : comprising a historical sketch of the county|last2=Ruoff|first2=Henry W. (Henry Woldmar)|date=1893|publisher=Philadelphia : Rush, West|others=Cornell University Library}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Kestenbaum|first=Lawrence|title=The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Palmer|url=https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/palmer.html|access-date=2021-05-25|website=politicalgraveyard.com|archive-date=2021-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517010946/https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/palmer.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Drees|first=Charles William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pU3AQAAMAAJ&q=%22Robert+M.+Palmer%22|title=Americans in Argentina: A Record of Past & Present Activities of Americans in Argentina, Rodney to Riddle|date=1922|publisher=Coni Press|language=en|access-date=2021-11-19|archive-date=2023-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212171409/https://books.google.com/books?id=6pU3AQAAMAAJ&q=%22Robert+M.+Palmer%22#v=snippet&q=%22Robert%20M.%20Palmer%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> He would eventually become editor of the Pottsville Emporium, a local paper, and later marry Isabelle Seitzinger in 1840. In 1845 he would join the [[Bar (law)|bar]] before going on to be appointed [[District attorney|District Attorney]] of [[Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania|Schuylkill County]] in 1850.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Robert Moffett Palmer|url=https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=5153&body=S|access-date=2021-05-27|website=The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly.|language=English|archive-date=2021-04-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412005829/https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/bioshistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=5153&body=S|url-status=live}}</ref>
Palmer would act as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] delegate for Pennsylvania to the [[Republican National Convention]] in both [[1856 Republican National Convention|1856]] and [[1860 Republican National Convention|1860]].<ref name=":0" />
Palmer would take a seat in the [[Pennsylvania State Senate]] in 1859 as a Republican.<ref name=":3" /> He would eventually becoming [[President of the Senate|Speaker of the Senate]] in 1860 and get reelected in 1861.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Carman|first1=Harry James|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VS0dAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Robert+M.+Palmer%22+argentina|title=Lincoln and the Patronage|last2=Luthin|first2=Reinhard Henry|author2-link=Reinhard H. Luthin|date=1964|publisher=P. Smith|isbn=978-0-8446-1101-3|language=en|access-date=2021-11-19|archive-date=2023-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212171409/https://books.google.com/books?id=VS0dAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Robert+M.+Palmer%22+argentina|url-status=live}}</ref>
While serving as the Speaker, Palmer would be selected by [[Abraham Lincoln|President Lincoln]] to serve as the [[United States|United States']] [[Minister Resident]] to the [[Argentine Confederation]].<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_vwAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Robert+M.+Palmer%22+argentina&pg=PA185|title=Year Book|publisher=Association of the Bar of the City of New York|year=1912|language=en|access-date=2021-11-19|archive-date=2023-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212171409/https://books.google.com/books?id=f_vwAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Robert+M.+Palmer%22+argentina&pg=PA185#v=onepage&q=%22Robert%20M.%20Palmer%22%20argentina&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> He would represent the United States to Argentina from 1861 to April 12, 1862.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Robert M. Palmer – People – Department History – Office of the Historian|url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/palmer-robert-m|access-date=2021-05-10|website=history.state.gov|archive-date=2021-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510212852/https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/palmer-robert-m|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5NJIAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Robert+M.+Palmer%22|title=Relations Between the United States and Argentina|publisher=United States Department of State|year=1948|language=en|access-date=2021-11-19|archive-date=2023-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212171410/https://books.google.com/books?id=5NJIAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Robert+M.+Palmer%22#v=snippet&q=%22Robert%20M.%20Palmer%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> On February 25, 1862, he would move the U.S. [[legation]] from [[Paraná, Entre Ríos|Parana]] back to [[Buenos Aires]], following the [[Argentine Civil Wars|reunification of the country]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Argentina – Chiefs of Mission – People – Department History – Office of the Historian|url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/chiefsofmission/argentina|access-date=2021-05-27|website=history.state.gov|archive-date=2021-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512184750/https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/chiefsofmission/argentina|url-status=live}}</ref>
Palmer died on April 26, 1862, off the coast of [[Brazil]], aboard a ship that was returning to the United States from Argentina. His body was [[Burial at sea|buried at sea]] in the [[Atlantic Ocean]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=1862-06-15|title=Obituary.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1862/06/15/archives/obituary.html|access-date=2021-05-25|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2023-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212171410/https://www.nytimes.com/1862/06/15/archives/obituary.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He died leaving a widow and 6 children.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{US Ambassadors to Argentina|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Robert Moffett}} [[Category:1820 births]] [[Category:1862 deaths]] [[Category:People from Mount Holly, New Jersey]] [[Category:People from Pottsville, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:American printers]] [[Category:District attorneys in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Presidents pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate]] [[Category:Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina]] [[Category:Burials at sea]] [[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]] [[Category:19th-century American diplomats]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly]]