The passing of Chariton's venerable Phineas Palmer

Phineas Palmer almost certainly was Lucas County's oldest resident when he passed to his reward in Chariton at the age of 97 as midnight struck on Dec. 31, 1882-Jan. 1, 1883.

This New Year's Eve will be the 140th anniversary of his death and we could, if it seemed useful, stand at the Chariton Cemetery grave of someone born 237 years earlier as 2023 launches on Sunday. For Iowa, that's a long time.

Two of Mr. Palmer's sons, Oliver L. and Thomas E., were among Chariton's earliest merchants, locating here in the early 1850s. They brought their father and maiden sister, Julia, west to live near them about 1858.

And to be honest, there is a little uncertainty about the year of his birth. His tombstone, erected long after his death, gives his age at death as 98. But whatever the case, he was very old. Here's the text of his obituary:

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Phineas Palmer died Monday night at 12 o'clock, aged 97 years. He was born in Stonington, Connecticut, in 1785, and at an early age moved to Auburn, N.Y., where he was married. His wife died 40 years ago. He was a member of the Presbyterian church in Auburn and kept up his connection with the church there until the time of his death.

He came to Chariton 27 years ago and has lived here ever since, except one year's visit to his old home.  He was a man of sterling worth and marked force of character. Seldom indeed is it given to any man to have lived such a long and useful life. He was contemporary with the nation. When Mr. Palmer was born the war of the revolution had only just closed and the nation, bleeding from the wounds of the fearful struggle, was facing the future with the untried problem of self government.

Rarely has a single lifetime witnessed such vast changes as have taken place during the life of this venerable man. Coming from that earnest old puritan stock who gave practical lesson to the world of the doctrine of liberty, regulated by law, he was always an ardent lover of his country, a quiet unobtrusive citizen, and a christian man.

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Phineas's son, Thomas, lived a long life, too --- passing to his reward at the age of 91 on May 27, 1914. He and his wife, Anne, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary during October of 1912 and a paragraph in the write-up of that event, published in The Ottumwa Courier on Oct. 5, suggests that longevity was a family trait ---

"(Thomas Palmer's) father, Phineas Palmer, lived to be 98 years old, and his grandfather, James Palmer, reached the ripe old age of 99 years. He died on his 99th birthday, the result of an accident. He had been engaged in chopping down a tree and it fell on him, causing instant death."

We should all be so fortunate as to pass on at the age of 99 while chopping down a tree.