Joseph Palmer (communard)

Joseph Palmer (communard)

Joseph Michael Palmer was a member of the Fruitlands commune and an associate of Louisa May Alcott and other Transcendentalists. Palmer wore a long beard in the 1820s and was considered eccentric and slovenly. In 1830, four men armed with scissors and razors attacked Palmer outside a Fitchburg hotel and attempted to shave him. Palmer successfully fended off his attackers and wound the legs of two of his assailants.

About Joseph Palmer (communard) in brief

Summary Joseph Palmer (communard)Joseph Michael Palmer was a member of the Fruitlands commune and an associate of Louisa May Alcott and other Transcendentalists. Palmer wore a long beard in the 1820s and was considered eccentric and slovenly. In 1830, four men armed with scissors and razors attacked Palmer outside a Fitchburg hotel and attempted to shave him. Palmer successfully fended off his attackers and wound the legs of two of his assailants. Charged with ‘unprovoked assault’, Palmer refused to pay the USD 10 fine, nearly USD 40 in court fees, and a USD 700 bond that resulted from his conviction for the crime of defending himself.

Palmer was thrown into the Worcester County Jail and kept there for more than a year. Palmer kept a detailed journal of his fifteen months in the jail; the original is preserved in the archive at Fruitlands Museum. On August 31, 1831, after more than 15 months in jail, Palmer paid his fine and left the jail. Palmer met prominent figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos Bronson, William Lloyd Garrison, and William Garrison. He was involved in prison and religious reform and was an early abolitionist. His letters from prison were widely published in the Worcester Spy.