Palmer at­tend­ed Phil­lips An­do­ver Acad­e­my (where he and Oli­ver Wen­dell Holmes were class­mates) and Yale Un­i­ver­si­ty. Af­ter Yale, he taught at a young la­dies’ school in New York, then at a girls’ col­lege in New Ha­ven, Con­nec­ti­cut. In 1835, Palmer was or­dained as a Con­gre­ga­tion­al min­is­ter, and pas­tored in Bath, Maine, and Albany, New York, serv­ing 15 years at each lo­ca­tion. Around 1865, he be­came Sec­re­ta­ry of the Con­gre­ga­tion­al Un­ion. Palm­er re­tired in 1878. His works in­clude:

• Memoirs and Select Remains of Charles Pond, 1829
• The Spirit’s Life, a Poem, 1837
• How to Live, or Memoirs of Mrs. C. L. Watson, 1839
• Doctrinal Text Book, 1839
• Spiritual Improvement, 1839; repub­lished as Clo­set Hours, 1851
• What Is Truth? or Hints on the Forma­tion of Re­li­gious Opin­ions, 1860
• Remem­ber Me, or The Ho­ly Com­mun­ion (Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts: The Amer­i­can Tract So­ci­e­ty, 1865)
• Hymns and Sac­red Pieces, with Mis­cel­la­ne­ous Po­ems, 1865
• Hymns of My Ho­ly Hours, and Other Pieces, 1868
• Home, or the Un­lost Par­a­dise, 1873
• Complete Poetical Works, 1876
• Voices of Hope and Glad­ness, 1881

Sources

Hymns

1. And Is There, Lord, a Rest?
2. Away from Earth My Spirit Turns
3. Before Thy Throne with Tearful Eyes
4. Behold the Shade of Night Is Now Receding
5. Come, Ho­ly Ghost, in Love
6. Come, Jesus, Redeemer, Abide Thou with Me
7. Eternal Father, Thou Hast Said
8. Fount of Everlasting Love
9. Ho­ly Ghost, That Promised Came
10. I Give My Heart to Thee
11. Jesus, Lamb of God, for Me
12. Jesus, My Heart with­in Me Burns
13. Jesus, These Eyes Have Never Seen
14. Jesus, Thou Joy of Lov­ing Hearts
15. Lord, My Weak Thought in Vain Would Climb
16. Lord, Thou Hast Taught Our Hearts to Glow
17. Lord, Thou on Earth Didst Love Thine Own
18. Lord, Thou Wilt Bring the Joy­ful Day
19. Lord, when My Soul Her Se­crets Doth Re­veal
20. Mid Evening Sha­dows Let us All Be Wak­ing
21. My Faith Looks Up to Thee
22. O Christ Our King, Cre­at­or, Lord
23. O Christ, the Lord of Heav­en, to Thee
24. O Ho­ly Comforter, I Hear
25. O Jesus, Sweet the Tears I Shed
26. O Sweetly Breathe the Lyres Above
27. Stealing from the World Away
28. Take Me, O My Father, Take Me
29. Thou, Savior, from Thy Throne on High
30. Thine Holy Day’s Returning
31. Thou Who Roll’st the Year Around
32. Thy Father’s House! Thine Own Bright Home
33. Thy Ho­ly Day’s Returning
34. Wake Thee, O Zion
35. We Stand in Deep Repentance
36. When Downward to the Darksome Tomb
37. When Inward Turns My Searching Gaze
38. With Thine Own Pity, Savior, See
39. Wouldst Thu Eternal Life Obtain

Translations

1. O Bread to Pilgrims Given