Gen. Bruce Palmer

General Bruce Palmer, Notes on his Mother’s Family, author’s copy

My mother was Madeline Harding, from Chicago, IL, the daughter of George F. Harding, Sr., heir of a large family fortune that grew out of the fact that his father Abner Clark Harding had built the first railroad in Illinois. Abner Clark had been a general on the Union side in the Civil War and was the hero of Fort Donelson which he held against all comers throughout the war. Unfortunately, the eldest son was not a paragon of virtue, but as was the custom in some quarters, maintained a mistress with a separate household. He was also a political "boss" of the slum-side of Chicago and the slum landlord of the area. My grandmother Harding promptly sued him for divorce in a famous case that went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States where she "won" after 20-some years, but it was a Pyrrhic victory as it took its toll on the innocent children. [198 U.S. 317 - Adelaide Harding v. George F Harding ] But my mother did end up with quite a bit of valuable Illinois Bell Telephone stock which she cashed in and spent on my very spoiled Dad and us equally spoiled kids, spending very little on herself.

Bruce Palmer, Notes by his Son Harding Palmer, author’s copy

My father … was from a pioneer Army family of many generations, both colonial and United States—a westerner who was born and raised on the Indian frontier … and was therefore far from being a sophisticated urban type. Hunting, fishing, riding, and playing polo was really “his bag”! Moreover he was “poor” at least by the standards of my mother’s family … He was not a college graduate but an entirely self-made man; yet throughout his married years he became a well-read, well-travelled, and therefore “worldly” person, in the better sense of that word. He had a brilliant and enquiring mind—a genuine “thinker”—and had exhibited exceptional leadership qualities at an early stage in his military career.”