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

• Bailey, pp. 487-90
• Hughes, p. 511
• Hustad, p. 299
• Julian, pp. 57, 262, 588, 809, 828, 877, 879, 958, 990, 1212, 1215, 1553, 1561, 1585, 1594, 1623, 1666
• Robinson, pp. 32-3

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

1. O Bread to Pil­grims Giv­en