Julius Auboineau Palmer Jr., (March 1, 1840 – January 11, 1899) is probably best remembered in history for his association with Hawaiian queen Liliuokalani. His was born into an old established Massachusetts family that centered around a conservative Christian lifestyle. His father was a successful business man and politician, one brother a Christian minister, and another brother a professor at Harvard University. As a young man, he chose a seaman's life, visiting much of the world and becoming a multi-linguist. After retiring as a sea captain, he devoted later years to researching the health benefits of edible fungi.
Palmer and Liliuokalani first crossed paths at a diplomatic ball in Honolulu, when he was a sea captain on temporary residency. She was a young newlywed, and he had not yet reached the age of 30. Over the next several decades, their paths continued to cross. An avowed royalist who believed Hawaiians had been the object of missionary bigotry, Palmer was twice sent to Hawaii by United States newspapers to cover the unfolding political events following the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His public support of the monarchy put him in the position of being the target of ridicule and harassment by those favoring annexation, which included most of the established newspapers in Hawaii.
After release from her imprisonment, Liliuokalani recruited Palmer as her personal assistant when she was in residence at Boston and Washington D. C., protesting the annexation of Hawaii. He became her official spokesperson, a stenographer and secretary who assisted with her literary publishing, and her staunch ally. She, in turn, referred to him as a man of "unblemished honor and integrity".
Background
He was one of nine children born to Julius Aboyneau Palmer Sr. and his wife Lucy Manning Peabody. The Palmers were descended from English immigrants who arrived in Massachusetts in 1621. The Peabody family were distant relatives who also immigrated to Massachusetts about the same time. Palmer Sr. was a partner in Palmer, Batchelder, & Co jewelers, a deacon in Boston's Mount Vernon Church, treasurer of the Christian publishing firm American Tract Society, and active in many community organizations. The elder Palmer was a Whig Party politician who was elected in 1843 to the Massachusetts state legislature, eventually serving in both houses; in 1858 the Temperance Party of Boston nominated him as their candidate for mayor. Harvard University professor George Herbert Palmer, brother to Julius Jr., described the family life as "a Puritan home". His brother Frederick Palmer was minister of a Congregational church.
Young Julius chose a career sailing the seas, beginning as an ordinary sailor and in succeeding years working his way up the ranks to become captain of his own vessel. The career provided him with sufficient income to retire at an early age. Even in retirement, he maintained his captain's certification. According to the Boston Athenæum, his travels gave him fluency in several languages and took him to many ports around the world. At home in Boston, Palmer gravitated towards socializing with non-English speaking foreigners. In early 1870, he was involved in a lawsuit for his commission on the $10,000 sale of the steamship Kalorama, which he previously commanded. According to his account in The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, he held credentials as Master mariner (professional qualification of captaincy), and had once commanded both the clipper ship and the Island Home steamer. He held a life membership in the Boston Marine Society and New York American Shipmasters' Association.
He spent a number of years in and out of San Francisco, where he was involved with Chinese immigrants, and wrote to the Boston Advertiser trying to dispel public misconceptions of them as a labor force. In September 1870, Palmer opened a Boston employment agency for Chinese domestic workers.
He was a founding member and president of the Boston Mycological Club. Palmer advocated the consumption of fungus as a healthy food source, and had several articles and two books published on the subject. According to people who spoke with him towards the end of his life, he considered his pioneering research in the field of mushrooms to be his proudest achievement. Palmer engaged in the profession of money brokering to support himself while pursuing his mushroom research.