Bradley Palmer

Bradley Palmer (1864 (?) - 1948) was a U.S. attorney and industrialist from Topsfield, Massachusetts. Palmer lived during the early part of the 20th-century.

Palmer, a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard University School of Law, was a lawyer and partner with multiple Boston-based corporations, including the United Fruit Company (which controlled large land holdings and agriculture in Central America), Gillette, and IT&T. He was an attorney for Sinclair Oil during the Teapot Dome scandal.

An equestrian and nature-lover, Palmer continued to purchase land as he accumulated the means. At one point, he owned over 10,000 acres on the North Shore of Massachusetts in towns such as Boxford, Georgetown, Hamilton, Ipswich, Rowley, and Topsfield. He built his estate, known as Willow Dale in Topsfield. Famous visitors to Willow Dale included the Prince Edward VIII, Prince of Wales and President William Howard Taft.

By 1944, Palmer had donated all of his land holdings in Massachusetts to the Commonwealth, leasing back the 107 acres surrounding his mansion. The estate is now incorporated as part of Bradley Palmer State Park.

References

1. http://www.naturecompass.org/ipswichbaycircuit/bct/willow-west.html