Nathaniel Palmer, 1799-1877
Unknown author, fm Wiki
Nathaniel Brown Palmer (August 8, 1799 – June 21, 1877) was an American seal hunter and ship designer, among a few other things he did well.
He was born and raised in Stonington CT, a descendant of Walter Palmer (1585-1661), one of the town’s founders, who also was the founder of Charlestown (the oldest neighborhood in Boston).
One of his adventures was to explore Antarctic in 1820, in his 47′ long sloop Hero. For vision comparison, my kayak is 12’6″ long.
Palmer Land (wiki) in Antarctica, is named after him.
Capt. Palmer was a major clipper ship designer and China trader, selling seal skin which was favored by the Chinese.
We visited his house in Stonington in 2021.
There is Stonington Island in Antarctic, named after him when he saw the Antarctic Peninsula, the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica on 1820.11.17 on his sloop 单桅帆船 Hero. That area would be known as Palmer Land nowadays (wiki: Graham Land in UK, O’Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina). Stonington Island (wiki) was used as the site for the East Base of US Antarctic Service Expedition (1939-41).
