Francis Palms

Francis Palms
Francis Palms, early Michigan tycoon.
Born	Francis Frederick Palms 1809 Antwerp, Belgium
Died	November 4, 1886 Detroit, Michigan
Nationality	Belgian-American
Occupation	Businessman
Years active	1830s-1880s
Known for	see below

Francis Palms (1809–1886) was the largest landholder in Michigan during the mid-1850s. He had major business interests as well and was given the nickname "Croesus" because of his wealth.

He was born in Antwerp, Belgium December 13, 1809 and relocated to Detroit with his parents and siblings in 1833. His father Ange was a quartermaster in Napoleon's army who emigrated to the New World upon Napoleon's defeat. After moving to Detroit, Ange relocated to New Orleans with 3 sons and a daughter where he founded a manufacturing firm. Francis stayed in Detroit with his mother Jeanette and sister Mary Frances.

In 1836, Francis Palms married his first wife Margaret Burnett, who died shortly after the birth of their son, Francis Frederick II. He married his second wife, Catherine Campau, daughter of Joseph, who was a large landowner in early Detroit. With her he had two sons and a daughter. After working for Campau, Francis worked as a clerk and then tried manufacturing linseed oil. Selling this business, he became a partner in the wholesale grocery firm of Franklin Moore & Co. Palms made considerable capital as a grocer and purchased 40,000 acres Macomb and St. Clair Counties during the panic years of 1836-1837. Palms Road in St. Clair County was named for him. He had interest in a stave mill at the end of Palms Road on Anchor Bay.

Palms sold his land in lower Michigan in small parcels for a profit estimated to be between $300,000 and $400,000 and with the proceeds purchased pine and other forest lands in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin. He invested in the white pine areas near the Jump River in Wisconsin along with other successful businessmen including Ezra Cornell, Frederick Weyerhauser and Henry Sage, and in 1875, the men paid between $10 an acre up to $23.59. He also received land from a Pottawatomie chief, Chief Lerner, and continued to purchase more Indian Reserve lands as they became available. With these additions to his holdings, he became the largest landholder in Michigan (and possibly the U.S.) while in his late 20s.