Representative Beriah Palmer

Beriah Palmer (1740 in Bristol County, Massachusetts – May 20, 1812 in Ballston Spa, New York) was a United States Representative from New York and a prominent local official and jurist in Saratoga County during the early years of the American republic. Little is recorded about his parents or early youth, but he was born in colonial Massachusetts and came of age in the period leading up to the American Revolution, later building his career in what would become upstate New York.

In 1769 Palmer moved from Massachusetts to Cornwall in Orange County, New York. There he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in New York. Seeking additional opportunities on the developing frontier north of Albany, he engaged in surveying and farming near Burnt Hills in Saratoga County. In 1774 he moved to Ballston Spa, then a growing settlement, where he continued his legal practice and agricultural pursuits and became increasingly involved in local public affairs.

During the American Revolutionary War, Palmer served in the Twelfth Regiment of the New York militia, contributing to the Patriot cause in a region that was strategically important to the northern theater of the conflict. In the closing years of the war and its immediate aftermath, he began a long record of local service. He served as assessor in 1779 and as commissioner of roads for the district of Ballston in 1780, 1783, and 1784, helping to oversee the development of transportation infrastructure in the area. In 1784 he was appointed postmaster, a position that placed him at the center of communications in the growing community.

Palmer was also active in the political and security structures of the new state. He was a member of the committee of safety of Albany County, a body that played a key role in local governance and security during and after the Revolution. With the subsequent organization of Saratoga County, he served as supervisor in 1790, 1791, and 1799. In 1791 he was moderator of the first board of supervisors of Saratoga County, reflecting his prominence in county affairs, and in the same year he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, assuming judicial responsibilities in the local court system.

At the state level, Palmer served as a member of the New York State Assembly from 1792 to 1795, participating in the legislative work of the early post-Revolutionary period as New York’s institutions and laws were being shaped. In 1801 he was a delegate to the New York constitutional convention, which considered and adopted revisions to the state constitution, indicating his standing as a trusted political figure within his region and party.

Palmer was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Eighth Congress and served as a United States Representative from New York from March 4, 1803, to March 3, 1805. His term in the national legislature coincided with the administration of President Thomas Jefferson and the early years of Democratic-Republican dominance in federal politics. After leaving Congress, he returned to his legal and local public duties in Saratoga County.

In his later years, Palmer continued in public service as surrogate of Saratoga County from 1808 until his death in 1812, overseeing probate matters and the administration of estates. He died in Ballston Spa on May 20, 1812, and was interred in the Village Cemetery there, leaving a record of nearly four decades of continuous civic, judicial, and legislative service at the local, state, and national levels.