Beriah Palmer (1740 in

Bristol County, Massachusetts Bristol County is a county in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 579,200. The shire town is Taunton. Some governmental functions are performed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, othe ...

– May 20, 1812 in

Ballston Spa, New York Ballston Spa is a village and the county seat of Saratoga County, New York, United States, located southwest of Saratoga Springs. It is part of the Capital Region. The population of the village, named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregational ...

) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In 1769 he moved to

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, Orange County. He studied law, was admitted to the

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and practiced in New York. He engaged in surveying and farming near Burnt Hills in

Saratoga County Saratoga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York, and is the fastest-growing county in Upstate New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the county's population was enumerated at 235,509, its highest decennial count ever and a ...

, and in 1774 moved to Ballston Spa. He served in the Twelfth Regiment of the New York

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

during the Revolutionary War. He then served as assessor in 1779, commissioner of roads, district of Ballston, in 1780, 1783, and 1784, and served as

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

in 1784. He was a member of the committee of safety of Albany County, and supervisor of Saratoga County in 1790, 1791, and 1799. He was moderator of the first board of supervisors of Saratoga County in 1791, and was appointed judge of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

in 1791. He was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

from 1792 to 1795, and was a delegate to the New York constitutional convention in 1801. Palmer was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

to the Eighth Congress, holding office from March 4, 1803 to March 3, 1805. He was surrogate of Saratoga County from 1808 to 1812 and in the latter year died in Ballston Spa and was interred in the Village Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Beriah Members of the New York State Assembly New York state court judges People from Bristol County, Massachusetts People from Ballston Spa, New York New York (state) postmasters 1740 births 1812 deaths Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) People from Cornwall, New York 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 18th-century members of the New York State Legislature