Joseph Palmer

Joseph Palmer was a reform-minded abolitionist in Massachusetts whose personal nonconformity—especially his refusal to shave his beard—became a flashpoint for harassment and, eventually, prosecution. After being attacked by men attempting to forcibly shave him outside a Fitchburg hotel, Palmer defended himself and was nonetheless convicted and fined; when he refused to pay, he was imprisoned for more than a year in the Worcester County Jail. His broader reform commitments included abolitionism and communal experimentation (including association with the Fruitlands community), and his imprisonment became a defining episode in the way he was remembered as a dissenter. (Recorded as Palmer)